ERIC Number: ED152623
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1978-Jan
Pages: 128
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Perspectives of a State Legislature. The Connecticut General Assembly.
McKee, Clyde D., Jr., Ed.
The major goal of this book is to improve the public's understanding of the legislative branch of the state government in Connecticut. It is divided into seven sections: (1) the political tradition and environment of the state legislature; (2) the state legislature as a nonpartisan institution; (3) the substance of the legislature; (4) the politics of the legislature; (5) the procedures of the legislature; (6) the critics of the legislature; and (7) conclusions. Section 1 examines constitutional principles and the internal and external forces of power. Section 2 looks at the modernization of the general assembly and gives an overview of the state's general fund budget. Section 3 examines state funding, provides guidelines for initiating legislation and understanding its scope, and investigates the legislature's economic responsibilities and priorities. The fourth section outlines the art of compromise and the minority party's role of proposing alternative programs and criticizing the majority in order to hold the administration accountable to the citizenry. Section 5 discusses the need for legislative review and proposes an alternative model for legislative procedure. Citizen participation, press opinion, and the general assembly's failure to help its capitol city are studied in section 6. The last section discusses the areas of agreement and disagreement among the contributing authors. (Author/JK)
Descriptors: Budgets, Citizen Participation, Citizen Role, Citizens Councils, Constitutional Law, Government (Administrative Body), Government Role, Institutional Environment, Legislation, Legislators, Policy Formation, Political Attitudes, Political Influences, Political Issues, Politics, Press Opinion, State Agencies, State Government, State Legislation, State Officials
Publication Type: Books
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Trinity Coll., Hartford, CT. Dept. of Political Science.
Identifiers - Location: Connecticut
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A