State-Local Relations in the 1990s

Abstract

This article extrapolates into the next decade the probable changes in state-local relations and emphasizes three central themes: (1) fiscal federalism, (2) localism, and (3) state-local cooperation. The principal argument is that the nature, success, and prognosis of state-local relations for the foreseeable future depend largely on the fiscal health of state and local governments and the fiscal ties between the two sets of governments. Demands for constitutional and statutory autonomy for local governments, levels of satisfaction and discord between state and local governments, and the flexibility and constraints imposed upon the revenue-generating capacity of local governments reflect the larger and more dominant variable of fiscal well-being.