Legislature’s rules of engagement have changed
Gov. Phil Bryant’s legislative agenda fared about as well in the 2012 regular session as the Mississippi Constitution would allow — which is to say that the political stars have returned to their historic alignment after the anomalies of the two terms Haley Barbour served as governor.
Barbour, the longtime national GOP political force of nature, enjoyed an outsized amount of power and influence during his two terms in office, despite the fact that the 1890 Constitution calls for a “weak governor” system.
Back in 1950, constitutional scholar William N. Etheridge Jr. wrote: “The governor is given the chief executive power and a mandate to faithfully enforce the laws. However, that obligation does not carry with it a corresponding grant of power.”
Sid Salter
5/9/12
