Lecture Notes: 
Chapter 1
There are two things important in the first chapter: the comparative approach and the functions of state and local government. In the start of the book, Dye and MacManus point out the utility of using the comparative approach to understand state and local politics. The problem is how to get a handle on the fact that as a student of politics there are 50 different states to try and understand. Each is different even though they have similarities. The comparative approach allows one to look at similarities and differences and group together the states that are similar in characteristics and in that way be able to generalize about state and local governments. Dye and MacManus suggest that we compare states by examining characteristics such as, wealth, education, population growth, and race and ethnicity. When this is done a pattern emerges which is repeated throughout the book. This technique makes it easy to see patterns and group states together, improving our ability to generalize. For example, on many of these variables the large populated and diversified states like California and New York are at the top of the list and states in the Deep South, such as, Mississippi are at the bottom. This suggests that there are large gaps or differences between those states at the top and bottom of the lists and that states scoring at the top or the bottom can be grouped together. This can be a helpful tool in understanding state and local politics. Unfortunately, the practice of comparing governments is not used as much when the text covers local politics. There the picture is much more diversified and generalizations are harder to develop. 

The other important part of this chapter involves the functions of state and local government. State and local government are primarily responsible for: education, transportation, health and welfare, public safety, civil rights, and the physical environment. The text also lists taxation but I fail to see how this is a function of government. It is state and local governments that do most, if not all, of the governmental activity in these areas of service to the public. Since these are the most important services to the public, it should make one wonder why the national government is so prominent in the news and foremost in the minds of the public, while state and local government is almost invisible and not nearly as prominent in the news. If you examine these functions in detail one can draw the conclusion that an emphasis on the national government and the president in particular are misplaced. This section on functions provides a good justification for why we study state and local government.

Chapter 2

State constitutions are often compared to the national constitution when they are evaluated.  According to most observers state constitutions come up short.  They are not as good as the national constitution because they tend to be too restrictive in terms of powers to the governor and the legislature, too inflexible and therefore in need to frequent amendment.  Reformers and critics advocate that they become more like the national constitution.  At the current only the constitutions of Alaska and Hawaii come close.

The typical state constitution is similar to the national constitution in terms of basic principles found in the documents.  All are based on the principles of:  limited government, separation of powers, checks and balances, bicameralism, and rights of citizens.  As a result each contains:  a bill of rights, a description of the three branches of government with some explanation of powers and responsibilities as well as limits on the powers in each branch.  In addition, state constitutions have provisions regulating interest groups and political parties, and debt and tax limits.

The major difference between the national constitution and the typical state constitution is that the state constitution is much longer.  Part of the reason for this is the need on the part of the state to describe the powers and limits of local government.  Local governments are constitutionally under the jurisdiction of the state and cannot legally stand-alone.  Therefore, states detail what local governments can and cannot do.

Compared to the national constitution state constitutions are considered much less effective.  They are viewed as weaker because they are considered too long and too inflexible.  The view of the national constitution is that it has survived for 200 years because it is flexible.  The national constitution  does not try to spell out the powers and limits of the government, so it is considered able to adopt to the changing times, growing by informal means rather than constitutional amendments.  State constitutions are viewed as on the opposite end of the spectrum.  They are frequently amended and subject to wholesale revision every few years.  As a result, most reformers argue that state constitutions should become more like the national constitution, less detailed and more flexible.

In defense of state constitutions it can be said that many are ahead of the national constitution in some areas. State constitutions often attempt to remedy the weaknesses of the national constitution.   For example, some states have chosen to identify the rights of privacy in specific terms in their constitution..  This is in marked contrast to the national constitution where privacy is only an implied right.  In defense of state constitutions it can be said that many state constitutions are written more clearly and directly than the national constitution, making them easier to understand and less ambiguous for the courts to interpret what they mean.

Chapter 3

Federalism is a complicated concept, which is confusing because it is not clearly defined.  The U.S. Constitution doesn’t help much because its description, known as, dual federalism has little in common with the practice of federalism.

