American Intergovernmental Relations: A Fragmented Federal Polity / Edition 1

by G. Ross Stephens, Nelson Wikstrom

Overview

The one constant in the American federal system is change—change that is not always beneficial. American Intergovernmental Relations: A Fragmented Federal Polity examines how the dynamic social, economic, and political forces that impinge on American government at all levels shape the way that our federal system functions.
Stephens and Wikstrom—both senior scholars specializing in federalism, intergovernmental relations, and fiscal policy—offer concise, comprehensive, and easy-to-understand coverage of these materials. Beginning with the key elements of federalism, the authors trace these principles as they have evolved since the founding of the republic and through the various phases and types of federal arrangements as they exist today. They examine and analyze the extreme complexity of the system and the cooperative and conflicting components of vertical and horizontal intergovernmental relations. Stephens and Wikstrom also discuss the impact of public policy and intergovernmental relations on American society in light of rising globalism, rapidly changing technology, and new security concerns. Featuring relevant case studies from the headlines, American Intergovernmental Relations is an ideal text for undergraduate and graduate courses in federalism and intergovernmental relations. It is also an excellent text for a different approach to a course in American government.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195172027
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/02/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	9.61(w) x 6.69(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

G.Ross Stephens is Professor of Political Science and Public Administration (Emeritus) at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.

Nelson Wikstrom is Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Table of Contents

PrefaceAcknowledgements1. The United States as a Federal System: Theories, Insights, & Experience2. Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations: Concepts, Models, and the American Experience3. Contemporary American Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations: Cooperation and Conflict, Case Study 1. Homeland Security: Intergovernmental Response4. Fiscal Federalism5. Federal Intergovernmental Relations: The National Policy Process & Public Policy, Case Study 2. No Child Left Behind6. Regulation in the Intergovernmental System7. The Resurgent States in the Intergovernmental System, Case Study 3. Welfare to Work8. State-Local Relations9. Local Governments in the American Intergovernmental System, Case Study 4. Semi-Independent State and Local Agencies: Special Districts, Authorities, and Government Corporations10. Intergovernmental Relations: Present and FutureSelected BibliographyIndex