State-Federal Relations: Back to the Future?
Kincaid, John. "State-Federal Relations: Back to the Future?" 2013 Book of the States. (Lexington, KY: The Counsel of State Governments, 2013): pp. 21-30
10 Pages Posted: 17 Jul 2013
Date Written: July 15, 2013
Abstract
State-federal relations continue to be buffeted by the increasing polarization between political parties that often accentuates intergovernmental conflict. The hoary antebellum doctrine of nullification also has risen from the dead to point to a future of more state-federal conflict as states controlled by one party, whether Democratic or Republican, enact policies contravening federal laws and judicial rulings. Nevertheless, coercive federalism continues its now 45-year-old onward march as federal power penetrates deeper into state and local authority.
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