Foundations, Perspectives, and Issues of American Intergovernmental Relations

• Published date: 01 January 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12319
• Date: 01 January 2015
• Author: Dechao Sun

Book Reviews 165

Dechao Sun is associate professor

in the College of Public Administration

at Jilin University, China, and a research

fellow in the Jilin University Co-Innovation

Center for State Governance. His research

interests include public f‌i nance and

intergovernmental relations.

E-mail: sundechao799@163.com

Book Reviews

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 75, Iss. 1, pp. 165–169. © 2014 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.12319.

Conceptually, intergovernmental relations encom-

pass many areas of public administration theory and

applied research. Many previous studies have generally

approached this theme through the lens of a par-

ticular policy without considering the fundamentals

of intergovernmental relations. Other studies may

have a broader or comparative policy view, but they

tend to focus on a specif‌i c angle of research without

considering the multifaceted nature of intergov-

ernmental relations. American Intergovernmental

Relations: Foundations, Perspectives, and Issues, a

volume edited by Laurence J. O’Toole, Jr., and Robert

K. Christensen, now in its f‌i fth edition, provides

across its expert contributors an in-depth analysis of

the fundamentals, perspectives, and issues related to

intergovernmental relations, as well as an extensive

investigation into the foundation, operations, and

outcomes of federalism. It aims to detail the rich

complexity and interdependence that are essential to

intergovernmental relations. In this reviewer’s estima-

tion, the contributors to this edited work (mostly

contemporary scholars but stretching back to James

Madison) largely succeed.

American Intergovernmental Relations is organized

around the following questions: What are the funda-

mentals of U.S. intergovernmental relations? How do

these relations operate at the political, f‌i nancial, and

administrative levels? What are the chief associated

problems and challenges?  is book makes consider-

able headway in addressing each of these, ultimately

advancing the f‌i eld’s understanding of policy issues

from the perspective of intergovernmental relations.

 is edition is divided into six parts. Parts I and II

investigate the origins of modern U.S. intergovern-

mental relations from the historical and constitutional

perspectives, respectively.  e historical development

of U.S. intergovernmental relations is discussed in

part I.  e achievements of and dilemmas faced

by modern intergovernmental relations stem from

choices made at and soon after the nation’s founding

more than two centuries ago.  e original conceivers

Laurence J. O’Toole, Jr., and Robert K. Christensen, eds.,

American Intergovernmental Relations: Founda-

tions, Perspectives, and Issues, 5th ed. ( ousand

Oaks, CA: CQ Press, 2013). 421 pp. $74.00 (paper),

ISBN: 9781452226293.

The study of intergovernmental relations deals

with how the many and varied governments

in the United States interact with one another

and what their relative roles, responsibilities, and

levels of inf‌l uence are and should be (2).  is often-

controversial topic has been a long-standing concern

throughout the political and administrative histories

of the United States. Conf‌l icts involving intergovern-

mental relations have helped shape or even led directly

to a series of major turning points in U.S. history,

including the American Civil War, the establishment

of a social welfare state under President Franklin D.

Roosevelt’s New Deal, the f‌i ght to end poverty in the

1960s, the implementation of welfare reform policies

in the 1990s, and the heightened homeland security

ef‌f orts of the twenty-f‌i rst century.

Intergovernmental relations are not simply a

collection of isolated events. In reality, it is very dif-

f‌i cult to form a systematic understanding of major

policy issues, past or present, without detailed knowl-

edge of the historical development and structure of

intergovernmental relations.

Successful intergovernmental relations are key to a

well-run governing organization (Graves 1964). As

there was no prior formalized experience of federal-

ism, the establishment of the United States was itself

an elaborate experiment in intergovernmental rela-

tions. Federalism necessitates that the power structure

is shared between the federal and state governments

in accordance with the U.S. Constitution.  e

relationship between the two levels of administra-

tion is one of interdependence: of‌f‌i cials in governors’

mansions and in the federal executive branch must

have regular exchanges and communications with

one another.

Foundations, Perspectives, and Issues of American

Intergovernmental Relations

Sonia M. Ospina and Rogan Kersh, Editors

Dechao Sun

Jilin University, China