Leland C. answered • 07/14/21
Engaging teacher of political science and public policy
The structures of state governments parallel the federal government. Like the federal government, each state has an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch. There are important differences
The chief executive at the state level is the governor, a role analogous to the President. The authority for governors varies among the states. Many states provide the governor line-item veto authority which allows the governor to strike out particular parts of a bill. The President, by contrast, must sign or veto a bill in its entirety. Some states authorize recall, a procedure that allows voters to “fire” a governor or other elected officials before the term of office is completed. At the federal level, impeachment is the only way to remove a President before the next election. While the President appoints the leaders of departments such as the Secretary of Labor or Secretary of Commerce, many heads of state level departments are directly elected by the voters. At the federal level, the President nominates court justices who then have to be approved by the Senate to take office. While some states follow this approach, in other states the judges are directly elected. Most states provide a four-year term of office for the governor – again similar to the federal President – but some have two-year terms.
Most states have a state legislature that parallels the federal structure with a House and a Senate. One exception is Nebraska, which has a one-chamber (unicameral) legislature. For states other than Nebraska, the federal model is again followed as there are usually more House districts and fewer Senate districts. While Congressional Representatives have two-year terms and US Senators have six-year terms, the terms of office for state legislators vary from state to state.
The structure of state court systems usually follow the federal model as there are courts of original jurisdiction which determine the facts of a case and reach a verdict, appeal courts which hear cases in which one side claims the law was not applied correctly, and a Supreme Court in which has the final say. While federal judges are provided lifetime appointments, many state justices have elected terms of office. Another important difference is that while federal court can hear both civil and criminal cases, many states split the judiciary between criminal courts and civil courts.
