| Chapter 1: | Governors and the National Governors Association (NGA) |
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largely overlooked the possibility that state-level executives are not just wielding stronger power bases over state-level concerns but that, in turn, these newly evolved power bases give them the capability of directly influencing national-level policy.
This dearth of research is somewhat concerning because it constitutes a significant gap in the available literature and thus limits people’s understanding of how the contemporary federal system works. Research documenting the ways in which governors, through collective action, can exercise systematic influence over federal legislation may force a reconceptualization of the contemporary understanding of governors and their place in the federal system. Governors, in short, may not be seen simply as the linchpin of the federal system, as Grady (1987) perceived, but may instead be viewed as the officers who manage the state-federal intersection, where power between the two levels ofgovernments flows both ways.
This book attempts to address this gap in the literature by seeking an answer to the following question: How (and when) can governors systematically influence national-level policy making? The purpose if this inquiry is to gain a clearer understanding of the role played by governors in the federal system, with the ultimate goal of better understanding when governors influence and guide policy at the national level through the use of their national organization (NGA) as a vehicle. This inquiry is of critical importance not only for understanding the contemporary evolution of state-federal power relationships as it relates to governors but also for understanding the forces that drive politics within the American political system more generally. Additionally, this effort may provide greater insight into the current status of intergovernmental relations among the states and the federal government.
In my examination, I take the position that governors, working through the NGA, are able to significantly impact policy at