With only a month remaining for Scott Walker, Wisconsin legislators have voted to limit the power given
to the governor. In November, a Democrat, Tony Evers, defeated the incumbent and Republican
candidate, Scott Walker for the position as governor. After being faced with the first Democratic Governor
in eight years, GOP lawmakers in the state worked overtime to try and push through new legislation
to restrict the governor’s power. They stayed overnight in a lame duck sessions passing a number of laws
creating an uproar of protests. Two years ago North Carolina did the same thing, and Democrats sued
causing uncertainty over who gets to exercise what power. It is not likely that Democrats in Wisconsin are
going to stay quiet either Many of these new laws were made with the purpose of keeping the new
governor from withdrawing GOP backed laws.
- Do you believe that state legislators should be able to limit the power of governors?
- Was it fair for these laws to be passed just because the new governor was a Democrat?
- Do you think we will see this happening more often because of the widening divide between the two parties in our government?
1) I believe that it is important for state legislators to check the governors. This is because the founding fathers intended for the legislative branch to check the executive branch, except that this is on a state level. So, I think that it should be important for state legislators to check governors, governors should also be able to check the state legislator branch. I think it is important that legislators limited Scott Walker to prevent lame duck decisions, but there should be a good reason why.
ReplyDelete2) I do not think it was fair for the laws to be passed just because the new governor was a Democrat. I believe that the checks and balances should be used if there is a power imbalance, not just because of someones political affiliation. Therefore, I do . not think that it was fair that the law was passed just because he was a democrat.
3) Yes I do think that it will occur more often because many people are becoming more and more divided. Therefore, they will be more desperate to get their power and so they will try to check the other party without any real reason to. This is bad because it will cause more corruption in our government and it will continue to widen party divisions.
1. I think that state legislators should have the power to ensure the Governor shouldn't go off the rails and do what the people want.
ReplyDelete2. No.
3. I think we are seeing more corruption / limiting power because of the increasing polarization. Moreover, I think that this trend will most likely continue if Republicans continue to lose State legislators because it's usually Republicans who pull these kinds of stunts (I'm sure there's examples of Dems doing something like this, but Republicans consistently do these kind of things).
ReplyDeleteDo you believe that state legislators should be able to limit the power of governors?
Yes, I do. Checks and Balances are in place for a reason, to ensure one branch doesn't get too powerful. The state legislators should be able to limit the power of the governors if they belive they are getting too powerful. Even though this is on the state level, it is still important.
Was it fair for these laws to be passed just because the new governor was a Democrat?
I do not believe that this was fair. If there is a power imbalance, there should be a check and balance set up, despite him being a Democrat.
Do you think we will see this happening more often because of the widening divide between the two parties in our government?
I do believe we will see this happen more often. There is a larger divide between the two parties which means that each side wants to be more powerful. However, this may lead to more corruption.
-Tovia Sobel
No, I believe that state legislators should not be able to limit the power of governors. Like the US Constitution, state constitutions should define the powers of each branch and keep the branches somewhat separate so that they cannot encroach on powers of the other branches.
ReplyDeleteNo, it was not fair for these laws to be passed just because the new governor was a Democrat; however, I do not think it was illegal. Legislators have done unfair things for centuries, and, hopefully, the citizens of Wisconsin let the state legislatures know that their actions were unfair by making sure not to elect anyone involved in this scandal.
I do think we will see this happening more often because of the widening divide between Democrats and Republicans. With increased party polarization, representatives may begin to feel more obligation to their party, not their constituents, which would lead them to making these unfair actions.
1. I believe whether state legislators should be able to limit the power depends, but I do believe they have the power to do so. If these state legislators disagree greatly with the governor I think it would make sense in order to check the Governor's power. However, I don't believe they should do this only if they are from different parties which could be used in order to limit each other's power and influence.
ReplyDelete2. As I said previously I feel like it is allowed for this to happen as it seems as though these legislators disagree with the governor because of his party. However, I don't believe this is an adequate reason as there should be more to checking and reducing power than just the political party someone belongs to. Although I do believe that these legislators can explain other reasons in order to support their decision.
3. I believe this could set a precedent for limiting governors' power if this idea is never addressed or put into the spotlight. If there are questions being asked claiming that these legislators only do this because of party then I believe it could prevent a growth of this idea. However, I believe given increased political polarization I doubt this will be sufficient enough to prevent a growth of this idea.
ReplyDeleteDo you believe that state legislators should be able to limit the power of governors?
I fully believe that state legislators have the right to limit the power of governors.
Was it fair for these laws to be passed just because the new governor was a Democrat?
No, I do not think so. Aside from moral issues, this would set a harmful precedent for the future of politics.
