Governors are the most prominent political actor in state politics and a subject of continuous study by scholars. An analysis of the research produced over the past five decades reveals a pattern of topics investigated as well as trends in interest level of those topics. A brief review of some of the findings is presented as well as suggestions for additional research. Finally, a proposal to rethink how we study and evaluate governors is offered.
AbneyGlennLauthThomas P.. 1983. The governor as chief administrator. Public Administration Review43:40–49.
2.
AbneyGlennLauthThomas P.. 1987. Perceptions of the impact of governors and legislatures in the state appropriations process. The Western Political Quarterly40:335–42.
3.
AdamsJames D.KennyLawrence W.. 1989. The retention of state governors. Public Choice62:1–13.
4.
AlmJamesEversMark. 1991. The item veto and state government expenditures. Public Choice68:1–15.
5.
BanwartMary ChristineBystromDianne G.RobertsonTerry. 2003. From the primary to the general election a comparative analysis of candidate media coverage in mixed-gender 2000 races for governor and US senate. American Behavioral Scientist46:658–76.
6.
BardwellKedron. 2002. Money and challenger emergence in gubernatorial primaries. Political Research Quarterly55:653–67.
7.
BarghothiA. J.SavchakElisha CarolBowmanAnn O’M. 2010. Candidate quality and the election of republican governors in the south, 1950-2004. American Politics Research38:563–85.
8.
BarrilleauxCharlesBerkmanMichael. 2003. Do governors matter? Budgeting rules and the politics of state policymaking. Political Research Quarterly56:409–17.
9.
BarrilleauxCharlesRaineyCarlisle. 2014. The politics of need: Examining governors’ decisions to oppose the “Obamacare” Medicaid expansion. State Politics & Policy Quarterly14:437–60.
10.
BernickE. Lee. 1979. Gubernatorial tools: Formal vs. informal. The Journal of Politics41:656–64.
11.
BernickE. Lee. 1994. Special sessions: What manner of gubernatorial power?State and Local Government Review26:79–88.
12.
BernickE. LeeWigginsCharles W.. 1984. The governor’s executive order: An unknown power (focuses on North Carolina and Texas). State and Local Government Review16:3–10.
13.
BernickEthan M.Lee BernickE.. 2008. Executive-legislative relations: Where you sit really does matter. Social Science Quarterly89:969–86.
14.
BestRobin E.LemSteve B.. 2011. Electoral volatility, competition and third-party candidacies in US gubernatorial elections. Party Politics17:611–28.
15.
BeyleThad L.1968. The governor’s formal powers: A view from the governor’s chair. Public Administration Review28:540–45.
16.
BeyleThad L.FergusonMargaret. 2008. Governors and the executive branch. Politics in the American States: A Comparative Analysis9:192–228.
17.
BeyleThad L.NiemiRichard G.SigelmanLee. 2002. Gubernatorial, senatorial, and state-level presidential job approval: The U.S. officials job approval ratings (JAR) collection. State Politics & Policy Quarterly2:215–29.
18.
BowlingCynthia J.FergusonMargaret R.. 2001. Divided government, interest representation, and policy differences: Competing explanations of gridlock in the fifty states. TheJournal of Politics63:182–206.
19.
BystromDianne G.RobertsonTerry A.BanwartMary Christine. 2001. Framing the fight an analysis of media coverage of female and male candidates in primary races for governor and US senate in 2000. American Behavioral Scientist44:1999–2013.
20.
CheekS. K.1990. Recent state initiatives: The governor as policy leader; the governor as chief administrator. International Journal of Public Administration13:621–43.
21.
ClarkeWes. 1997. Budget requests and agency head selection methods. Political Research Quarterly50:301–16.
22.
CohenJeffrey E.KingJames D.. 2004. Relative unemployment and gubernatorial popularity. The Journal of Politics66:1267–82.
23.
ConstantelosJohn. 2014. Vetoes and venues: Economic crisis and the roads to recovery in Michigan and Ontario. Canadian Journal of Political Science-Revue Canadienne De Science Politique47:827–53.
24.
CookElizabeth AdellJelenTed G.WilcoxClyde. 1994. Issue voting in gubernatorial elections: Abortion and post-Webster politics. The Journal of Politics56:187–99.
25.
