Question

Would You expect the analysis produced by the Legislative Analyst’s Office to be more or less politically neutral than analytical offices within the California executive branch?

Answer 1

The analysis produced by legislative analyst’s office is expected to be politically neutral than the analytical offices within California executive branch.

A legislative analyst usually finds information on various aspect of ground reality in order to support or debate on a bill in the senate. They provide insights, new information, trends and other reports to make the debate more meaningful and fair. They often work with members of government and there is a chance of bias. However, the information that they provide can be debated and contested in a senate session and thus there is a pressure to be impartial. In no way does it mean that the reports from a legislative analyst is neutral or impartial. However, there is an immediate scrutiny by opposition party and other analysts. This creates a self-governing system for these analysts (attempt) to be neutral.

On the other hand an executive branch is solely run by either the governor or the president. Naturally, there is unlikely to be an open debate about a report. Even if there is a debate, it may be internal and the public report may eventually be favorable to the executive division. As a result, there are lesser chances of neutrality in the reports from executive branch.