Publius: The Journal of Federalism

Politics, as Harold Lasswell wrote, is defined by "who gets what". Within intergovernmental programs, the question of "who gets what" often hinges on the design of formulas for allocating aid across jurisdictions. Yet limited legislative histories can obscure the role of technical and political factors that inform formula design. In their new article for Publius: The Journal of Federalism, John C. Morris, Joe Aistrup, Zoe Nemerever, PhD, and Xiodan Zhang investigate the politics that shaped the formula for wastewater treatment in the United States. As the authors write, the Water Quality Treatment Act of 1987 "changed the ways in which the national government helped to offset the costs of compliance with the Clean Water Act by changing the scheme to allocate grant funds to states. However, the available literature provides no clues as to how the allocations for each state were determined. Our model to predict state shares under the 1987 legislation includes policy need and population; we also include variables to represent each state’s influence in the House and Senate committees. We find that the most likely explanation for the 1987 allocation is incrementalism, although small-state representation on the Senate committee is positively correlated with higher allocation amounts. This research contributes to our understanding of federal legislative funding allocation formulae, particularly for environmental infrastructure programs." Full article here: https://lnkd.in/gNZkQm6S

In their new article for Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Soubhik Barari and Tyler Simko describe their new open-source data portal, LocalView, the *largest database of local government public meetings* in the United States. As the authors write, LocalView "supplements data collection efforts by creating the largest existing database of local government meeting transcripts, audio, and video yet released. In this article, we describe promises, implications, and best practices for using nontabular sources of meeting data in the study of federalism. Throughout, we argue that these new sources of data allow scholars to ask new kinds of research questions. We demonstrate this potential with an empirical application focused on the use of national partisan language in local government meetings. We find that nationally salient partisan phrases are common in local policymaking discussions (especially in large cities), although prominent national terms vary drastically in how often they are used at the local level. Finally, the slant of partisan language (i.e., the amount of partisan language that is identifiably Democratic or Republican) across local governments is correlated with local partisan preferences." You can read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gUJNNrBT

In their new article for Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Soubhik Barari and Tyler Simko describe their new open-source data portal, LocalView, the *largest database of local government public meetings* in the United States. As the authors write, LocalView "supplements data collection efforts by creating the largest existing database of local government meeting transcripts, audio, and video yet released. In this article, we describe promises, implications, and best practices for using nontabular sources of meeting data in the study of federalism. Throughout, we argue that these new sources of data allow scholars to ask new kinds of research questions. We demonstrate this potential with an empirical application focused on the use of national partisan language in local government meetings. We find that nationally salient partisan phrases are common in local policymaking discussions (especially in large cities), although prominent national terms vary drastically in how often they are used at the local level. Finally, the slant of partisan language (i.e., the amount of partisan language that is identifiably Democratic or Republican) across local governments is correlated with local partisan preferences." You can read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gUJNNrBT

In the 2024 U.S. elections, battle for control of state governments was fought out not only in legislative and gubernatorial contests, but in over 150 statewide executive-office races. That is because virtually every state government has a "plural executive branch", in which authority is divided among different executive officers, independent of gubernatorial control. In an era of nationalized politics, how do national forces affect the outcomes of these contests? James D. King answers this question in a new article in Publius: The Journal of Federalism. The results of King's analysis show that "individual and state factors exert greater influence than national factors on state executive elections, especially for high-profile offices and, to a somewhat lesser degree for other, lesser-profile offices. Similar outcomes in national and state elections appear to result from the partisan composition of the electorate rather than top-down influences. The analysis supports the view that American federalism is alive and well in the electoral arena." Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gwNBmRVV

In the 2024 U.S. elections, battle for control of state governments was fought out not only in legislative and gubernatorial contests, but in over 150 statewide executive-office races. That is because virtually every state government has a "plural executive branch", in which authority is divided among different executive officers, independent of gubernatorial control. In an era of nationalized politics, how do national forces affect the outcomes of these contests? James D. King answers this question in a new article in Publius: The Journal of Federalism. The results of King's analysis show that "individual and state factors exert greater influence than national factors on state executive elections, especially for high-profile offices and, to a somewhat lesser degree for other, lesser-profile offices. Similar outcomes in national and state elections appear to result from the partisan composition of the electorate rather than top-down influences. The analysis supports the view that American federalism is alive and well in the electoral arena." Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gwNBmRVV

We are grateful for Dr. Mariely Lopez-Santana’s incredible work as Book Review Editor. A look back through the last several volumes of Publius: The Journal of Federalism reveals a series of superb reviews of important books advancing the study of federalism. We are thrilled to welcome Davia Cox Downey and William Myers to the team as Book Review Editors starting in 2025!

New in Publius: The Journal of Federalism: Subnational variations in political culture and policy attitudes are a hallmark feature of multilevel systems of government, yet we know comparatively little about how and why citizens of these systems subjectively perceive regional differences in political values. Using data from a specially commissioned survey under the auspices of the Provincial Diversity Project, Ailsa Henderson, Antoine Bilodeau, Luc Turgeon, and Stephen E. White examine subjective perceptions of difference across provinces in Canada. Their article shows that individuals believe their regions have distinct political values, but also that they systematically overestimate that difference. In their estimations of regional distinctiveness, individuals are informed by the value profiles of the regions in which they live, but also by their own policy preferences. The findings clarify the salience of internal boundaries within multilevel or federal states, and enable us to understand how myths of distinctiveness flourish, but also provide an important extension on debates about misperceptions in politics. Full article here: https://lnkd.in/gFh_2baU

Weekend reading from Publius: The Journal of Federalism: David Helpap examines how officials in rural governments perceive the adequacy of support they receive from state government. "Like their urban counterparts," Helpap writes, "rural local governments’ relationships with their states have become varied and complex, particularly as rural America has become increasingly prominent in state and national politics, and the challenges facing rural communities have increased. However, a focus on this subset of local governments has been limited in scholarship on American federalism. Using survey data of rural local governments in Wisconsin, this article examines the degree to which rural governments perceive state assistance as helpful in addressing community challenges. Results indicate significant support for additional state assistance but also concerns about current levels of state financial support and state-imposed revenue limitations. Rural local governments with greater expenditures, worse financial conditions, lower levels of existing state aid, a more agriculture-dependent economy, and an older population are more likely to perceive additional state assistance as beneficial. Overall, these results provide additional clarity on rural local governments’ perceptions of—and interactions with—their states." Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gST4YYB9

Why do some sub-state governments establish offices abroad for international economic development, while others do not? In Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Lucia Kovacikova examines policies that allow sub-state governments to build international networks abroad to promote greater trade, investment, and tourism within their borders. Moving away from autonomy-focused explanations, she develops three capacity-based hypotheses about the adoption and size of sub-state internationalization. Using an original dataset of the 517 sub-state governments within the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), her analysis reveals that revenue, human capital, and information capacities are significant in predicting SGI. These findings help paint a novel picture of sub-state internationalization in the globalized economy, showcasing a new methodological and theoretical approach for the study of paradiplomacy and sub-state decision-making. The full article is here: https://lnkd.in/gtfUmcqq

Publius: The Journal of Federalism vol 54, issue 4 is now out. We have a really exciting lineup of articles on paradiplomacy in US-China relations, nullification and anticomandeering in Canada, cooperative federalism in Germany, ethnolinguistic identity appeals in Belgium, subnational inequality in Argentina, EU health governance, and state fiscal-policy preemption in the US. And don’t miss the book reviews by field leaders like Jonathan Rodden, Keith Banting, and Isaac Martin. Link to the full issue is here: https://lnkd.in/gPXXgZbU