It’s vital to education AND understudied.

The U.S. political system provides governors with opportunities to shape policy at many levels. From working with localities and quasi-governmental bodies, to crafting state budgets, to testifying before congressional committees in Washington, D.C., the modern-day governor fills many roles and is the key player at many of the crucial decision points in the development of policy. In recognition of this important fact, political scientists have worked to increase both the quality and quantity of the research on this office in the past three decades. Scholars such as Joseph Schlesinger, Larry Sabato, Thad Beyle, and Nelson Dometrius have helped push the field forward and have led the move toward truly understanding the office of the governor as it currently exists. Common knowledge of the formal and informal powers of governors, the factors that impact gubernatorial elections, and the factors that affect the ability of governors to work with state legislatures, for instance, has been made available as a result of the efforts of these scholars and countless others.

But even though scholars have focused on systematically examining the internal policy-making efforts and powers of governors, relatively little research has been dedicated to understanding the ways in which governors work to influence policy outside the borders of their home states. On its face, the lack of focus on external gubernatorial powers may not seem like a significant point of weakness in the literature. After all, governors derive their authority and political power from the voters who place them in office, and they must work with the legislatures that is directly elected by those same voters in each state. Thus, it is only logical that scholars study governors as they work in that particular context, and it is likewise imperative that researchers examine governors in that environment. But by ignoring the ability of governors to shape policy outside the borders of the states they preside over, researchers fail to capture one of the most important aspects of the modern governorship. As governors regularly testify in front of Congress, provide input on the development of rules and procedures being adopted by federal agencies, and actually implement many federal policies within their states, they are provided with ample opportunities to shape policy and are given effective control over the direction of considerable sums of federal resources.