POLS 207 1st Edition Lecture 20 Outline of Last Lecture I Legislating Policy and Representing the People Outline of Current Lecture II Executive in the State a Governor Powers III Texas Executive Department Current Lecture Historically unpopular They are expected to follow and execute the laws They are supposed to enforce the law they do this through the various agencies the states have Any public institution is a state agency Texas A M is one Texas has a fragmented decentralized executive Recruitment of Governors Prior experience Statewide office State legislature Gubernatorial Elections Partisan Contested Incumbent advantage Population Gubernatorial Campaign Costs Strong correlation Larger population higher campaign costs r 82 Governor s Career Presidency Federal Cabinet U S Senate Federal Judges Governor s Duties Administrator 28 Legislator 17 Party 7 Ceremonial 14 Negotiator 14 Public Opinion 9 Institutional Power from the Constitution Appointment o Also have the power to remove them Tenure o States without term limits allow the governor to be stronger Managerial Fiscal o In Texas the legislature creates the budget not the governor However they have to consult him because he has the line item veto power Legislative o Power to make laws o Input to legislature o Can create his own laws executive order Institutional and personal power do not matter so much because Governor s have very little control essentially Gubernatorial Power and Policy Success Gubernatorial Compensation Institutional power Metropolitan Population Legislative Compensation Governor s pay is dependent on legislative pay So no correlation between institutional power and compensation Metropolitan population and governor s compensation is positively related R 47 Legislative Compensation and Governors Compensation positive relationship Governor is always paid more the more legislature is paid the more the governor is paid Texas Executive Department Governor o Power lies with him and lt governor Lt Governor o Elected independently of Governor in some states they are on the same ticket o Presiding officer of the Senate So committee appointments heads etc Comptroller o Treasurer essentially o Normally women in Texas o The person in charge of the finances o Estimates projects the revenue for the state So determines the amount we can spend because of the balanced budget o Historically conservative so they invest with the US Government Get less interest but it is stable Land Commissioner o In charge of leasing out land Attorney General o Chief lawyer for the State o Interprets the Constitution and the law The Executive and the Bureaucracy Bureaucracy is a type of organization associated with red tape specialization and hierarchy Because implementing the law is formally the responsibility of the executive branch the bureaucracy is nominally headed by the chief executive However the bureaucracy permeates all branches of government and its interests and powers crisscross the entire governmental structure Public administration refers not only to the activities necessary to carry out public policy but also to the various bodies and those who work in them that are responsible for these activities Administrative Theory Responsible to elected officials Independent of elected officials o President of A M Texas Administration Number Elected Officials Boards