ABSTRACT
A major transition in the field occurred when the Reagan Administration sought to extricate the federal government from its leadership role in intergovernmental relations (IGR) by cutting or capping many intergovernmental programs, cancelling others, and devolving still others to the states. The IGR concept was designed to recognize that implementation of intergovernmental policies and programs was dependent on relationships between actors at different levels of government. The intergovernmental environment within which this federal expansion has occurred is much different than in the past. IGR has changed dramatically partly in response to the growth of "wicked" problems like health care, education, environmental sustainability, infrastructure, and job creation that do not respect traditional governmental boundaries. The expansion of federal domestic involvement has also occurred in a highly partisan environment and in areas that were previously regarded as predominantly private and state regulated programs.
