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Blog that supports USC Aiken APLS494I South Carolina Politics class taught in Summer Session I, 2007
Blog Archive
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2007
(141)
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June
(132)
- Criminal Justice – Question 10
- Criminal Justice – Question 9
- Criminal Justice – Question 8
- Criminal Justice – Question 7
- Criminal Justice – Question 6
- Criminal Justice – Question 5
- Criminal Justice – Question 4
- Criminal Justice – Question 3
- Criminal Justice – Question 2
- Criminal Justice – Question 1
- Education – Question 8
- Education – Question 7
- Education – Question 6
- Education – Question 5
- Education – Question 4
- Education – Question 3
- Education – Question 2
- Education – Question 1
- Human Resource Management – Question 9
- Human Resource Management – Question 8
- Human Resource Management – Question 7
- Human Resource Management – Question 6
- Human Resource Management – Question 5
- Human Resource Management – Question 4
- Human Resource Management – Question 3
- Human Resource Management – Question 2
- Human Resource Management – Question 1
- Planning – Question 19
- Planning – Question 18
- Planning – Question 17
- Planning – Question 16
- Planning – Question 15
- Planning – Question 14
- Planning – Question 13
- Planning – Question 12
- Planning – Question 11
- Planning – Question 10
- Planning – Question 9
- Planning – Question 8
- Planning – Question 7
- Planning – Question 6
- Planning – Question 5
- Planning – Question 4
- Planning – Question 3
- Planning – Question 2
- Planning – Question 1
- Local Government Finance – Question 11
- Local Government Finance – Question 10
- Local Government Finance – Question 9
- Local Government Finance – Question 8
- Local Government Finance – Question 7
- Local Government Finance – Question 6
- Local Government Finance – Question 5
- Local Government Finance – Question 4
- Local Government Finance – Question 3
- Local Government Finance – Question 2
- Local Government Finance – Question 1
- State Budgeting and Finance – Question 7
- State Budgeting and Finance – Question 6
- State Budgeting and Finance – Question 5
- State Budgeting and Finance – Question 4
- State Budgeting and Finance – Question 3
- State Budgeting and Finance – Question 2
- State Budgeting and Finance – Question 1
- Political Parties – Question 6
- Political Parties – Question 5
- Political Parties – Question 4
- Political Parties – Question 3
- Political Parties – Question 2
- Political Parties – Question 1
- Interest Groups – Question 8
- Interest Groups – Question 7
- Interest Groups – Question 6
- Interest Groups – Question 5 (really an update)
- Interest Groups – Question 4
- Interest Groups – Question 3
- Interest Groups – Question 2
- Interest Groups – Question 1
- Special Purpose Districts and Schools – Question 5
- Special Purpose Districts and Schools – Question 4
- Special Purpose Districts and Schools – Question 3
- Special Purpose Districts and Schools – Question 2
- Special Purpose Districts and Schools – Question 1
- Counties – Question 9
- Counties – Question 8
- Counties – Question 7
- Counties – Question 6
- Counties – Question 5
- Counties – Question 4
- Counties – Question 3
- Counties – Question 2
- Counties – Question 1
- Municipalities – Questions 7
- Municipalities – Questions 6
- Municipalities – Questions 5
- Municipalities – Question 4
- Municipalities – Question 3
- Municipalities – Question 2
- Municipalities – Question 1
- Local Government – An Introduction -- Question 6
- Local Government – An Introduction -- Question 5
- Local Government – An Introduction -- Question 4
- Local Government – An Introduction -- Question 3
- Local Government – An Introduction -- Question 2
- Local Government – An Introduction -- Question 1
- Judiciary -- Day Two: Evaluating a Judicial TV Ad
- The Judiciary – Question 7
- The Judiciary – Question 6
- The Judiciary – Question 5
- The Judiciary – Question 4
- The Judiciary – Question 3
- The Judiciary – Question 2
- The Judiciary – Question 1
- Blog posting for the second day on the governor
- The Governor – Question 6
- The Governor – Question 5
- The Governor – Question 4
- The Governor – Question 3
- The Governor – Question 2
- The Governor – Question 1
- Blog posting for the second day on the legislature
- Legislature – Question 8
- Legislature – Question 7
- Legislature – Question 6
- Legislature – Question 5
- Legislature – Question 4
- Legislature – Question 3
- Legislature – Question 2
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June
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About The Course and this Blog
- Robert Botsch, USCA Political Science
- I am the one on the right! I have been a professor of political science at USCA since 1978. We will use this blog for class discussion and for posting written assignments that I may make. When you post you may do so using the anonymous profile, but please sign your name to all your posts! Posts are shown REVERSE chronological order. The most recent post is at the top. So READ FROM THE BOTTOM UP in the topics shown in the BLOG ARCHIVE above.