Federalism is a system of government designed to divide power among the levels of government.  In the U.S. Constitution this means two levels of government, national and state.  In the U.S. in 2001 we need to also include local government even though it is not mentioned in the Constitution.  The Constitution attempts to descript the powers and duties of the national government and the states as well as the relationship between the two levels.  Under dual federalism the national government is given a limited role, largely confined to three areas:  1) foreign and military affairs, 2) national laws that are necessary for the common good, and 3) settling disputes that arise among the states or between states and the national government.  Under dual federalism, the states are responsible for all the day-to-day functions of government, such as, schools, welfare, police, and every other domestic government function.

The practice of federalism also known, as cooperative federalism, does not work anything like what is stated in the Constitution.  It describes federalism as a system in which both the national government and the states work together to solve problems.  Under this form of federalism the national government participates in all the major functions that were designated for the states, such as, schools, welfare and police but each level of government has a different role.  The national government generally provides three functions:  agenda setting—deciding what areas of concern to focus on, money—paying for a significant portion of the new or expanded services and standard setting—determining what types of companies and people in the private sector will be able to participate in the development.  For example, if a new crackdown on illegal drugs involves hiring new police officers the national government will be responsible for determining the hiring standards for all new police that are hired.

The text identifies several definitions of federalism in a effort to descript the complicated system of federalism as it is practiced in the U.S.  We focus on three of these definitions for our purposes: dual federalism, cooperative federalism, and new federalism.  Dual and cooperative have already been described above, what remains is an explanation of new federalism.

New federalism is a name given to federalism when individual presidents attempt to make changes in the practice of federalism.  The textbook focus is mainly on President Reagan’s effort to reduce the size of the national government and the transfer of functions and responsibilities to the states.  The attempt to move power out of Washington and back to the states began with President Nixon back in 1968 but the major spokesperson for this effort was President Reagan.  The best example of this form of federalism is the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton.  Under the new welfare law the states are given the power and responsibility to handle welfare in the future taking the national government out of the picture.  Whether this transfer of power continues in other areas of government services remains to be seen.

Chapter 4
There are numerous ways in which people can participate in politics.  The most common form is voting.  Beyond voting, the forms are considered elite participation because only a third or less of the public ever takes part in them.  Participation can also be divided into conventional and unconventional forms.

The conventional forms of political participation include:
1. Campaign Activity, such as working for a candidate or political party, attending campaign rallies, and giving money 
2. Community activity, such as, working on a local problem or project.
3. Interest group membership, such as, joining a group
4. Contacting Public Officials, in person or by mail, phone or email
5. e-participation, performing political activities on the Internet.  This can include a number of activities such as, signing petitions, writing letters organizing volunteers and giving money.

The unconventional forms of participation include:
1. Protest politics, such as demonstrations, boycotts, civil disobedience
2. Violence, such as, damaging property, kidnapping, hijacking planes and assassinations

The reasons why few people participate fall into three categories
1. Political reasons
2. Sociological
3. Psychological

The political reasons include such things as the difficulty of the registration system, the day and timing of elections, the level of campaigning that takes place and the perceived closeness of the race.

Sociological reasons relate to the group stimuli one receives.  Are the primary and secondary groups to which one is a member helping or hindering participation.  Most people today associate with groups that are not very political.

The psychological reasons relate to personality variables, such as the extent to which one is alienated or cynical about politics or has what political scientists call political efficacy.

Voting turnout has been declining for several years.  Presidential elections reach the highest voter participation.  For years it averaged about 60%, but it went down to 49% in 1996.  It was up to 51% in 2000.  State and local voter turnout is about the same as national politics in the high visibility races:  governor, senator, mayor of a large city.  At the local level when separate elections are held for such offices as school board turnout can range as low as 10 to 20%.

Interest groups can be defined as voluntary associations of people who share a common interest and attempt to influence the direction of public policy.

· They have no formal governmental status
· They are usually small in number compared to the general voting public
· They are united by a common characteristic, such as, they ar all lawyers, or farmers or concerned about the issue of abortion
· They tend to represent economic interests more than any other kind
· Successful groups are elite groups, that is, those with prestige, money, and organizational leadership.

