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Vetoes and Venues: Economic Crisis and the Roads to Recovery in Michigan and Ontario

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2014

John Constantelos
John Constantelos*
Affiliation:
Grand Valley State University
*
Department of Political Science, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI 49401, Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article examines executive responses to economic decline in Ontario and Michigan from 2003 to 2012, when the two governments struggled to adjust to a severe manufacturing crisis which greatly worsened during the Great Recession in 2008–2009. Sharing an international border, these cases offer control over an unusually large number of economic, social and political factors, permitting a focused analysis of the impact of divided government and fiscal decentralization on executive policy making. The research finds that greater fiscal decentralization in Canada and unified government in Ontario allowed the province to develop a more rapid and more robust response to the economic crisis in comparison to the State of Michigan. Budgetary constraints and a partisan veto at the state level forced Michigan's governor to redirect her efforts to the federal venue.

Résumé

L'article examine les réponses des exécutifs au déclin économique de l'Ontario et du Michigan de 2003 à 2012, lorsque les deux gouvernements éprouvèrent des difficultés à s'adapter devant une grave crise du secteur manufacturier qui empira durant la Grande Récession 2008–9. Partageant une frontière internationale, ces deux cas permettent de contrôler un nombre inhabituellement élevé de facteurs économiques, sociaux et politiques. Cette recherche montre qu'une plus grande décentralisation fiscale au Canada et qu'un gouvernement unifié en Ontario ont permis à la province d'élaborer une réponse plus rapide et plus robuste à la crise économique que le put l'État du Michigan. Les contraintes budgétaires et un veto partisan au niveau de l'État ont en effet forcé la gouverneure du Michigan à rediriger ses efforts vers le gouvernement fédéral.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 47 , Issue 4 , December 2014 , pp. 827 - 853
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2014 

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