CrewRobert E.JrLewisChristopher. 2011. Verbal style, gubernatorial strategies, and legislative success. Political Psychology32:623–42.
26.
CromerEdJimO’Hara. Alexander in Plea for Schools. The TennesseanJanuary 11, 1984.
CumminsJeff. 2009. Issue voting and crime in gubernatorial elections. Social Science Quarterly90:632–51.
29.
CumminsJeff. 2012. An empirical analysis of California budget gridlock. State Politics & Policy Quarterly12:23–42.
30.
DickesLori A.CrouchElizabeth. 2015. Policy effectiveness of U.S. governors: The role of gender and changing institutional powers. Women’s Studies International Forum53:90–98.
31.
DolanJulie. 2001. Women in the executive branch: A review essay of their political impact and career opportunities. Women and Politics22:89–104.
32.
DometriusNelson C.1979. Measuring gubernatorial power. The Journal of Politics41:589–610.
33.
DometriusNelson C.BowlingCynthiaFergusonMargaret R.WrightDeil S.. 2013. State-level measures of institutional budgetary influence from the American state administrators’ project: 1964-98. State Politics & Policy Quarterly13:107–20.
34.
DometriusNelson C.WrightDeil S.. 2010. Governors, legislatures, and state budgets across time. Political Research Quarterly63:783–95.
35.
DouglasJames W.1999. Agency strategies and determinants of agency success under redirection in Georgia. State and Local Government Review31:31–42.
36.
DouglasJames W.HoffmanKim U.. 2004. Impoundment at the state level: Executive power and budget impact. American Review of Public Administration34:252–58.
37.
EriksonRobert S.FolkeOlleJrJames M. Snyder. 2015. A gubernatorial helping hand? How governors affect presidential elections. TheJournal of Politics77:491–504.
FergusonMargaret Robertson. 2003. Chief executive success in the legislative arena. State Politics & Policy Quarterly3:158–82.
40.
FergusonMargaret R.BowlingCynthia J.. 2008. Executive orders and administrative control. Public Administration Review68:S20–28.
41.
FredrikssonPer G.WangLeMamunKhawaja A.. 2011. Are politicians’ office or policy motivated? The case of U.S. governors’ environmental policies. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management62:241–53.
42.
GakhMaximVernickJon S.RutkowLainie. 2013. Using gubernatorial executive orders to advance public health. Public Health Reports128:127–30.
43.
GoodmanDoug. 2007. Determinants of perceived gubernatorial budgetary influence among state executive budget analysts and legislative fiscal analysts. Political Research Quarterly60:43–54.
44.
HaederSimon F.WeimerDavid L.. 2013. You can’t make me do it: State implementation of insurance exchanges under the affordable care act. Public Administration Review73:S34–47.
45.
HaleGeorge E.DouglassScott R.. 1977. The politics of budget execution financial manipulation in state and local government. Administration & Society9:367–78.
46.
HansenSusan B.1999. “Life is not fair”: Governors’ job performance ratings and state economies. Political Research Quarterly52:167–88.
47.
HebertF. TedBrudneyJeffrey L.. 1988. Controlling administrative agencies in a changing federal system: Avenues of gubernatorial influence. American Review of Public Administration18:135–47.
48.
HebertF. TedBrudneyJeffrey L.WrightDeil S.. 1983. Gubernatorial influence and state bureaucracy. American Politics Quarterly11:243–64.
49.
HeidbrederBrianne. 2012. Agenda setting in the states: How politics and policy needs shape gubernatorial agendas. Politics & Policy40:296–319.
50.
HerzikEric B.WigginsCharles W.. 1989. Governors vs. legislatures: Vetoes, overrides, and policy making in the American states. Policy Studies Journal17:841–62.
51.
HowellSusan E.SimsRobert T.. 1993. Abortion attitudes and the Louisiana governor’s election. American Politics Research21:54–64.
52.
JacobyWilliam G.SchneiderSaundra K.. 2001. Variability in state policy priorities: An empirical analysis. The Journal of Politics63:544–68.
53.
JalalzaiFarida. 2006. Women candidates and the media: 1992-2000 elections. Politics & Policy34:606–33.
54.
KahnKim Fridkin. 1994. The distorted mirror: Press coverage of women candidates for statewide office. The Journal of Politics56:154–73.
