Running head: INTERGOVERNMENTAL CONFLICTS 1
INTERGOVERNMENTAL CONFLICTS
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INTERGOVERNMENTAL CONFLICTS 2
INTERGOVERNMENTAL CONFLICTS
For the most part, issues regarding policy have always been the reason for conflicts
between local and state governments (Einstein & Glick, 2017). For instance, in 2016, there was
tension as the local governments attempted to assert their control over decisions on policies
affecting their residents while state governments pushed back by seeking uniformity on policies
across localities within their purview. The amount of power given to counties and cities vary
among states and eventually, the power to decide what can or cannot be done by localities lies on
the states. All power tends to originate from the states in the U.S since the federal government
itself was created by the states, and the constitution of each state creates local and county
governments.
The local government’s nature in the political system of the United States illustrates what
control the states have over the local governments (Stephens & Wikstrom, 2007). Because states
create local governments, the former has all the power to get rid of a municipality, transfer its
property or functions, or even to adjust its structure subject to limitations that the state
constitutions impose. Also, the municipal corporations that have usually been perceived as
having more autonomy as compared to quasi-municipal corporations are highly subject to
plenary control of the state.
The system of decentralized government gives rise to authority transfer from the federal
government to state and local governments, and this authority transfer has its own implication
when it comes to intergovernmental relations management at the local level (Stephens &
Wikstrom, 2007). This intergovernmental governance as much as it is an alternative to improving
relations in Regional Corporation also leads to conflicts.
INTERGOVERNMENTAL CONFLICTS 3
Some of the benefits of intergovernmental conflicts include aspects of intergovernmental
management showing the local government’s capability to deal with intergovernmental
management problems like duties and rights rules, conflict management, and models of sharing
budget (Stephens & Wikstrom, 2007). Intergovernmental conflicts have made intergovernmental
management more efficient. These conflicts have made local and state governments the chance to
prove the abilities to solve problems, and as a result, more efficiency is allowed within the
system. Trying to find solutions to problems, which at times is known as “cookie-cutter method”
of policy making and law, states and local governments end up with more efficient solutions.
Creating solutions to conflicts using laws and policies implies that localities and states with
solutions and ultimately the government becomes more efficient.
Intergovernmental policies encourage innovations in policy and law. Intergovernmental conflicts
can allow for policies to be set and tried, and the most effective ones are implemented in the state
and local levels (Einstein & Glick, 2017). A policy that is rejected in a particular state can be
tried in another with competition based on those policies' effectiveness.
Even with the above-mentioned benefits, there are challenges involved in
intergovernmental conflicts. First, these conflicts allow for inequalities between and among
states and local governments (Einstein & Glick, 2017). For instance, instead of education
funding across the country be similar some states tend to spend more on some local governments
and less in some, and this leads to the disparity. The same goes things like healthcare and welfare
programs, as well as taxes. Intergovernmental conflicts at times lead to the blockage of the
federal policies by the states. Sometimes the latter fights against the existence of some federal
laws by failing to enforce some of those laws even on the local governments. At times they
INTERGOVERNMENTAL CONFLICTS 4
deliberately obstruct the enforcement of the federal laws.
References
Einstein, K. L., & Glick, D. M. (2017). Cities in American Federalism: Evidence on State–Local
Government Conflict from a Survey of Mayors. Publius: The Journal of
Federalism, 47(4), 599-621.
Stephens, G. R., & Wikstrom, N. (2007). American intergovernmental relations: A fragmented
federal polity. Oxford University Press, USA.
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