Add to ORKG[From the Introduction]. Contemporary American federalism can be described as an era of coercive or regulatory federalism in which the predominant political, fiscal, statutory, regulatory, and judicial trends have entailed impositions of federal dictates on state and local governments. This era began in the late 1960s and succeeded a 35-year era commonly referred to as cooperative federalism. The era of coercive federalism has been marked by a shift of federal policymaking from the interests of places (i.e., state and local governments) to the interests of persons (i.e., voters and interest groups). That is, elected federal officials, as well as the federal courts, have been highly responsive to electoral coalitions, interest groups, and ca...
