Political Science Blog Posts - 2014

The blog posts below were created in 2014 and were published on my now defunct blog site www.practical-politics.org. These posts were used as supplemental information for the students in my American Government and State & Local Government courses.

State Budgeting Overview

As the fiscal year for most states come to an end, I decided it would be a good time to review the state budget making process. According to authors Bowman and Kearney in their book, “State and Local Government” most state fiscal years run from July 1 through June 30^th. Most state budgets are done annually and must be balanced. The state budget is usually the last item of business voted on by legislators, prior to the adjournment of the legislative session. While the budget process may start as early as the end of the previous legislative session, it often starts in November.

The Governor outlines the initial state budget. As 2014 is a midterm election year many Governors are up for re-election. Immediately following the November election Governors are eager to put their policy priorities in place. This starts with the appointment of agency directors and subsequent formulation of agency budgets that reflect the Governor’s spending priorities.

A Governor’s agenda is first introduced in an annual State of the State address to state legislators and the public. The State of the State address usually occurs in January. Sometimes the date of the State of the State can be found in the state constitution and sometimes it can be found in state statutes. The National Association of State Budget Officers has compiled a list with the date of each state’s State of the State address and link to the Governors speech.

The details of the Governor’s spending priorities are presented in the annual State of the Budget address to state legislators. The date of the State of the Budget address, like the State of the State address, can also be found in a state’s constitution or state statutes. The budget address details the Governor’s spending priorities as well as the needs of the individual agencies. These details are worked out by the State Budget Office and submitted to the State Legislature for their consideration. This is referred to as the appropriations process.

In the appropriations process, bills are introduced in the House and the Senate. When the appropriation bills go to committee, agency directors and staffs are on hand to testify and answer legislator’s questions regarding the amounts requested. Once the bills are passed any differences between the House and Senate bills are often reconciled in a conference committee report. Once passed by both chambers the appropriations bill goes to the Governor for his or her approval. If what is passed doesn’t align with what the Governor wants, he or she has the power to veto specific items. This is known as a line item veto. The budget then goes back to the state legislature, which then can accept or override the Governor’s veto. Once the process is concluded the budget is executed and funds are released to state agencies.

What is important to note is that the appropriations process not only determines how state funds are to be distributed, but it also gives state agencies the authority to spend those funds. However, just because a state agency has the authority to spend funds does not necessarily mean the money is there! The appropriations process is based upon the projection of state revenue (or tax dollars coming in), not actual dollars in the state coffers.

While this seems like a pretty straightforward process it can get quite messy. Citizens and advocacy groups may have different ideas about which programs and services should receive funding. These citizens and advocacy groups work through their state elected officials and testify during the appropriations process in order to have their spending priorities addressed. Additionally, agencies use a variety of methods to protect their funding, such as:

• spending all of the monies appropriated to them and arguing the need for more;
• creating new programs and arguing that they can be done with existing funds, when in reality there will need to be an increase in the next fiscal year;
• threatening to cut popular programs to rile up the electorate; and
• doubling the increase needed while knowing that it will be reduced by half.

This is obviously a general overview of the state budgeting process and each states budget process is slightly different. There are also different types of state budgets such as the line item budget, performance/results based budget, and zero-based budget.

For more information The National Association of State Budget Officers provides a series of videos on state budget basics at http://www.nasbo.org/state-budget-basics-videos.

Effective Communication with Your Public Officials

One of a number of reasons for political apathy occurs in the U.S. is because there is the belief that we have no say … no voice … in the governmental decision making process. Sadly, that belief is far from the truth. Your congressmen, state legislators, county commissioners, city council members, school board members etc. do in fact value your opinion. Why? They were elected to represent YOU! The only way they know how their constituency feels about an issue is if you contact them and let them know.

