Governors acts as chief executive leaders of five commonwealths, fifty states, and territories. As the state chief executive leader, governors have the power to implement state laws and supervising the activities of the state executive branches. As heads of state, governors pursue and advance new and revised state programs and policies using various tools such as legislative proposals, executive orders, vetoes, and executive budgets (Seifter, 2018). Governors conduct their leadership and management responsibilities and objectives with the help and support of agency heads and departments that governors are empowered to appoint (Wilkins, 2016). Most of the governors also have the power and authority to appoint state court judges. However, most of the governors’ responsibilities and roles are common. Gubernatorial power differs from state to state depending on the state constitutions, traditions, and legislation. Governors are ranked mainly by their political history; in addition, around thirty percent of the governors have power to an amendatory veto.
State legislatures have three essential roles. First, they perform a lawmaking function by writing, researching, and passing legislation. Secondly, legislatures represent their areas and work to solve the requirements of the citizens in their district. Lastly, legislatures perform an oversight role for the executive branch (Tate, 2018). All legislatures serve on committees that research, examine, investigate, and vote on legislation connected to the committee’s purpose like transportation, agriculture, or education. Legislators also work with the chief executive officer’s plan in every legislative course, and legislatures must pass a budget for their districts yearly or after two years. Apart from generating public policy, State legislatures represent the needs of their constituents.
Impeachment is a political and constitutional arrangement to remove a public officer from office due to violating the constitution or gross misconduct (Fagbadebo & Dorasamy, 2020). The impeachment clause was included in the body because of the immunity that government officers enjoyed. The impeachment process usually has two levels. The first level is impeachment; this is where a formal accusation or statement of charges is developed. During this level, charges are heard and researched. If the body found that gross misconduct occurred, articles of charges are written and voted. The second level is the usual consideration of the accusations written in the impeachment articles, which is conducted by the senate’s upper legislative body. However, impeachment is usually rare because impeachment is considered a power to be excessed in extreme cases. A recall election is an election method where voters can oust government officials before the end of their official term. The act of recalling elected officials is used to reduce the influence of political parties on the officials. The essential instrument of recall is the letter signed by the officer before assuming office.
Executive branches are represented by state executive offices, responsible for implementing and enforcing state laws created by state legislatures. Governor is the major executive leader of the state’s government. Most prominent executive offices such as secretary of state and attorney general are established in a constitution. Other offices that are included in the constitution are the superintendent of schools and treasurer. Auditor, insurance commissioner, agricultural commissioner, and natural resource commissioner offices are established in statute. The legislative is made up of elected members (Bunch & Ferrara, 2018). Legislature considers issues presented by the state governor or brought forth by members to make a law. The members also initiate tax legislation, approve the state’s budget, articles of impeachment.