ABSTRACT
The rapid changes taking place in American politics in the 1960s are nowhere better illustrated than in the shift of political concern among progressives from an overriding commitment to greater centralization of power in Washington to demands for radical decentralization even at the local level. This shift is reflected in such varied concerns as the drive for "creative federalism" and the advocacy of "neighborhood self-government". The argument for creative federalism represents the position of the national administration and is almost conservative in its attempts to legitimize heavy federal involvement in the domestic government of the country. What is significant about both positions today, however, is their common source: the American propensity for the principles, processes, and spirit of federalism. At a time when the social compact binding American civil society is being renegotiated, particularly in the ghettos, federalism becomes a matter of pragmatic as well as polemical concern.
