Explaining Government Contraction

IT IS RARE that a major governmental function contracts in size. Indeed, supply-side theories of governmental size suggest that growth is an inevitable result of various government processes, e.g., bureacratic expansionism (Niskanen 1971; Borcherding 1971), interest group interaction (Downs 1957; Lewis-Beck and Rice 1985), productivity lags in the public sector (Baumol 1967), fiscal illusion (Wagner 1976; Cameron 1978), and the cumulative unintentional consequences of past government activities (Davis, Dempster, and Wildavsky 1974). Yet educational spending of American state and local governments has declined over the last decade in relation to the national economy. Educational spending as a percent of total personal income in the United States rose from 3 percent in 1952 to its peak of 7 percent in 1976, and has since leveled off at about 5.6 percent through 1984 (see Figure 1). This pat

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• Political economy and adoption of policies affecting everyday life in the American states

  Open Access•David W Allen•The Social Science Journal•1999

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• The Programmatic Expansion of the U.S. Government

  Open Access•Kenneth N Bickers•The Western Political Quarterly•1991

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• The Impact of a Low-Wage Strategy on State Economic Development

  Open Access•Susan B Hansen•State Politics & Policy Quarterly•2001

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• The State of State Politics Research

  Open Access•Paul Brace, Aubrey Jewett•Political Research Quarterly•1995

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• State Support for Higher Education

  Open Access•David R Morgan, Kenneth Kickham et al.•Policy Studies Journal•2001

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• Political Parties in State and Nation

  Open Access•Robert D Brown, John M Bruce•Party Politics•2002

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• The Strange Disappearance of Investment in Human and Physical Capital in the United States

  Christopher Witko, Adam J Newmark•Journal of Public Administration…•2010

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• The Politics of Drug Abuse

  Open Access•Kenneth J Meier•The Western Political Quarterly•1992

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• Revenue structure, fiscal illusion, and budgetary choice

  Open Access•Richard E Wagner•Public Choice•1976

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• Revenue structure, fiscal illusion, and budgetary choice

  Open Access•Richard E Wagner•Public Choice•1977

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• Explaining the Size of the Public Sector

  William D Berry, David Lowery•The Journal of Politics•1987

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• Party and Policy in the States

  Thomas R Dye•The Journal of Politics•1984

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• Government Growth in the United States

  Michael S Lewis-Beck, Tom W Rice•The Journal of Politics•1985

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• Theorizing About the Growth of Government

  Open Access•Patrick D Larkey, Chandler Stolp et al.•Journal of Public Policy•1981

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• Party Control and Policy Change

  Richard Winter, Richard Winters•American Journal of Political…•1976

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• The Growth of Government in the United States

  David Lowery, William D Berry•American Journal of Political…•1983

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• Towards A Predictive Theory of Government Expenditure

  Open Access•Otto A Davis, M A H Dempster et al.•British Journal of Political…•1974

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• The Expansion of the Public Economy

  Open Access•David R Cameron, David Cameron•American Political Science Review•1978

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• Spending in the States

  David Lowery, Thomas Konda et al.•The Western Political Quarterly•1984

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• Bureaucrats, Legislators, and the Size of Government

  Open Access•Gary J Miller, Terry M Moe•American Political Science Review•1983

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