Governing Delaware

"Governing Delaware is an analysis of the governance of Delaware that focuses on the political culture and public policy problems of this small state."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This volume provides a comprehensive analysis of both the historical and the contemporary dimensions of the politics and government of the First State. Once a sparsely populated, agrarian, and relatively insignificant polity, Delaware has become a densely and diversely populated financial and legal center often called the corporation capital of the world. Delaware s prime location has been central to its development and transition from a goods-producing economy to a fast-growing, service-based economy. Despite its diminutive size, Delaware is, in many ways, the nation s preferred corporate home. William W. Boyer and Edward C. Ratledge provide an overview of Delaware s history, structure, and present politics and explain why one of the smallest states in the country is also one of the most powerful. Delaware continually promotes pro-business legislation, business and public objectives are entwined, and privatization is a dominant theme in public affairs. The state has an individualistic political order in which public participation is indirect and citizen activism is limited.

This book identifies ten pivotal policies in Delaware that still impact public life in this small state. Much that has happened since the mid-twentieth century in Delaware public policy evolved from particular events. These events consisted of court decisions, laws passed, or incidents that happened to particular persons. They prompted public policies, the effects of which were not clearly understood, that were often counter to what was anticipated, had undesirable side effects, or were inadequate to deal with the problems encountered. This chronicle begins in 1954 when the U.S. Supreme Court confronted racially segregated Delaware with the necessity to desegregate its public schools " with all deliberate speed." Chapter 2 evolves from 1964, when the Supreme Court ordained—by virtue of its "one-person-one-vote" decision—that states end over-representation of rural voters in their state legislatures. Chapter 3 turns to the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King followed by the Delaware National Guards occupation of Wilmington for over nine months. Chapter 4 focuses on the 1970 establishment of the cabinet system in Delaware's state government. Chapter 5 concentrates on the 1971 enactment to protect Delaware's coastal zone, and its aftermath. Chapter 6 records 1977 as a turning point for Delaware's response to increasing crime by option for increasing punishment in place of rehabilitating prisoners. Chapter 7 highlights how the General Assembly's over-ride of the 1978 budget evoked consensus and bipartisan politics . Chapter 8 focuses on the newly ensconced pro-business climate, illustrated in 1951 by the Financial Center Development Act that deregulated credit card banking. Chapter 9 tells that story of how Delaware sought to confront its high cancer rate, beginning with the 1990 report of the Governor's advisory council. Chapter 10 concentrates on Delaware's troubled efforts to develop energy policies, beginning with the 1999 legislation deregulating electric power. The book's Afterword broadly assesses how these major policy developments have effected systemic institutional change in how Delaware is governed.

The Constitution of the State of Delaware of 1897 is the fourth and current governing document for the Delaware state government and has been in effect since its adoption on June 4 of that year. The Delaware Constitution is unusual in that the legislature has the authority to amend it without a Referendum.

In this fourth book by the authors' about public affairs in Delaware, the state's strategies to maintain a business-friendly environment are examined, especially by awarding grants and loans to grow businesses and jobs. The book addresses the nation's 2008-2014 Great Recession that was very severe in Delaware. Among the large Delaware employers that disappeared were Chrysler, General Motors, and Avon. Meanwhile, DuPont cut many jobs, while MBNA's sale to Bank of America also caused many job losses. This small state's efforts to deal with this overwhelming crisis are analyzed. Accordingly, the book is timely regarding politics and policy choices involving jobs, competition with other states, and a host of other problems. Among the features analyzed are: the state’s transition from a passive to a proactive management approach, in-depth analyses of certain prominent companies awarded state funding to create jobs, as well as a broader spectrum of firms receiving similar kinds of subsidies to create or retain employment , along with the permeation of politics involving variously the media, political parties, special interests, government, business leaders, citizen groups. The authors conclude, what lessons they have learned from their study.

How the “First State” has enabled international crime, sheltered tax dodgers, and diverted hard-earned dollars from the rest of us The legal home to over a million companies, Delaware has more registered businesses than residents. Why do virtually all of the biggest corporations in the United States register there? Why do so many small companies choose to set up in Delaware rather than their home states? Why do wealthy individuals form multiple layers of private companies in the state? This book reveals how a systematic enterprise lies behind the business-friendly corporate veneer, one that has kept the state afloat financially by diverting public funds away from some of the poorest people in the United States and supporting dictators and criminals across the world. Hal Weitzman shows how the de facto capital of corporate America has provided safe haven to money launderers, kleptocratic foreign rulers, and human traffickers, and facilitated tax dodging and money laundering by multinational companies and international gangsters. Revenues from Delaware's business-formation industry, known as the Franchise, account for two-fifths of the state’s budget and have helped to keep the tax burden on its residents among the lowest in the United States. Delaware derives enormous political clout from the Franchise, effectively writing the corporate code for the entire country—and because of its outsized influence on corporate America, the second smallest state in the United States also writes the rules for much of the world. What's the Matter with Delaware? shows how, in Joe Biden’s home state, the corporate laws get written behind closed doors, enabling the rich and powerful to do business in the shadows.

The Constitution of the State of Delaware of 1897 is the fourth and current governing document for Delaware state government and has been in effect since its adoption on June 4 of that year.