Presidential Federalism
The Enduring Role of Presidents in Shaping National-State Relations
Will be published approx. on 12. November 2026
Book
Hardback
264 pages
978-1-6669-7016-6 (ISBN)
Description
From Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, which precipitated a radical shift in the Supreme Court's interpretation of federalism, to Richard Nixon's New Federalism and Ronald Reagan's push for devolution, presidents, and presidential policies have reframed federal and state relations over time. Presidential Federalism: The Role of Presidents in Shaping National-State Relationsuniquely reframes the traditional approach to and periodization of federalism through the lens of presidential politics. It explores how modern presidents, through their policy priorities and presidential rhetoric, have shaped andshifted our understanding of federalism. Standard treatments of federalism tend to focus on judicial, legal interpretation of competing jurisdictional authority, creating periods of changeable federal-to-state authority within which political actors, including presidents, must operate. The periodization that is prevalent in the literature on federalism only loosely corresponds to specific presidential administrations and changesin presidential policy regarding the exercise of federal power. Yet, presidents also play an important role in shaping federalism-setting the policy agenda and the preferred venue (federal or state) in which policy issues are fought.Presidential Federalismcontributes to gaps in the intergovernmental relations and management perspectives of contemporary federalism that overlook or underplay executive influence in the changing understanding of federal and state relationships and the practical realities for policy actors operating withindifferent administrations.
Reviews / Votes
In Presidential Federalism: The Role of Presidents in Shaping National-State Relations, Lisa K. Parshall and Jim Twombly argue that federalism has become a tool of presidents to advance their policy agenda. Their review of presidential administrations and the evolution of federal-state relations from the Founding to the start of the second Trump Administration illustrates how presidents came to view federalism less ideologically and more pragmatically. The rise of the administrative and directive presidencies at the expense of congressional power have enabled presidential federalism to come to fruition. This study provides an important framework from which to assess presidential power and federalism now and in the future. -- Adam Silver, Emmanuel College, USAMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Laminated cover
Illustrations
5 tables, 1 figure. all b/w.
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 153 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
349 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-6669-7016-6 (9781666970166)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Lisa K. Parshall is a distinguished professor of political science at Daemen University in Amherst, New York, and is a policy fellow at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, New York.
Jim Twombly is emeritus professor of political science at Elmira College in Elmira, New York.
Jim Twombly is emeritus professor of political science at Elmira College in Elmira, New York.
Content
Part I: Bringing Presidents Into the Study of Federalism
Chapter One: Reframing Federalism
Overview of the Central Arguments
Table 1.1: The Federalism Visions of Modern Presidents
Contributions and Limitations of the Research
Chapter Two: The Study of Federalism
The Legal Framework Approach to Federalism
The Periodization of Federalism and Presidential Influence
Table 2.1: Wright's Periodization of Federalism and IGR (Benton 2018)
Table 2.2: Constitutional Periodization of Federalism: Modern Presidential Visions Within the Juridic Frames
Conceptualizations of Federalism
Federalism As Constitutional Design
Federalism As A Functional Arrangement
Fiscal Federalism
Federalism as Public Choice
From Federalism to IGR to IGM
Part II: Presidential Vision Shaping the Trajectory of Federalism
Chapter Three: The Founding to the New Deal
The Early Presidents and Federalism
Table 3.1: Summary of Antebellum Theories of Federalism (Benedict 1988)
The Nullification Crisis and Civil War
The Progressive Era
Roosevelt to Roosevelt: The Time between the Progressive Era and the New Deal
The New Deal: Articulating "Big" Federal Government Visions
Backlash to the New Deal
Chapter Four: The New Deal to New Federalism
Harry Truman's Fair Deal
Dwight Eisenhower's Anchor of Freedom
John F. Kennedy's New Frontier
Lyndon Johnson's Creative Federalism: The Great Society
Richard Nixon's New Federalism: Rescaling the Federal Role
Gerald Ford's New Federalism Redux
Jimmy Carter' New Partnership
Ronald Reagan's New Federalism or Devolution
Chapter Five: New Federalism to Present Day
George H.W. Bush's Flexible Federalism
Bill Clinton's New Covenant
George W. Bush's New Public Management
Barack Obama's New Nationalism
Donald Trump's Punitive Federalism (First Term)
Joe Biden's Restoration of Unity
Donald Trump's Punitive Federalism Redux
The Death of Federalism?
