Measuring Gubernatorial Power

The concept of power has always played a key role in American political thought and action. Since the eighteenth century we have gone full circle: from limiting the exercise of power through such devices as checks and balances and referenda, to demanding responsibility and efficiency via the short ballot and, today, back to curbing Presidential hegemony. Throughout it all, academics have agonized over defining, locating and measuring power. This paper examines the problem with reference to one set of political actors—state governors. The most commonly used measure, Schlesinger's Formal Power of the Governors Index, will be critiqued and revised in an effort to improve its measurement validity.