In a recent conversation I had with a former state representative, the method that you use to contact your elected official is irrelevant. The use of email is just as effective as sending a letter through the mail. What is important to note, is that HOW you contact them does matter! When contacting your public officials remember the following rules for effective communication:

DO contact YOUR elected official. Elected officials pay more attention to your concerns if you live in their district. Face it, they know who got them there and who is responsible for keeping them in office!

DO personalize your communication. Personalized communication stands out! Knowing you took the time to write and express your concerns will elicit a response in kind. Conversely, if you send a form letter or sign a petition, expect a form letter in return.

DON’T start your communication by stating, “I’m a taxpayer” or “I voted for you,” etc. Sorry, but they already know you pay taxes and they appreciate your support. Confrontational exchanges are not effective if you want to be heard on that specific issue or any future issue of concern you may have.

DON'T expect your elected official to be as passionate about, or as knowledgeable about, an issue as you are. Public officials get a lot of email, snail mail, phone calls, etc. on a myriad of issues. Take time to frame your issue and point out specific concerns. If you’re an expert in a specific field, offer to be an information resource.

DON'T just write and call. Attend town hall meetings, council meetings, legislative hearings, or even set up a personal meeting. Hear all sides of the debate so that you can understand the difficult decisions that public officials have to make on a daily basis.

Political Participants & Participation

People are the main ingredient in the political process. An individual can participate in the political process acting on his or her own behalf, as a spokesperson in a professional capacity, or as a member of an organization (for-profit or non-profit) in a collective capacity. Those individuals who do choose to participate in the political process do so in an attempt to influence governmental decisions.

Political participation can take a variety of forms. The most basic form of political participation is the simple act of voting. Individuals can attempt to influence the outcome of an election by placing a sign in their yard, wearing a button, placing a bumper sticker on their car, discussing their political preferences with others, writing letters to the editor supporting a candidate, and by making a donation to a political campaign. Similarly organizations can attempt to influence the outcome of an election by endorsing a specific candidate, encouraging their employees/members to vote for a candidate or slate of candidates, encouraging employees/members to volunteer on a political campaign, or by making campaign donations.

Through political participation we are attempting to influence the direction of public policy by electing individuals of “like minds,” candidates who share our ideology and personal beliefs. However the attempt to influence public policy doesn’t end after the election is over. Many individuals, singularly and collectively, continue to influence public policy decisions by participating in public meetings and by contacting their public officials. In the end, the defining attribute of political participation is an individual or collective action, which impacts governmental decision-making.

What is Politics?

“Politics.” It’s one of the words that tend to evoke a negative reaction in people. Why? It’s because the word “politics” reminds us of all of the negative campaign commercials we hear on TV during election season. The word “politics” is used to describe the highly publicized bickering between Congress and the President, republicans and democrats. We hear the word politics and we automatically think of conflict, disagreement . . . a struggle for power. The result is aversion to taking part in anything that we may deem “political.”

While we tend to ascribe negative emotions to politics, one could argue that it is our emotions regarding a particular issue or action, which drives our behavior. Ultimately our emotions are tied back to our ideology, or beliefs, that are formed throughout a lifetime of experiences. This is often referred to as political socialization. Politics and political socialization go hand in hand.

Political socialization begins at the moment of our birth. Our first exposure to politics comes from our families. As children we are influenced by our parents involvement, or lack of involvement, in the political process. Children observe their parents voting, listen to their parents discuss politics, or discuss public policy issues. Other familial influence stems from the morals and values passed on to us. Other forms of political socialization are derived from our religious affiliation, educational status, professional affiliations, peer groups, race, age, gender, and economic status.

It’s the ideology and belief systems that we form throughout our lives that lead us to surround ourselves with people of like minds. We tend to identify ourselves with a specific political party that shares those beliefs. It is also these same beliefs that determine our thoughts about how our Country’s social and economic problems should be solved. The way citizens and elected officials believe public policy issues should be addressed ultimately leads to conflict, disagreement, and debate brought about by these ideological differences.

In the end, in order to understand politics, one must first understand the various ideological differences that drive the determination in who gets what, when, and how…