Types of Groups
1. economic—professional, business, farm, and labor
2. vets—veteran organizations such as , Am. Vets
3. religious and ethnic—example, National Council of churches
4. single issue groups—such as MADD
5. Public Interest—such as, Common Cause
6. Ideological—example, any 3rd party

Methods Used by interest groups
1. public relations—use of mass media to promote group image or issues
2. lobbying—attempt to influence the passage of legislation
3. electioneering—engaging in campaign  activity especially donating money 
4. litigation—going to court to promote a group issue

Chapter 5
  Political parties are organizations that are broadly based. They try to include as many different people politically as
possible in order to achieve their main goal, which is to win elections. In America this means that they avoid ideology and try to
be as pragmatic as possible, at least for the majority of people needed to formulate a winning coalition. 

There are three components of a party: party organization, party-in-the-electorate, and party-in-office. These three components together perform the functions of parties, which include: nominate candidates, conduct election campaigns, formulate issue positions, and organize the government. 

The parties are much weaker today then they were in the past. By the past I mean the days before television. What has weakened the parties in addition to television has been the system of primaries that enables the candidates to nominate themselves and then conduct their own campaigns with little or no assistance from the parties. Added to these two changes has been the increased role of interest groups in the financing of campaigns. That leaves little for the parties to do in the campaign and elections resulting in the loss of most of their power and responsibility. 

In addition to what I described in the previous paragraph, parties have also lost much of their hold on the public in terms of their ability to convince average people to become Democrats and Republicans. Today, there are as many Independents,
those with no party identification, as Democrats or Republicans. As a result, candidates much direct their campaign appeal to Independents often making it look as if they are ignoring their party affiliations. 

All of these factors have resulted in very week parties in the United States, making some people believe that 3rd parties may soon emerge as important players in the system. So far in our history we have had a two party system and 3rd parties have only been a source of new ideas. But, all of that may change as the 2 parties shrink in importance and leave the door open for new possibilities. 

Chapter 6
The state legislature is the primary branch of government at the state level.  Unlike the national level where the president is at the center of the government, at the state level it is the legislature.  The primary functions of state government are legislative.  These include: 1) enact the law—these include just about anything the members can think up.  The only limits are that the laws cannot violate the U.S. Constitution and the state constitution.  The variety of laws are endless and vary depending on how populated the state is and what its needs are.  2) represent the public—Most of the time spent by legislators is doing some favors for constituents, most of which are elites who give them money in a campaign for office.  3) approve the budget—although the job of proposing the budget is the job of the governor the job of deciding the budget is legislative.  4) overseeing state agencies—one of the most important functions of the legislature is overseeing the bureaucracy.  Unlike the national level where the executive branch is more independent, at the state level the legislature is in control of at least half, and sometimes more, of the executive departments.

The model for the state legislature is Congress.  Probably the best way to understand efforts to change the state legislature is to understand that most reformers would like to see the states become like Washington.  For all are attacks on the government in Washington D.C. the fact is that by comparison with state governments, the national government looks good.  There is a lot more professionalism, staff support, and good policy making in Washington than in the typical state. 

There is so much wrong with Congress that it is hard to believe that it’s the model but you have to understand the state legislature to know what is going on.  The fact is state politics is amateur in nature.  Part-time, high turnover, lack of expertise are all characteristics of the typical state legislature. 

Political parties dominate state legislatures.  Everything from where an individual member fits into the process to how a bill becomes a law is all determined by the two major parties.  The majority party has control over the major processes:  leadership positions, bill introduction, committees, and the debates, are all in the hands of the majority party.  The minority party provides the basic opposition to the majority.  

The legislature is controlled by a handful of elites.  These consist of the party leaders and the leaders of interest groups that lobby the legislature.  In most states there are a handful of significant groups that get what they lobby for.  Together with the governor and the legislative leaders these people make up the state’s elite power structure.  The general public is only involved at election time and when some unusual issue makes it to the public agenda.  But, most of the time its “politics as usual”  which means elites work together.

Chapter 7
Much of the public perceptions of the governor are based on images that are not actually true in fact.
On the surface the governor appears to be similar to the president, but the fact is, the office of governor has not developed at the same rate of speed as the president has at the national level.  In some roles the governor is similar, especially the chief legislator role but most of the other roles are weaker than the president.  The weakest role is that of chief administrator.  Unlike the president who has control over the executive branch and presides over a cabinet, most governors find that their executive control extends only to about half the executive branch.  Much of the rest of the executive control belongs to the legislature and to independent boards and commissions, outside the jurisdiction of the governor.  

