Discussion – Intergovernmental Conflicts

Discussion – 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 varies among states, and eventually, the power to decide what can or cannot be done by localities lies in 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 adjust its structure subject to limitations that the state constitutions impose. Also, municipal corporations that have usually been perceived as having more autonomy than quasi-municipal corporations are highly subject to the 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.

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 given local and state governments a chance to prove their 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 the “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 have 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 is similar, some states tend to spend more on local governments and less on 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 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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Discussion – Intergovernmental Conflicts

BOOK: American Intergovernmental Relations. By: G. Ross Stephens and Nelson Wikstrom
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Please write and submit an essay of 500-700 words describing the role of conflict in intergovernmental relations between state and local governments. Please answer the following in your essay: why does conflict exist between state and local governments? What are the benefits of conflict? What are the challenges of conflict?
(use APA Format: 1” margins; double-spaced; 12 point Times Roman or Cambria).