ABSTRACT

State-local relations in the United States take place within their federal system. Federalism is a system of government that includes a national government and one or more levels of subnational governments. Scholars and politicians have developed a number of interpretations of what federalism is or should be. This chapter presents some of these interpretations as models: competitive models, interdependent models and functional models. The historically weak legal status of local governments also grew from the tendency for federal courts to regard local governments as having no legal rights as far as the US Constitution is concerned. One of the most import.