Findings of a study that examined superintendents' perceptions of the methods used by the Ohio State Department of Education to implement legislative mandates are presented in this paper. Etzioni's compliance theory is used as a framework to understand superintendents' perceptions about the state's use of power. A survey of 205 Ohio public school superintendents produced 158 responses, a 77 percent response rate. Overall, superintendents viewed expert power and information power as highly utilized methods of power. Rural superintendents relied more heavily on information power than did their urban counterparts. Urban respondents saw greater evidence of the use of reward power, although both urban and rural superintendents perceived it as a secondary method. Finally, the state Department of Education used each of the three types of power methods--normative, remunerative, and coercive. However, the use of coercive power is incongruous with the needs of normative organizations. It is recommended that the state department act as advocate for the individual school districts and encourage local school personnel to work cooperatively toward statewide goals; and that the chief state school officer and governor achieve a unified stance. Ten tables are included. (LMI)