Do you think we will see this happening more often because of the widening divide between the two parties in our government?
I would expect to see this more often if our politics continues to become increasingly divided. However, I am not sure as to how much further parties will grow apart and I am fairly optimistic that this divide will lessen in the future. So hopefully, no, I will not see this happen more often.
1. I believe state legislators should be able to limit the power of governors to some extent. Governors are separate from state legislators, and they should be able to check and balance each other out.
ReplyDelete2. It was not fair for these laws to be passed just because the new governor was a Democrat. If Republicans were to do it, there should be a more important reason to check the governor’s power other than party affiliation.
3. I think we will see more of this in the future because of the polarization of parties. People want their party to be more powerful than the other, and it seems they will do anything it takes to strengthen their party at the expense of others.
1. I think that limiting the governer's powers depends. Overall, I believe that they should be able to limit the governer's powers to a certain extent similar to how Congress has some powers to limit the president.
ReplyDelete2. I do not think they should pass these laws if the sole reason for passing it is because the new governor is a Democrat. limiting powers should be a response to an action they are certain the governor will try to corruptly do.
3. There is a pretty good chance this will happen in the future because of America's greatly divided parties. Both parties will do anything to get ahead and limiting the powers of others is nothing new.
1. State legislators should be able to limit the power of governors and although this may show that there is a need for some checks to this ability, it is still something that is very rare and risky.
ReplyDelete2. Was it fair? No, but it was definitely legal. Politics are rarely fair, but I do believe that this was a mistake by the GOP and that there will be backlash in the next election from moderates who voted republican.
3. With the high levels of polarization we are seeing today and bitter partisan relationships, I do see things like this occurring more in the future.
1. I believe that state legislators should be able to somewhat limit the power of the governors. There should be a system similar to our federal government where there are checks and balances.
ReplyDelete2. Passing laws just because the new governor was a Democrat is not fair. Limiting the governor's power should be for a better reason than just due to the governor's party.
3. I believe that this will continue to become more common simply because of the growing polarization in the U.S.. Because of this they different groups will continue to try and limit the power of the other party.
1. I think they have the right to limit the power of the governors, but it should not be based on political ideologies. Just because the governor is Democratic, they should not automatically be restricted if they haven't done anything wrong.
ReplyDelete2. No, like I said above this is based purely on political ideology which is not okay. The governor is allowed to be of whatever party he is.
3. Yes we have a very polarized government with people unwilling to reason with the other side. Because of this, people will try to limit the powers of people who hold different opinions than them.
1. I think the state legislatures should have the right to check the power of the governors. The system of checks and balances should apply at the state level where they keep each other in check. However, in this case, the reasoning behind the last-minute legislation was purely partisan, so I think it was wrong of the state legislatures to do so.
ReplyDelete2. nope
3. Yes, party polarization has only been increasing. That's why I think this issue needs to be addressed and clearly spelled out to set a precedent for future similar cases.
(Side note: this case sounds like Marbury v. Madison where Adams made the "midnight appointments" after Jefferson was elected president)
Do you believe that state legislators should be able to limit the power of governors?
ReplyDeleteI do believe that state legislators should have the ability to limit the power of governors, a good system they can adopt is something like the Checks and Balances system that we see in the three branches of federal government today.
Was it fair for these laws to be passed just because the new governor was a
Democrat? No, I do not.
Do you think we will see this happening more often because of the widening divide between the two parties in our government? Yes, I believe that the polarization of parties have been increasing and everyone is in disagreement with one another. Because of this they will want to cap the power of the other party.
1. I believe that a system of checks and balances should be in place, so the state legislators should be able to check the power of their governor, but this shouldn't get out of control. Since they are directly decreasing the power of the governor in this case, it seems a bit much.
ReplyDelete2. It was not fair for these laws to be passed- the intention behind it was clearly political, these GOP legislators clearly had no problem with the governor having more power when the governor was Republican.
3. I think that, if legislatures can get away with this type of thing, they will do it. Obviously whether or not it is possible depends on the state, but this specific instance sets an example that others could unfortunately follow.
1. Although a system of checks and balances should certainly be in place at the state level because it helps promote fairness in government, the attempts of the Wisconsin legislature to limit the governor are sort of suspicious given the recent rise of partisanship in the state government.
ReplyDelete2. No, the passing of these laws was not fair given their political nature, because partisanship should not have a direct influence on the very structure and functioning of the government.
3. Yes, I believe that we will see a rise in this sort of political action given the increasingly partisan nature of our government, as parties will actively try to limit the power of opposing views. The situation in Wisconsin is a sign of a rise in this sort of partisan-driven activity throughout the US.