Governing the States and the Nation: The Intergovernmental Policy ...

against policies harmful to the states. To conduct this inquiry, this book employs a mixed-method approach whereby qualitative approaches (in this instance, three case studies) are supplemented with a quantitative look at the factors that affect the likelihood that governors will experience success in their efforts to shape federal policy. This approach allows readers to see both the political and contextual variables that are predictive of gubernatorial success in the federal policy-making arena. Moreover, this approach can provide evidence concerning the circumstances under which governors are inclined to organize and take action at the federal level.

Beyond simply providing an account of gubernatorial policy-making power in the federal arena, this study also presents evidence regarding the current status of intergovernmental relations in the United States as well as an examination of the role of governors in the federal system in which they work. In sum, the results of this work provide an understanding of the American governorship, specifically, as well as an understanding of the current status of the federal-state relationship in general.