How Do Legislators Assess Administrative Performance? Georgia’s Department of Transportation in the Eyes of the State’s Legislators

Abstract

State legislatures and their member legislators serve as important overseers to state administrative departments, charged to function as principals relative to their departmental agents. More than a quarter century ago, Brudney and Hebert (1987) reported that state legislatures exercise greater influence over the operations of administrative agencies than do such other stakeholders as clientele groups and professional associations. How those legislators assess the performance of those agencies could substantially affect their future, including how well they are funded and how closely they are monitored. Understanding how those assessments are made, thus, could hold significance for agency administrators as they strategize for working with legislators. Despite an "enormous literature measuring the influence elected officials hold over the U.S. bureaucracy" (Palus & Yackee, 2013, p. 274), we know relatively little about the basis for legislative assessments of bureaucratic performance, especially at the state level. As Sarbaugh-Thompson et al. (2010) have observed, "Political scientists have written much about relationships between Congress and federal agencies, but said less about state legislatures' relationships with state agencies" (p. 57). As a consequence, "Relationships between legislatures and state agencies are important but poorly understood." The available evidence suggests substantial legislative interest in administrative performance, interest that appears to have a positive impact on agency efficiency, agency reform, and the use of performance measures in the budget process (Bendor & Moe, 1985; Bourdeaux, 2006; Bourdeaux & Chikoto, 2008). However, no research appears to have examined what shapes legislator assessments of agency performance. This research is designed as a first exploratory step in that direction. We will begin by examining the literature on legislative behavior to develop expectations for how legislators assess agency performance. Those hypotheses will be tested with data from a survey of how legislators in the state of Georgia assess the performance of the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). We will conclude by considering the limitations of the research as well as what the findings 750152A RPXXX10.