The governor’s power is also limited by the fact that some of the most powerful executive agencies are headed by separately elected offices.  The two major examples are the Secretary of State and the Attorney General.  These are independent offices in which the governor has no control.

Another limitation on the power of the governor is the state constitution.  Unlike the national constitution the states do not have ambiguous clauses that allow for the expansion of powers.  In the typical state constitution the powers of the governor are spelled out in more detail and therefore are more limiting in nature.  If the governor wants to do something new, such as, expand gambling in the state or eliminate a tax, such as the highway tolls, he or she has to get the permission of the legislature.  I am not saying that the president can act alone but it is much easier.

Roles of the governor are similar to the president.  The typical governor has the same general organizational powers as the president.  However it should be keep in mind that the powers differ in degree if not in kind.  The president has more significant powers in just about all the areas mentioned below.

Major Roles of the Governor
1.Chief of State:  ceremonial head of government
a. dedicating new highways and bridges
b. attending funerals and weddings (dignitaries and celebrities)
c. greeting visitors to state capital
d. proclaiming special days and weeks (M.L. King’s birthday, Boy Scout Week, Black History Month)
e. crown beauty queens (presiding over the state fair)
f. attend football games or other sporting events
g. represent people of the state at national events (such as presidential inaugural) 

2.Chief Legislator
a. initiate legislation—set the agenda
b. state-of-the-state message
c. veto legislation
d. present budget to legislature
e. lobby legislature for passage of key legislation

3. Chief Administrator
a. governor controls about half agencies and departments by appointment and removal of heads

4. Commander-in-Chief
       head the national guard
a. in natural disasters 
b. civil disturbances—riots 
5. Party Leader
a. raise money for the party
b. campaign for members of the party
c. help decide the issue positions of the party (much of which is decided nationally)

6. Chief Negotiation
a. negotiator with the national government in grants system
b. work with local government on grants
c. lobby for states share of the national “fiscal pie”

7. Crisis Manager
a. manage crisis such as energy problem in California
b. national disasters such as  floods and hurricanes
c. financial crisis, such as, what is going on in Illinois 
8. Court of last Resort
a. reprieve
b. pardon 
c. commute sentences

Chapter 8

A bureaucracy is a large organization composed of appointed officials in which authority is divided among several managers. Bureaucracy is an obvious feature of all modern societies, but American governmental bureaucracy is distinctive in three ways. First, political authority over the bureaucracy is shared among several institutions. Second, most federal agencies share their functions with agencies of state and local government. Finally, America's adversary culture means that the actions of bureaucrats are often fought in court.

A bureaucratic organization is governed by the following seven principles:

1. official business is conducted on a continuous basis
2. official business is conducted with strict accordance to the following rules:
1. the duty of each official to do certain types of work is delimited in terms of impersonal criteria
2. the official is given the authority necessary to carry out his assigned functions
3. the means of coercion at his disposal are strictly limited and conditions of their use strictly defined
3. every official's responsibilities and authority are part of a vertical hierarchy of authority, with respective rights of supervision and appeal
4. officials do not own the resources necessary for the performance of their assigned functions but are accountable for their use of these resources
5. official and private business and income are strictly separated
6. offices cannot be appropriated by their incumbents (inherited, sold, etc.)
7. official business is conducted on the basis of written documents

A bureaucratic official:

• is personally free and appointed to his position on the basis of conduct
• exercises the authority delegated to him in accordance with impersonal rules, and his loyalty is enlisted on behalf of the faithful execution of his official duties
• appointment and job placement are dependent upon his technical qualifications
• administrative work is a full-time occupation
• work is rewarded by a regular salary and prospects of advancement in a lifetime career

There are five major problems with bureaucracies: red tape, conflict, duplication, imperialism, and waste.

1. Red tape is the existence of complex rules and procedures that must be followed to get something done. Any large organization must have some way of ensuring that one part of the organization does not operate out of step with another.

2. Conflict exists when some agencies work at cross-purposes with other agencies. The Agricultural Research Service tells farmers how to grow crops more efficiently, while the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service pays farmers to grow fewer crops. Because Congress has 535 members and little strong leadership, it is not surprising that it passes laws that promote inconsistent or even contradictory goals.

