Intergovernmental Relations Today

Chapter 3 – Federalism Section 3

Dual Federalism

• Definition: a system of government in which both the states and the national government remain supreme within their own spheres, each responsible for some policies

• Like a layer cake• Narrowly interpreted powers of federal

government• Ended in the 1930s

Cooperative Federalism

• Definition: a system of government in which powers and policy assignments are shared between states and the national government

• Like a marble cake• Shared costs and administration• States follow federal guidelines

Devolution?

• Devolution: Transferring responsibility for policies from the federal government to state and local governments.

• Describe how the relationship between the federal and state government changed in the 1980s, 1994, and 2000s.

Fiscal Federalism

• Definition: the pattern of spending, taxing, and providing grants in the federal system

• Grants-in-Aid– Federal funds appropriated by Congress for

distribution to state and local government – The main instrument the national government

uses for influencing state and local governments

Intergovernmental Relations Today

Fiscal Federalism

• The Grant System– Categorical Grants: Federal grants that can be used

for specific purposes; grants with strings attached (Ex: school lunch program within an education budget) ; often times given on a matching basis• Project Grants: Funds are competitive and go towards

projects within the states. (Ex: National Science Foundation grants to universities to support the work of scientists.)

• Formula Grants: Usually given on the basis of need. Money given to states according to a mathematical formula.

Fiscal Federalism

• The Grant System: (con’td)– Block Grants: Federal grants given to a state

government to be spent within a certain policy area (ex: welfare, education), which the state can decide how to spend within that area. Given more or less automatically to support broad programs

– Grants are given to states and local governments

Fiscal Federalism

• The Scramble for Federal Dollars– $460 billion in grants every year– Grant distribution follows universalism—a little

something for everybody.

Fiscal Federalism

• The Mandate Blues– Mandates direct states or local governments to

comply with federal rules under threat of penalties or as a condition of receipt of a federal grant.

– Unfunded Mandates• Mandates for which federal government provides no

money • Ex: Clean Air Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, NCLB• Attempted restriction with Unfunded Mandate Act of

1995

Intergovernmental Relations

• The Politics of Federal Grants – Republicans generally favor fewer strings, less

supervision, and the delegation of spending discretion to the state and local governments.

– Democrats have generally been less supportive of broad discretionary block grants, instead favoring more detailed, federally supervised spending.