American Federalism in an Era of Partisan Polarization: The Intergovernmental Paradox of Obama’s “New Nationalism”

Conlan, Timothy J.; Posner, Paul L.

doi:10.1093/publius/pjw011

Cited by 51 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The effect of this fractured federalism is that states have adopted a patchwork of policy standards and implementation across the country ( Bowling and Pickerill 2013 ), in what Conlan and Posner (2016) refer to as “variable speed federalism.” A notable feature of variable-speed federalism is that there are significant regional variations in politics and policy that align with regional partisan characteristics. Moreover, states push back on implementing federal policies because of political polarization and the associated level of agreement with current presidential administrations ( Haeder and Weimer 2013 ).…”

Section: The State Of American Federalism Pre-covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

Governing in a Polarized Era: Federalism and the Response of U.S. State and Federal Governments to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Birkland

Taylor

Crow

et al. 2021

Publius: The Journal of Federalism

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How does the state of American federalism explain responses to COVID-19? State-by-state variations to the COVID-19 pandemic illustrate the political dynamics of “kaleidoscopic federalism,” under which there is no single prevailing principle of federalism. In the COVID-19 pandemic, features of kaleidoscopic federalism combined with shortcomings in the public health system under the Trump administration, leading to fragmented responses to the pandemic among the states. Federalism alone does not explain the shortcomings of the United States’ response to the pandemic. Rather, the fragmented response was driven by state partisanship, which shaped state public health interventions and resulted in differences in public health outcomes. This has sobering implications for American federalism because state-level partisan differences yield different and unequal responses to the pandemic.

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Section: The State Of American Federalism Pre-covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

Governing in a Polarized Era: Federalism and the Response of U.S. State and Federal Governments to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Birkland

Taylor

Crow

et al. 2021

Publius: The Journal of Federalism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…This manifests not only in the way governors advocate for policies within their own states, but also how they lobby federal officials and wade into conflict over disputed policy areas. Legislative gridlock and the appearance of federal inaction on key policy issues, such as climate change, only serves as a catalyst for more aggressive state action, as state elected officials find political advantage in occupying a contested policy space, advocacy groups venue shop for policymaking bodies friendly to their cause, and voters of the opposing party become dissatisfied with presidential or Congressional actions (Conlan & Posner, 2016; Jensen, 2017; Rose & Bowling, 2015; Rose & Goelzhauser, 2018).…”

Section: Governors As Partisan Actorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pandemics and Partisanship: Following Old Paths into Uncharted Territory

Fowler

Kettler

Witt

2020

American Politics Research

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Although partisan politics tend be set aside during crisis, the timing of gubernatorial actions in response to COVID-19 is telling about how partisanship is shaping the way elected officials are reacting to this pandemic. Using an event history analysis, the authors find that Democratic governors responded to the White House’s attempts to downplay the severity of the pandemic by declaring emergencies in order to draw citizen attention to and to prepare for a public health crisis. On the other hand, Republican governors resisted doing so until Trump declared a national emergency on March 13; however, Republican reactions were conditional on the president’s job approval in their states. While the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed governments into uncharted territory, state governors appear to be following patterns of vertical partisan competition that mirror those of more conventional policy areas in recent years.

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“…Of particular interest is the comparison between the Obama administration and the prior time periods. Not only are there extraordinary levels of polarization and partisan rancor during the Obama administration, but health care has become a dominant policy domain as well as concerns over federalism during the Obama administration (Bulman-Pozen and Metzger 2016; Conlan and Posner 2016; Metzger 2011).…”

Section: Data Sources and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

States of Reform

Singer

2016

State and Local Government Review

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A growing percentage of state budgets has been focused on caring for individuals who receive long-term services and supports (LTSS). States have an important tool to reduce the costs of caring for individuals with LTSS, Medicaid Section 1915(c) waivers. Using logistic regression, whether and when a state decides to apply for a waiver during the years 1993–2014 is tested. Wealthier, larger states are more likely to apply for waivers, while previous waiver applications are related to fewer applications. The role of political polarization within the legislature has mixed results on whether a state decides to apply for a waiver.

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American Federalism in an Era of Partisan Polarization: The Intergovernmental Paradox of Obama’s “New Nationalism”

Cited by 51 publications

References 12 publications

Governing in a Polarized Era: Federalism and the Response of U.S. State and Federal Governments to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Governing in a Polarized Era: Federalism and the Response of U.S. State and Federal Governments to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Pandemics and Partisanship: Following Old Paths into Uncharted Territory

States of Reform

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