Introduction: Disconnected Democracies 2 State Constitutions 3 The States in the Federal System 4 State Governors 5 State Legislatures and Representative Government 6 State Justice Systems 7 Corruption in State and Municipal Government 8 Conclusion: What is to be Done?

Praise for America’s State Governments"States play enormously important roles in the American federal system. But this fascinating account shows how short they fall in delivering equal access to democratic participation, effective policy in the public interest, or even basic justice, for both political and structural reasons. Entertainingly written and full of new data and eye-opening examples, this book shows how low citizen interest and knowledge, declining media coverage, institutional weakness, and insufficient ethics protections result in interest group dominance, unrepresentative policies, and sometimes outright corruption. A must-read for anyone interested in the state (no pun intended) of American governance."-- Andrea Louise Campbell, Massachusetts Institute of Technology"The major strength of this textbook is that it offers the freshest take on state politics in literally decades."--Douglas Harris, Loyola University Maryland"Engaging and analytically challenging."--Ian J. Drake, Montclair State University"Rather than focus on comparing states with one another—the dominant approach in state politics research and texts—this book emphasizes their overall role in the federal system and their commonalities. This is an interesting and compelling approach."--Michael Berkman, Pennsylvania State University