• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Saturday, June 3, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

Are American States Still Laboratories of Democracy?

Colin Provost by Colin Provost
12/24/18
in Opinion
A US flag flutters

Photo: Thomas Samson, AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Wisconsin’s outgoing Republican governor Scott Walker signed a set of bills earlier this month designed to limit the powers of the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general. Walker and the Republicans that comprise the majority in both houses of Wisconsin’s legislature have a number of legislative accomplishments from the past eight years that they undoubtedly want to preserve. However, this move to hobble incoming and duly elected politicians has the potential to make bloody, partisan brawls over electoral power structures completely routine.

Some observers may ask whether American politics isn’t already characterized by bloody, partisan brawls. Yes and no. Congress continues to hone its reputation for gridlock, demonstrating that major legislation can only be passed in times of unified government and even then, it’s no sure thing, as the Trump-led Republican Party has just finished demonstrating.

President Donald Trump holds a hat given to him by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker upon
President Donald Trump and Wisconsin’s outgoing Republican governor Scott Walker in 2017. Photo: Saul Loeb, AFP

The state-level transformation into a partisan mirror of Congress has been a more recent development, as Professor Timothy Conlan argues. While state governments had traditionally demonstrated higher levels of cooperation and consistent policy implementation, increased polarization has produced statehouses that increasingly resemble Congress. So yes, American politics is characterized by bloody, partisan brawls, both federal and state.

Birthplace of Post-Election Rule Changes

However, while increased polarization may produce fiercer battles over policymaking until recently it did not necessarily mean abdicating the norms that preserved basic power structures in state government.

That changed in 2016 when the North Carolina lame duck Republicans passed legislation that stripped powers from incoming Democratic governor Roy Cooper. Those moves are still being litigated in 2018, but regardless of the outcome, a number of observers point towards North Carolina as the birthplace of the new, post-election rule changes.

As a result, Wisconsin is not the only state to have contemplated and passed power-shifting pieces of legislation in 2018; as of this writing, the legislature in Michigan is still considering a law that would shift oversight of campaign finance law while giving legislators more influence over litigation in which the state becomes involved. Such legislative maneuvers present a new frontier in electoral politics within the United States.

Role of State Attorney Generals

Control over state litigation is also a major component of the Wisconsin law. For decades now, state attorneys general (AG) – the (mostly) elected chief law enforcement officers of each state – have been enormously powerful policymakers, as they file lawsuits alone and jointly against businesses and the federal government alike.

As the position has grown in influence, each party has sought to spend more on AG elections and candidate recruitment, but at the same time, some legislatures have attempted to curb the power of this office. Typically, these efforts have failed in the courts, as the broad powers of state AGs are typically enshrined either in statutory or constitutional law across the states.

Perhaps the most spectacular of these failures came in 1997 when Mississippi Governor Kirk Fordice sued his own AG Mike Moore to force him to drop a lawsuit against the tobacco companies. Governor Fordice lost in the Mississippi Supreme Court and ultimately, the tobacco companies settled with the states for $246 billion.

Wisconsin’s Law Threatens AG’s Power

The laws just passed in Wisconsin represent a significant threat to state AG power for two reasons. First, the governor signed the bill into law, which means it is no longer just a proposal. Second, the constraints it places on incoming AG Josh Kaul are breathtakingly large in scope, as it prevents him from hiring additional staff such as a solicitor general (a specialist advocate who handles appellate litigation in court). The new law also prevents Kaul from withdrawing from the Republican AG lawsuits against the Affordable Care Act. Few times before has a state legislature attempted to define what a state AG can litigate and what they cannot.

Former US President Barack Obama speaking about the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) in Texas, 2013.
The Affordable Care Act is also known as Obamacare and enacted in March 2010. Photo: Brendan Smialowski, AFP

What are the longer-term implications of these post-election power shifts? First, it depends what the courts have to say. As outgoing governor Scott Walker himself has acknowledged, the latest legislation is likely to be challenged by Democrats and possibly end up before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

If such maneuvers are validated, it is a safe bet that future state legislatures will follow suit, especially if they think they can be successful. Even if such strippings of authority eventually lose in court, they can be deemed a success to the extent that the incoming elected officials have to waste precious time in a legal war of attrition over the merits of such moves, rather than actually governing.

