The State of American Federalism, 2002-2003: Division Replaces Unity

The national unity formed last year in response to terrorismsoon vanished as more typical political infighting returned.Although overshadowed by the buildup to and the conduct of asecond war against Iraq, political issues grounded in the nation'sfederal character contributed to a rise in divisiveness. Themid-term elections of 2002 and redistricting battles in severalstates drove partisanship to new heights. The continued sluggishnessof the nation's economy also exacerbated interparty bickering.Republicans controlled the White House and both houses of Congress,yet some of the president's policy initiatives encountered moreserious resistance in his own party than from the opposition.Many of the feuds within the majority party rested on stateand regional interests typical of federalism politics. Stateand local governments remained trapped in the third year ofa fiscal crisis, and even large reductions in expenditures didnot extricate these governments from the financial fix. Despitetheir pleas, state and local officials were unable to obtainany significant relief from the federal government. Federal-staterelations, as a consequence, exhibited more contentiousnessthan cooperation.     

The State of American Federalism, 2001-2002: Resilience in Response to Crisis

The past year has been one of repeated shocks to governmentand the larger society. Terrorist attacks in New York City andWashington, D. C., the burst of the dot.com bubble in the stockmarket, a wave of corporate scandals, and a slowdown in theeconomy posed severe problems for officials of all governmentsin the federal system. The combined effects of the war on terrorismand the economic turmoil forced federal policymakers to createnew agencies and to enact new policies. State and local governmentsalso responded to the multiple shocks with a variety of initiatives,often independent of Washington. Instead of a move toward centralizationthat might have been predicted as a consequence of the seriousshocks, all elements of the American federal system demonstrateda capacity and energy to marshal resources in a time of urgency.     

Terror,War, and Democracy: An Interview with Stephen Eric Bronner

Stephen Eric Bronner is a Professor of Political Science and a member of the Graduate Faculties of Comparative Literature and German Studies at Rutgers University. The Senior Editor of Logos, an interdisciplinary internet journal, Bronner is also a member of the Editorial Board of New Political Science and a longtime contributor to this journal. In an interview conducted by Antonia Werbell, Bronner elaborates on themes in his most recent book Blood in the Sand: Imperial Fantasies, Right-Wing Ambitions, and the Erosion of American Democracy (University of Kentucky Press, 2005) and offers a critical analysis of US democracy in the context of the Bush administration's “war on terror.”     

Using Geographic Information Systems to Measure District Change, 2000-2002

In this article, I use geographic information systems to developa continuous measure of district continuity and change followingthe 2000–02 congressional redistricting cycle. The newmeasure provides details of where the new population in a districtcame from and how the old population was distributed withinnew districts. This measure is then used to demonstrate theindependent and interactive influence of district change oncompetition for congressional elections.