3. Duplication occurs when two government agencies seem to be doing the same thing, such as when the Customs Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration both attempt to intercept illegally smuggled drugs.

4. Imperialism refers to the tendency of agencies to grow without regard to the benefits their programs confer or the costs they entail. Because government agencies seek vague goals and have vague mandates from Congress, it is not surprising that they often take the broadest possible view of their powers. If they do not, interest groups and judges may prod them into doing so.

5. Waste occurs when an agency spends more than is necessary to buy some product or service. An example would be the much-publicized purchase of $300 hammers by the military.

Chapter 9
The state court system is the primary court of the American political system.  It is the level at which most of the civil and criminal law cases are handled.  Its organization is similar to the national government with three primary levels of courts.  Its major divisions include:  Circuit Court, Appeals Court and Supreme Court.  In many states there is a lower or fourth level which is usually described as a minor court.  It has both civil cases, small claims and criminal courts, such as, traffic.

The major junctions of the courts are listed below.

Functions of courts
1. Decide cases or controversies
2. Interpret the Constitution
3. Interpret law as constitutional
4. Make the law
5. Add legitimacy to the government

Characteristics of Courts
1. based on adversary system
2. decide only justifiable disputes
3. litigants must have stand to sue
4. judges are impartial and neutral
5. use precedents when possible
6. avoid political questions
Structure
1. District
2. Appeals
3. Supreme Court

Criteria Used in Selection of Judges
1. Demographics—party, race and sex
2. Ideology—conservative or liberal
3. Judicial Philosophy—restraint versus activism
4. Personal—avoid personal problems and health issues

Reforming the nomination process
1. Less emphasis on parties and ideology
2. nominees should not be witnesses
3. evaluation based on written record and testimony from legal experts

Procedures:  Supreme Court
1. Session from October to June
2. Judges listen to oral arguments for two weeks then consider cases/write opinions for two weeks

Cases that reach Court
1. Broad public significance
2. rule of four
3. Division in lower courts
4. Important Constitution issue

Opinion
1. Majority opinion
2. Dissenting opinions
3. Concurring opinions

Controversy
1. Proper role
2. activism
3. law making

Chapter 10
There are more than 80,000 local governments in the United States.  These consist of both general purpose governments and single purpose governments.  The general-purpose governments are:  counties, cities and towns.  General purpose means that the governments at this type provide a variety of purposes, such as, public safety, roads, fire protection, and record keeping.  The single purpose governments are special districts.  These special districts generally perform a single function such as education.  They perform all the major junctions of a government, such as, taxing and spending but they do it for only one function.  For example, a school district makes all the decisions about schools:  decide what the curriculum will be, who will teach, how many students in each class, what textbooks are used.  Almost all the decisions having to do with education in an individual school district.

The general-purpose governments are very similar in structure and function.  Cities, counties and towns perform the same functions and are structured similarly.  They are different from state and national government because they have one branch of the legislature (unicameral) and they often do not have executive power.  They usually do not have separation of powers and checks and balances as the state and national government.  Instead, they tend to have power concentrated in a single legislative branch.

Be sure and check out some of this material in the book, especially pages 328-329.  This section describes local government functions.

Local government is essentially invisible government.  Most of the public knows very little about what is going on at the local level.  Most of the local governments are special districts and most people have no idea what these governments do.  If you examine your local newspaper it usually does not have much if anything about special districts.  In fact, I think it is safe to say that few people could identify which special districts they live under.  For example, in Illinois people typically live under 16 layers of government.  

Even the general-purpose governments are not covered much in the news media.  Most news is national.  Little or no coverage is given to the day-to-day activities of local government.  The only time any coverage is given is in the case of scandal.  So, it is not surprising that most people live in ignorance of local government.

County government is the oldest and most universal form of local government.  It is a rural government that is a general purpose government.  If you study county government it gives you a good picture of the role of general purpose governments.  Counties are rural so cities have some differences, but for the most part they are the same.  The focus on the functions of government is better in the book in its coverage of county government.  The information in the book on cities focuses it more on structure of government.   

Cities are divided into three types:  mayor-council, manager-council, and commission.  The mayor-council form is found in small and large cities and is the oldest form.  It is the most political form and is somewhat similar to the forms of government at the national and state level.  The manager-council system is the reform system.  It is found in suburban communities.  In this form the executive is a professional.  The commission for does not have an executive and is rarely used.

