The Governor's Cabinet in Virginia: An analysi

This study of the Governor's Cabinet in Virginia begins with a detailed examination of the events that led to the establishment of the Cabinet. The management studies that occurred over time beginning with the initiatives of Governor Harry Byrd in the 1920's and culminating with the study resulting in the Cabinet System in Virginia during the term of Governor Linwood Holton in the early 1970's are reviewed as the underpinnings of the creation of the Cabinet. The overriding political environment that existed at the time each study was conducted is also reviewed as it related to the initiation of the management study and the ultimate disposition of the resulting recommendations. Studies that have been conducted since the establishment of the Cabinet have been reviewed as well to determine whether or not the Cabinet has been a successful organizational component of Virginia State government and to track the Cabinet's evolution and changes in its structure since its establishment.;The underlying theme of the various management studies was that of efficiency and economy. The growing state bureaucracy in Virginia was recognized to be an organization of such great magnitude that it was becoming more and more difficult for a single executive, i.e. the Governor, to manage. The establishment of the Cabinet gave the Governor a mechanism and structure to combine agencies for administrative purposes and to be able to communicate and manage in a more efficient and effective manner.;The study also reviews the Cabinet's relationship with State agency heads and the General Assembly and the role Cabinet Secretaries have played vis-a-vis those entities. Comments of the various Governors as well as Cabinet members, legislators and others familiar with the Cabinet's operations are overwhelmingly in the affirmative concerning the Cabinet's value and its ability to allow the Governor to manage State government. Studies by the Virginia General Assembly since the Cabinet's inception have concluded that the Cabinet system in Virginia continues to be a viable organizational entity that has become institutionalized as a valuable component of the Executive Branch of the government of the Commonwealth.