Decentralization of government

The authors have written a timely article. With the decentralization of control in government, states and cities are being challenged to fulfill new roles. The federal government trend, in its fiscal relations with the states, is to provide block grants for various programs such as Medicaid, welfare, and employment and training. Though the states have been empowered to take charge of these areas, the federal government continues to exert control over the states in these matters. Cities, too, have been empowered with a greater voice in how these block grant funds are dispersed. Decentralization is beneficial because it reduces paperwork and bureaucratic hurdles, but it also creates new challenges for intergovernmental coordination.

Nowhere is the need for intergovernmental productivity more apparent than with the federal government's welfare reform bill. The bill places aid to people with welfare status in the hands of local government. Reform also involves, among other things, a cutback of federal funding for immigrants: "The cities harde

. . .
ack up their assertions with examples. For instance, under the heading "Proliferation of Subunits," they discuss the increase in the number of formal communication structures at all levels of government, including residential community associations, districts, counties, and megacounties (Falcone and Lan, 1997, p. 320). It would have been illustrative for the authors to provide a partial list of the types of government subunits in a particular city or county in the United States. Then the reader gets a better idea of the diversification that is occurring along these lines. Further, the authors fail to critique the proliferation of government subunits. They make the assumption that such proliferation is always positive: "Notably increasing in numbers are subunits that give voice to concerns that either cannot or will not be addressed within traditional government structures" (Falcone and Lan, 1997, p. 320). It appears, however, that the increase of such subunits would not necessarily facilitate intergovernmental communication since what results is an expansion of bureaucracy instead of a contraction. Cassella Jr. (1995) comments on the rapid growth of metropolitan regions and the complex pattern of overlapping governmental j
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Falcone Lan, Relations Productivity, FHWA FHWA, Los Angeles, British Crown, Falcone Lan's, League NCL, Cassella Jr, Navajo Nation, Republicans Heartland, federal government, intergovernmental relations, falcone lan, lan 1997, welfare reform, falcone lan 1997, national civic, local government, reform bill, cassella jr, welfare reform bill, national civic league, government subunits, lan 1997 320, traditional government structures,
Approximate Word count = 2296
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Decentralization of government