Competition among States and Local Governments: Efficiency and Equity in American Federalism.

• Author: Vogt, A. John

This is a very important book. It is a signpost at, or more accurately, an analysis of the vital crossroads we are at in the evolvement of our American federal and intergovernmental system. Although not easy reading, the book is a must for those who shape public policy on intergovernmental relations. It should be required reading for students of government, public administration and public finance. Although most practitioners of public administration or finance will find the book tedious, they should at least read certain chapters: the introduction by Kenyon and Kincaid, "How Relevant is Competition to Government Policy-making?" by Elazar, and "The Competitive Challenge to Cooperative Federalism: A Theory of Federal Democracy" by Kincaid. The discussions offered in these chapters will help practitioners understand the intergovernmental cross currents buffeting our federal system and should enable them to cope better with these cross currents.

The book's 16 chapters are organized into an introduction and three main areas - sections that are theoretical or general in nature; that examine interstate competition and tax policy; and that consider interjurisdictional competition for economic development. A conclusion summarizes the book and points to issues that deserve further inquiry.

The introduction provides an excellent overview of the entire book and identifies alternative models of federalism. These models include: cooperative federalism, according to which federal, state and local governments share resources and seek a less competitive relationship with one another; dual federalism, which focuses on the different approaches to problems at the federal and state levels; fiscal federalism, which focuses on the nature of public goods and services, centralizing some within the federal government and decentralizing others with the states and local governments; and competitive federalism, which focuses on both horizontal competition among governmental entities and on vertical competition among the different levels of government.

In the general or theoretical chapters Elazar's chapter, "Cooperative Federalism," reviews the history and theory of cooperative federalism. Cooperative federalism is not a hierarchical model in which state and local governments are subordinate to the federal government. It is a partnership in which federal, state and local governments work together toward common ends.

In "The Competitive Challenge to Cooperative...