KoniskyDavid M.RichardsonLilliard E. Jr. 2012. Penalizing the party: Health care reform issue voting in the 2010 election. American Politics Research40:903–26.
57.
KousserThadPhillipsJustin H.. 2009. Who blinks first? Legislative patience and bargaining with governors. Legislative Studies Quarterly34:55–86.
58.
KousserThadPhillipsJustin H.. 2012. The power of American governors: Winning on budgets and losing on policy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
59.
KrauseGeorge A.MeluskyBenjamin F.. 2012. Concentrated powers: Unilateral executive authority and fiscal policymaking in the American states. The Journal of Politics74:98–112.
60.
KrauseGeorge A.MeluskyBenjamin F.. 2014. Retrospective economic voting and the intertemporal dynamics of electoral accountability in the American states. TheJournal of Politics76:1102–15.
61.
KrupnikovYannaShipanCharles. 2012. Measuring gubernatorial budgetary power: A new approach. State Politics & Policy Quarterly12:438–55.
62.
LacyDeanMonsonQuin. 2002. The origins and impact of votes for third-party candidates: A case study of the 1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election. Political Research Quarterly55:409–37.
63.
LauthThomas P.2014. Zero-base budgeting redux in Georgia: Efficiency or ideology?Public Budgeting & Finance34:1–17.
64.
LauthThomas P.ReeseCatherine C.. 2006. The line-item veto in Georgia: Fiscal restraint or inter-branch politics?Public Budgeting and Finance26:1–19.
65.
LealDavid L.2006. Electing America’s governors: The politics of executive elections. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
66.
LewisDaniel C.SchneiderSaundra K.JacobyWilliam G.. 2015. Institutional characteristics and state policy priorities: The impact of legislatures and governors. State Politics and Policy Quarterly15:447–75.
67.
MonardiFred. 2003. “Divided government” in state executive branches. Politics & Policy31:232–50.
68.
MorehouseSarah McCally. 1996. Legislative party voting for the governor’s program. Legislative Studies Quarterly26:359–81.
69.
MuellerKeith J.1985. Explaining variation and change in gubernatorial powers, 1960-1982. The Western Political Quarterly38:424–31.
70.
PlutzerEricZippJohn F.. 1996. Identity politics, partisanship, and voting for women candidates. Public Opinion Quarterly60:30–57.
71.
PolivkaLarryJack OsterholtB.. 1985. The governor as manager: Agency autonomy and accountability. Public Budgeting & Finance5:91–104.
72.
RedlawskDavid P.2015. The American governor: Power, constraint, and leadership in the states. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
73.
RosenthalAlan. 2012. The best job in politics: Exploring how governors succeed as policy leaders. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
74.
SchlesingerJoseph A.1965. The politics of the executive. Politics in the American States2:210–37.
75.
SchneiderSaundra K.1989. Governors and health care policy in the American states. Policy Studies Journal17:909–26.
76.
SharkanskyIra. 1968. Agency requests, gubernatorial support and budget success in state legislatures. American Political Science Review62:1220–31.
77.
SigelmanLeeDometriusNelson C.. 1988. Governors as chief administrators: The linkage between formal powers and informal influence. American Politics Quarterly16:157–70.
78.
SmithDaniel L.HouYilin. 2013. Balanced budget requirements and state spending: A long-panel study. Public Budgeting & Finance33:1–18.
79.
SteinRobert M.1990. Economic voting for governor and U. S. senator: The electoral consequences of federalism. The Journal of Politics52:29–53.
80.
ThompsonJoel A.1987. Agency requests, gubernatorial support, and budget success in state legislatures revisited. The Journal of Politics49:756–79.
81.
WallDiane E.WinderDavid W.. 1995. The relationship of the formal powers of governors and state attorneys general. Southeastern Political Review23:67–82.
82.
WeinbergMartha W.1977. Managing the state. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
83.
WeinbergMicah. 2010. Measuring governors’ political orientations using words as data. State Politics & Policy Quarterly10:96–109.
84.
WilloughbyKatherine G.2004. Performance measurement and budget balancing: State government perspective. Public Budgeting and Finance24:21–39.
85.
WinderDavid W.HillDavid. 2006. The governor and the lieutenant governor: Forms of cooperation between two state executives. Politics & Policy34:634–56.
86.
WindettJason Harold. 2014. Gendered campaign strategies in US elections. American Politics Research42:628–55.
