For example, we could consider a local agricultural project. The local and state expertise in determining what are the right decisions to be made on this project should be more useful and in a more timely manner than decisions that could be made at a federal level. In the current security and economic environment, the answer is probably somewhere mid-way between all the notions previously presented. From this perspective, a

This program requires the states to create their own safety standards and to implement their rail safety oversight and audit programs in measuring compliance to that program. But the diversity of legal authorities, budgets and staff levels of oversight agencies would not allow this to happen smoothly (Caruso). The proposed Public Transportation Safety Program Act of 2009 hoped to authorize the Department of Transportation to establish the minimum safety standards

S. constitution and the delegated powers the national government has according to the U.S. constitution makes the shift of powers from the federal government to the state governments limited by the existence of the U.S. constitution. A complete shift of powers from the state governments, in political, economic and programmatic terms toward the national government is impossible to be defined in realistic terms. Historical events determined the lines between the layers

Fiscal Federalism To the Cato Institute: The Cato Institute policy statement on "Fiscal Federalism" is an excellent example of 'throwing the baby out with the bath water.' Yes, there may be unnecessary government bureaucracy involved in the awarding of federal grants to states. But the need for more efficiency does not mean that the entire program should be scrapped. During the recent 2008 recession, many states were cash-strapped and desperately needed funds

CASE 3: REINSTATEMENT OF THE ADVISORY COMMISSION ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS (ACIR)INTRODUCTIONThe U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR) was a nonpartisan agency that provided research and recommendations on intergovernmental relations to the President, Congress, and state and local officials. It was established in 1959 and abolished in 1996 (Chi, 2004). Its mission was “to strengthen the American federal system and improve the ability of federal, state, and local governments to

Participatory Budgeting CMA In the late-capitalist era during the late twentieth century restructuring of Canada's municipalities toward a new model of intergovernmental alliances, known as 'city-regional' governance, the importance of Public Choice as praxis to reconfiguration of the nation's market relations was asserted by urban planning and political theorists interested in the impetus and affects of the what became known as the Consolidation Movement. A decade of exposure to James Lightbody's