ABSTRACT
The new Ronald Reagan drive to reduce the federal government's role complemented Janklow's campaign promise to apply business disciplines to state government. New Federalism found Idaho's Evans already struggling to cope with a regional recession. The states that most aggressively picked up the federal slack were those with the longest progressive tradition, regardless of what party was on top. Several governors were even more constrained by their legislative and political environments than by reduced federal outlays or declining state revenues. The governor who seeks to be a change agent can work quietly through coalition building or dramatically through the thunder of the bully pulpit. The laggard economy made most governors of the early 1980s cautious about pushing for increased spending. Education seemed a natural because it could be tied politically to economic development. Many gubernatorial failures to pass health and welfare initiatives were, in fact, failures in coalition building.