The single purpose governments are special districts.  This form does not have an executive but structurally looks like the commission form at the urban level.  It has all the functions of a government:  taxing, making public policy, regulating the behavior of its citizens.  The difference is that it performs these government functions on only one government service, such as, education, airports, or libraries.

Chapter 12
The metro area is loaded with numerous governments.  These are small jurisdictions that have general purpose governments responsible for providing services in their limited area of control.  This situation has resulted from  historical development and urban sprawl.  In this fragmented environment no one government is able to deal with the larger problems that can be labeled as metropolitan problems.

As the metro area increases in size metro problems increase.  These range from crime to traffic, from air pollution to hazardous landfills.  Many students of these problems see the need for some type of consolidation as the solution. A list of the overall problem of jurisdiction is made in the text under “The Case for Metropolitan Consolidation” p. 374-376.  However, not everyone agrees.  Some argue against consolidation.  Their arguments are made in the text under “The Case for Fragmented Government”  p.376-377.  Those who argue in favor of decentralization feel the system should be left the way it is.

There are a number of proposals that constitute metro consolidation.  These solutions range from the 
 

non-governmental, annexation and cooperation to the most dramatic change in the structure of government, city-county consolidation.  Of the three government solutions( special districts, meto federation, and city-county consolidation) the most popular is the metro special district.  A large special district like the one that brings the PACE buses to Lewis are used because they help to distribute the cost of paying for mass transit in the metro area and help bring some form of public transportation to the suburbs.

Metro solutions, especially the radical changes like city-county consolidation have not been popular because it is very difficult to get the necessary support to achieve a change in the government structure.  The basic reasons why metro reform has not been successful are numerous.  Among them are these:  government officials distrust each other, they fear a loss of power, there is widespread public apathy, a failure on the part of the public  to understand the impact of metro consolidation plans, and the failure of community groups to support metro reform.  The result is a record of failure for metro reforms.

Chapter 13
There is a growing debate about whether communities are run by elites or pluralists.  The argument has generally been between political scientists who are pluralists and sociologists, who are elitists.  Over the years the arguments have been heated and little has been settled on what is really going on at the local level.
Elitism
1. Society is divided along class lines--the upper class and the rest.
2. All important decisions are made by a few, called the elite
3. Power is highly concentrated among those who have vast wealth.
4. The elite have a monopoly of the most important resource, wealth—money, property, stocks and bonds
5. Public policy benefits the wealthy at the expense of everyone else.

Pluralism
1.Interest groups, not economic elites, are in control of the government.  These groups respresent the vast majority of people in segmented groups.
2. Interest groups compete with one another and produce a compromise policy that tends to be good for the many.
3.There is a diversity of resources useful in political life besides wealth, such as, mobilization of voters in elections, and work in campaigns.
4.Pluralists are optimistic that the public interest will prevail.

Chapter 15
Public education in America is an experiment like no other in the world.  The idea of universal education for all citizens is unique.  This ambitious attempt is the most expensive function of state and local government.  Not surprisingly it has had many criticisms and problems over the years.  

Probably the most troubling problem for public education in America is the inability of students to score comparatively high with other comparable students in other countries.  It also involves the problem of  why many students in the system do not score as highly as others.  Particularly this is a problem for students in poor neighborhoods in big cities.  This problem, which I call “why Johnny can’t read”, seems to have been a problem since public education began in this country.  Other problems include attendance rates, dropout rates and graduation rates.  All are major problems for the public school system.  In some really poor schools dropout rates are higher than 50% and graduation rates are less than 30%.

Over the years numerous reforms have been suggested to fix these problems.  Currently there are a number of reforms advocated to solve the problems.  Among these the major ones are:
1. vouchers—giving students money to spend at the school of their choice
2. magnet schools and charter schools—innovative schools that try new concepts and ideas 
3. testing—both students and teachers
4. merit pay—special rewards for teachers who stand out above the norm

No matter what reforms are implemented not much seems to change.  If anything in recent years the problems have been getting worse.  In part this is probably due to the fact that too much is expected of public schools.  Politicians often look to the school system to address societal problems, such as, drugs, unemployment, crime, and parenting out of wedlock.