New Federalism: Recent Varieties of an Older Species

1 The Harris Survey (February 15, 1982), Chicago Tribune-N.Y. Times Syndicate.

2 Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations , Changing Public Attitudes on Governments and Taxes, 1981 (Washington, D.C.: 1981).

Block Grants and the Intergovernmental System, hearings before the Subcommittee on Economic Goals and Intergovernmental Policy , Joint Economic Committee , 97th Congress, 1 st Session, June 15 and 22, 1981, 253 pp.

4 Rochelle L. Stanfield , "Look at the Numbers," National Journal, January 9, 1982, p. 75.

Deil S. Wright , Understanding Intergovernmental Relations, 2nd ed.. (Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1982).

6 Historian George E. Mowry offers a discussion of U.S. socio-political change and dynamism early in the 20th century in which, "The word `new' occurred with astonishing frequency to describe all manner of change." George F. Mowry, The Era of Theodore Roosevelt and the Birth of Modem America (New York: Harper and Row, 1958), p. 2.

7 William H. Stewart , "Metaphors, Models, and the Development of Federal Theory," Publius: The Journal of Federalism 12 (Spring 1982): pp. 5-24.

8 Samuel H. Beer , "In Search of a New Public Philosophy," in Anthony King , ed., The New American Political System (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1978), p. 7.

9Ibid., p. 8.

Deil S. Wright , "Intergovernmental Relations and Policy Choice," Publius: The Journal of Federalism 5 (Fall 1975): pp. 1-24.

11 Edward S. Corwin , "The Passing of Dual Federalism," Virginia Law Review 36 (February 1950): pp. 1-24.

One of the less sanguine views by a U.S. author was George C. S. Benson , The New Centralism: A Study of Intergovernmental Relationships in the United States (New York: Rinehart, 1941).

13 Jane Perry Clark , The Rise of a New Federalism: Federal-State Cooperation in the United States (New York: Columbia University Press, 1938).

14 Wright, Understanding, pp. 51-56.

William B. Shore , "Developments in Public Administration: Intergovernmental Relations —Satisfactions and Problems," Public Administration Review 19 (Winter 1959): pp. 65-69.

especially Harry N. Scheiber , "The Condition of American Federalism: An Historian's View," pp. 19-55.

¹⁷ Beer, op. cit.

¹⁸ Sundquist, op. cit., p. 1.

20 Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations , Fiscal Balance in the American Federal System, Vol. 1 (Washington, D.C.: 1967): pp. 175-181.

see especially Robert C. Weaver , "The Federal Executive and States' Rights," pp. 20-36.

22 Theodore J. Lowi , "The Europeanization of America? From United States to United State," in Theodore J. Lowi and Alan Stone, Nationalizing Government: Public Policies in America (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1978). Two of the more pointed observations in Lowi's essay are: "There is no room left for doubt that a large, positive, interventionist state is finally and forever the central feature of the American political system" (p. 25); and, "The perspective of the national state might best be synthesized as the `myth of the apocalypse.' By that I simply mean that the leaders of the executive branch, both the top career people and the political appointees in and around the Presidency, have come to feel that society is so dependent upon the national government that it would fall apart if the national government were unresponsive to organized demands and that the society would even more surely fall apart if the national government were unprepared to intervene at the first sign of community disorder" (p. 26).

23The four papers appear in Publius: The Journal of Federalism 2 (Spring 1972): 95-146.

24 Richard P. Nathan , "Federalism and the Shifting Nature of Fiscal Relations," The Annals 419 (May 1975): pp. 120-129.

25Ibid., p. 122.

For a general discussion of intergovernmental games and gamesmanship, see Deil S. Wright , "Intergovernmental Games: An Approach to Understanding Intergovernmental Relatins," Southern Review of Public Administration 3 (March 1980): pp. 383-403.

and Jerome R. Adams , Thad L. Beyle , and Patricia J. Dusenbury , "The New `Dual Formula' for Community Development Funds," Popular Government 44 (Spring 1979): pp. 33-37.

For a point of view in the early 1970s that declared "old style" federalism "dead," yet found "new style" federalism "alive and well" but living under the name "intergovernmental relations," see Michael D. Reagan , The New Federalism (New York: Oxford University Press, 1972), p. 1.

and George D. Brown , "Federal Funds and Federal Courts —Community Development Litigation as a Testing Ground for the New Law of Standing," Boston College Law Review 21 (March 1980): pp. 525-556.

remarks to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Atlanta, Georgia, July 30, 1981, p. 36.

See also, ACIR , An Agenda for American Federalism: Restoring Confidence and Competence (Washington, D.C.: June 1981).

