Beyond the New Federalism

Beyond the New Federalism: Revenue Sharing in Perspective

In 1972 Congress added General Revenue Sharing to the list of federal grant-in-aid programs for states and localities. President Nixon had recommended Revenue Sharing, as apart of his "New Federalism," because it would foster local autonomy by minimizing federal restrictions on the grants. When General Revenue Sharing was renewed in 1976, Congress made no changes in the formula, leading some co...

Cost-benefit federalism: reconciling collective action federalism and libertarian federalism in the Obamacare litigation and beyond.

Beyond the Politics of Federalism: An Alternative Model

A Localist Critique of the New Federalism

This Essay takes the recent federalism revival to rest, at least in part, on a commitment to a more localized form of decisionmaking. The notion that more governmental decisions could and should be handled locally seems to fit with the times. There is increasing philosophical skepticism about the existence of “right” answers, more comfort with the notion that democracy depends upon reasonable d...

Assessing the new federalism: an introduction.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Urban Institute’s Assessing the New Federalism project is designed to document the extent and nature of the shift in responsibility for health, welfare, and social services programs from the federal to state governments. The project also is measuring the well-being of children, families, and individuals and will analyze relationships between state policy choices and well-bein...