Intergovernmental Relations in a Compound Republic: The Journey from Cooperative to Polarized Federalism

This essay focuses on ways that partisan polarization is affecting intergovernmental relations in the U.S., as state officials have shown an increased willingness to resist or reject federal funding and regulations, encouraging a panoply of federal policy approaches designed to accommodate reluctant states while enabling enthusiasts. In assessing these developments and their implications, insight can be gained by contrasting current practices against a benchmark of past intergovernmental relationships and practices, as provided by the federalism scholarship of Martha Derthick. Her studies explored the normative dimensions of the American federal system, the role of administrative practices and intergovernmental bargaining in the system’s evolution and functioning, and the role of the states. She was particularly concerned about the consequences of policy centralization and congressional and bureaucratic hyperactivity; moreover, her belief in intergovernmental consultation and legislative deliberation was starkly at odds with today’s poisonous partisan polarization. Engaging with Derthick’s writings on these topics helps inform our assessment of the current system.