32As quoted in ACIR, Intergovernmental Perspective 8 (Spring 1982): p. 19.

33 ACIR , An Agenda for American Federalism, Chapter 3, "The Federal Role: Criteria, Assessment, and Analysis."

Dick Kirschten , "Theory of Devolution," National Journal (March 21, 1983): p. 499.

35The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1969), p. 361.

see also Deil S. Wright , "Inter-governmental Relations in the 1980s: A New Phase of IGR," The Annals of Public Administration (New York: Marcel Dekker, forthcoming).

Stephen L. Schechter , "On the Compatibility of Federalism and Intergovernmental Management," Publius: The Journal of Federalism 11 (Spring 1981): pp. 127-141.

especially Chapter 3, "The State Role and State Capability."

39Federalism: The First Ten Months, p. 34.

40 Thad L. Beyle and Patricia J. Dusenbury , "Health and Human Services Block Grants: The State and Local Dimension," State Government 55 (1982): p. 2.

41 As quoted in Richard S. Williamson , "Community Development Block Grants," The Urban Lawyer 14 (Spring 1982): p. 294. This article (pp. 283-301) is a concise yet complete overview of the process involving transfer of the Small Cities CDBG program to those states prepared and willing to accept the program.

42 See U.S. Senate, Environment and Public Works Committee , Federal-State Relations in Transition: Implications for Environmental Policy, S. Report 97-7, 97th Congress, 2nd Session, 1982.

43 Supreme Court of the United States , Federal Energy Regulatory Commission v. Mississippi (No. 80-1749; decided June 1, 1982).

⁴⁴ Ibid.

See also Aaron Wildavsky , The Politics of the Budgetary Process (Boston, MA: Little Brown, 1964).

For an argument that austerity and cutbacks have the effects of centralizing authority and eroding local autonomy, see Charles H. Levine and Paul L. Posner , "The Centralizing Effects of Austerity on the Intergovernmental System," Political Science Quarterly 96 (Spring 1981): pp. 67-85.

See also Jerry McCaffery , "Revenue Budgeting: Dade County Tries a Decremental Approach," Public Administration Review 41 (January 1981): pp. 179-189.

48 Special Analysis H, Budget of the United States Government , 1983, "Federal Aid to State and Local Governments" (Washington, D.C.: Office of Management and Budget, February, 1982).

49 "National Journal, January 9, 1982, p. 75.

50 Susannah Calkins and John Shannon , "The New Formula for Fiscal Federalism: Austerity Equals Decentralization," Intergovernmental Perspective 8 (Winter 1982): pp. 23-29.

51Federalism: The First Ten Months, p. 28.

52 Ibid. A thoughtful analysis of the Reagan Administration's deregulation efforts as they relate to state-local governments is Donald Kettl , "The Uncertain Brides: Regulatory Reform in Reagan's New Federalism," Publius: The Journal of Federalism (forthcoming).

Peter J. Petkas , "The U.S. Regulatory System: Partnership or Maze?" National Civic Review 70 (June 1981): pp. 297-301. The last reference provides a "weighty" example of regulatory overload. A New Jersey mayor collected and weighed (literally) all the directives his city had received from different agencies over an 18-month period; the mass of paper exceeded 2,000 pounds.

54 Kettl , "Regulating the Cities," p. 114.

55Federalism: The First Ten Months, p. 28.

Patricia S. Walton , "The Impact of the Reagan Cuts on the Vermont Agency of Human Services," major paper, Master of Public Administration Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, March 1982, 59 pp. The last source quotes (p. 54) Vermont State Republican Chairman, George Coy, as saying, "The money has been cut but we haven't seen any big cutting of rules."

57 Kettl , "Regulating the Cities," p. 122.

Irene Fraser Rothenberg , "Regional Planning Commissions, A-95, and the Changing Intergovernmental Grant System," paper presented at the 1982 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association (September 2-5), Denver, Colorado, 41 pp.

59 Quoted in Claude E. Barfield , Rethinking Federalism: Block Grants and Federal, State, and Local Responsibilities (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1981), p. 24.

Robert Pear , "Negotiators Say Accord Is Near on Federalism," New York Times, May 16, 1982.

62 David S. Broder , "Reagan Revives `New Federalism,'" News and Observer, Raleigh, N.C., July 8, 1982. Broder refers to "the genuine determination of Reagan to push ahead" with New Federalism proposals.

63 William M. Leiter , "The Presidency and Non-Federal Government: FDR and the Promotion of State Legislative Action," Presidential Studies Quarterly 9 (Spring 1979): pp. 118-119.