The politics of coercive federalism in the Bush era

Abstract

During the period of the Bush Presidency, the federal government proceeded to centralize and nationalize policy in major areas formerly controlled by states and localities. The extension of federal goals and standards to such areas as education testing, sales tax collection, emergency management, infrastructure, and elections administration were among the areas of significant mandates and preemptions. The continuation of policy centralization in areas under a conservative and unified political regime shows how strong and deep the roots are for centralizing policy actions in our intergovernmental system.