6 comments:
One type of informal power the governor has is the electoral mandate. If a governor is elected with a overwhelming majority, then there is obviously something about the governor’s campaign the people like. Therefore, if a governor wins his or her election they should try to stick with the issues proposed during the campaign. Without an electoral mandate, a governor’s personal power and chance for a reelection could be in jeopardy. If a governor is not reelected then he or she is considered a “lame duck,” which means they have very limited power because the people of the state are more interested in the next governor’s administration.
Julie Kate Keeney
The informal powers of the governor are the individual and personal duties that are placed with being governor. His communication with legislators, the media, and the public are all things part of his informal power that is judged. Two ways that we rate a governor’s informal power is by their Electoral Mandate. If the governor was elected by a large majority vote, then it is likely that he stood for something that the citizens agreed with. The success of an electoral mandate gives him a greater chance of being reelected. Another type that is rated is their personal future as governor. This is found towards the end of a governor’s term in office when it comes time to run for governor again. This usually works for governors with a successful electoral mandate. If a governor is not reelected them he is considered what is known as a “lame duck”. This usually happens when the governor is in office and the citizens no longer agree with his stand on issues and problems in society and they begin to focus on the next governor and his administration.
Kaycee Doying
Well, as stated in the text informal powers are "those individual or personal; attributes that the governor possesses and exercises in the course of his or her duties." Those powers are communicating with legislators, media, and the public. Other informal powers of the governor are the electoral mandate, a source of influence for newly elected officials. When a governor wins in an electoral mandates that means the population likes what he/she has done and they have good reason to have that person. Another informal power of the governor is the "personal future of governor". This basically means that depending on his re-election status, his influence in state politics has some weight. If the governor cannot be re-elected or not going to win the next election, attention will be focused on the next person in line. The election mandate and “the personal future of the governor” are the two ways to rate the governor.
Xavier de Jesus
An informal power that the government has is the electoral mandate and the individual and personal duties placed on person acting as governor. The governor’s capacity to communicate with the public during the campaign, the capability to communicate with the legislators, and the various types of media is a informal power that he must encompass. The electoral mandate insures that the governor keeps his position and if he is not reelected he can be considered a lame duck. A lame duck is a phrase that means limited power because the state is interested in the new comer.
Informal powers are the personality and expertise that go along with the formal duties of a governor. Informal powers has to do with their attutuide and the way they interact with others. If a governor is re-elected, his governor's informal powers must rate as good or at least satisfactory to the majority. If a governor is not re-elected, it reflects limited power.
CoShendra Jackson
All of you had at least part of the answer, but none had it all quite right. What most of you missed is the idea of “lame duck.” Certainly if a governor is defeated for re-election, that governor is a lame duck for the roughly two months the person stays in office and has greatly limited powers. But those two months (part of November and all of December and part of January) are not months in which the legislature is in session and add or detract little in what a governor accomplishes. What really counts is AFTER a governor is re-elected for a second term. At that point (which is where Sanford is today) the governor is a “lame duck” for the next four years. The governor will not run again, and so the legislature and those in the executive branch who are not appointed by the governor start worrying more about the next governor more than the one in office.
Most of you summarized what the book said about mandate reasonably well, though I do not think the book did a good job on the idea. Political scientists debate endlessly about mandates and whether they help a president or governor. Certainly being popular as measured by having a large election margin helps at least for a while. If commentators say that a governor clearly won because of some major issue, then the legislature has a hard time denying serious consideration of that issue.
But mandates alone are not enough. That is true of the president and governors. It is especially true in South Carolina where the legislature is so strong and independent of the governor. George Bush claimed a mandate for his Iraq policies after the 2004 election, and see where he is today! Governor Sanford had a big victory in 2002, claimed a mandate, and got little through the legislature.
To translate a mandate into success you have to use your PERSUASIVE POWERS with the public AND with the legislature (or congress). And your policies have to be perceived as successful. Bush failed to be successful and Sanford (who has maintained relatively high popularity with the public) has failed to persuade even the members of his own party in the legislature. His standard ploy is to try and place pressure on members of the legislature by going over their heads and speaking to the public. That just makes legislators angry. What he lacks is the ability to work with people face to face – specifically the people in the legislature. Just like presidential power, the most important power a governor has is the ability to persuade, and that is largely informal. Even a governor who has a narrow electoral win can be successful if he can persuade – he can create his own mandate!
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