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

Likewise, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger initiated a policy to curb carbon emissions in California, and similar effects ensued (this time in the context of growing concern about the environment and global warming): other states began to look to California’s policy as a possible model for adoption in the future. In 2007 Governor Schwarzenegger directly lobbied the state of Michigan—and, implicitly, the United States’ auto industry—by telling its citizens, “I say, Arnold to Michigan: Get off your butt and join us” (p. C8) in the effort to decrease carbon emissions through legislation (Ohnsman and Ratnam 2007). Michigan chose not to accept his offer, but Schwarzenegger’s exhortation to the state is representative not only of the ways in which states can help diffuse policies to other states but also of the ways in which governors can actively lobby other states in an effort to do so. Interestingly, beyond receiving consideration in other U.S. states, California’s policies have also become a topic of international discussion, as the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and, to a lesser extent, Ontario have recently considered similar policies (Ebner 2007).

The third way governors are able to influence national policy outcomes involves working individually to lobby for policies that are beneficial to individual states. Jennifer Jensen (2000) took an in-depth look at why some states are more likely to set up Washington lobbying offices than others and found that politically and economically motivated governors are most likely to do so. Jensen couched her discussion of state lobbying offices in the theories of Salisbury (1969; 1984), who felt that institutions such as local governments would have a preferred place in Washington. Grady (1991) carried out a similar research project in which he predicted the factors that influence governors to be active in securing federal funding for their states. His findings were very much in line with those of Jensen, and they suggest