Second, the polarization that accompanies these structural shifts in power could ensure that they become significantly more seismic. Many states are blessed with a wealth of statewide, elected offices, where elected officials are in charge of policies often delegated to independent commissions or arms-length organizations in other nations.

Elected statewide offices, such as state AG and secretary of state, can prevent a concentration of power in the state government and give parties and organized interests additional means and venues of influencing the policy process.

However, if the incumbents in these offices spend more time punishing the opposing party and their constituents, party politics will benefit at the expense of the policy needs of ordinary citizens. A recent example from the midterm elections is when Georgia’s Secretary of State Brian Kemp was in the unusual position of essentially overseeing his own election for governor, a race that he in fact nearly lost.

Laboratories of Democracy

American state governments have long been known as the “laboratories of democracy” where bottom-up policy experimentation can occur and complement top-down federal policymaking.

State governments also offer a number of venues through which constituents can influence the policy process. However, if increased polarization continues to infect state politics, legislators may find themselves spending most of their time figuring out how to legally remove power from the other party.

This not only undermines policymaking through a highly partisan expenditure of state resources, but it also diminishes the significance of citizens’ vote choices.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Globe Post.
Share6Tweet
Colin Provost

Colin Provost

Associate Professor in Public Policy, University College London, England

Related Posts

A man holds US, Taiwan flags
Business

US and Taiwan Ink Trade Deal as China Issues Warning

by Staff Writer
June 2, 2023
A noose is seen on makeshift gallows as supporters of US President Donald Trump gather on the West side of the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, 2021
National

Militia Leader Gets 18 Years in Prison Over US Capitol Attack

by Staff Writer
May 26, 2023
A billboard showing the debt limit is seen in Washington, D.C.
National

US Republicans Upbeat on Prospects for Debt Deal

by Staff Writer
May 19, 2023
Military hardware rolls through Dvortsovaya Square during a Victory Day military parade in central Saint Petersburg
National

Pressing Russia, US Shares Nuclear Warhead Data Under Treaty

by Staff Writer
May 16, 2023
A man holding a gun
Opinion

The NRA’s Continuing Agenda of Fear

by Stephen J. Lyons
May 12, 2023
US Panel Recommends Nonprescription Use of Contraception Pill
National

US Panel Recommends Nonprescription Use of Contraception Pill

by Staff Writer
May 11, 2023
Next Post
US forces, accompanied by Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters, drive their armoured vehicles near the northern Syrian village of Darbasiyah, on the border with Turkey on April 28, 2017.

Syrian Policy Complexity Is America’s Necessary Lesson

Spanish police at a scene of a terror attack

Barcelona on Alert After US Warns of Possible Christmas Attack

Recommended

A man holds US, Taiwan flags

US and Taiwan Ink Trade Deal as China Issues Warning

June 2, 2023
Migrants waiting at the Turkish border.

Beyond Numbers: Confronting Europe’s Broken Border System

May 30, 2023
A noose is seen on makeshift gallows as supporters of US President Donald Trump gather on the West side of the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, 2021

Militia Leader Gets 18 Years in Prison Over US Capitol Attack

May 26, 2023
Customers queue to enter a re-opened Zara clothes shop

EU Targets Fast Fashion in Push for Durable Goods

May 23, 2023
A billboard showing the debt limit is seen in Washington, D.C.

US Republicans Upbeat on Prospects for Debt Deal

May 19, 2023
Military hardware rolls through Dvortsovaya Square during a Victory Day military parade in central Saint Petersburg

Pressing Russia, US Shares Nuclear Warhead Data Under Treaty

May 16, 2023

Opinion

Migrants waiting at the Turkish border.

Beyond Numbers: Confronting Europe’s Broken Border System

May 30, 2023
A man holding a gun

The NRA’s Continuing Agenda of Fear

May 12, 2023
US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

A Supreme Folly 

April 24, 2023
Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 26, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
An earthquake survivor reacts as rescuers look for victims and other survivors in Hatay, a Turkish province where hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the earthquake

Heed the Call of Our Broken World

March 1, 2023
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post