A Renewed Moment for Federalism?
Part III: The Administrative President and the Rise of Presidential Federalism
Chapter Six: Presidential Federalism and the Directive President
The Directive President
The Use of Directive Authority: From the New Deal to New Federalism
The Use of Directive Authority: New Federalism Forward
Federalism As a Tool of Presidential Authority
Rhetoric and Persuasion in Crafting Federalism: The Bully Pulpit of the Presidency
The Limits of Presidential Rhetoric
Budgetary Priorities and Fiscal Politics
Executive Orders and Rulemaking
Table 6.1 Major Executive Orders on Federalism
Figure 6.1: Executive Orders by Presidential Term From Reagan through Trump II (October 2025)
Appointment Power
Treaty Power
Mechanisms of Administrative Control
Grants and Waivers
Preemption and Mandates
Chapter Seven: Presidential Federalism
An Increasingly President-Dominated Federalism
Constitutional Developments
Partisan Polarization
Executive Federalism
The Dangers of Presidential Federalism
Federalism's Constraints on the President
Chapter Eight: Concluding Thoughts on the Future of Federalism
The Case Against Presidential Federalism
Moving Toward Executive Federalism
Directions for Future Research
About the Authors
Chapter One: Reframing Federalism
Overview of the Central Arguments
Table 1.1: The Federalism Visions of Modern Presidents
Contributions and Limitations of the Research
Chapter Two: The Study of Federalism
The Legal Framework Approach to Federalism
The Periodization of Federalism and Presidential Influence
Table 2.1: Wright's Periodization of Federalism and IGR (Benton 2018)
Table 2.2: Constitutional Periodization of Federalism: Modern Presidential Visions Within the Juridic Frames
Conceptualizations of Federalism
Federalism As Constitutional Design
Federalism As A Functional Arrangement
Fiscal Federalism
Federalism as Public Choice
From Federalism to IGR to IGM
Part II: Presidential Vision Shaping the Trajectory of Federalism
Chapter Three: The Founding to the New Deal
The Early Presidents and Federalism
Table 3.1: Summary of Antebellum Theories of Federalism (Benedict 1988)
The Nullification Crisis and Civil War
The Progressive Era
Roosevelt to Roosevelt: The Time between the Progressive Era and the New Deal
The New Deal: Articulating "Big" Federal Government Visions
Backlash to the New Deal
Chapter Four: The New Deal to New Federalism
Harry Truman's Fair Deal
Dwight Eisenhower's Anchor of Freedom
John F. Kennedy's New Frontier
Lyndon Johnson's Creative Federalism: The Great Society
Richard Nixon's New Federalism: Rescaling the Federal Role
Gerald Ford's New Federalism Redux
Jimmy Carter' New Partnership
Ronald Reagan's New Federalism or Devolution
Chapter Five: New Federalism to Present Day
George H.W. Bush's Flexible Federalism
Bill Clinton's New Covenant
George W. Bush's New Public Management
Barack Obama's New Nationalism
Donald Trump's Punitive Federalism (First Term)
Joe Biden's Restoration of Unity
Donald Trump's Punitive Federalism Redux
The Death of Federalism?
A Renewed Moment for Federalism?
Part III: The Administrative President and the Rise of Presidential Federalism
Chapter Six: Presidential Federalism and the Directive President
The Directive President
The Use of Directive Authority: From the New Deal to New Federalism
The Use of Directive Authority: New Federalism Forward
Federalism As a Tool of Presidential Authority
Rhetoric and Persuasion in Crafting Federalism: The Bully Pulpit of the Presidency
The Limits of Presidential Rhetoric
Budgetary Priorities and Fiscal Politics
Executive Orders and Rulemaking
Table 6.1 Major Executive Orders on Federalism
Figure 6.1: Executive Orders by Presidential Term From Reagan through Trump II (October 2025)
Appointment Power
Treaty Power
Mechanisms of Administrative Control
Grants and Waivers
Preemption and Mandates
Chapter Seven: Presidential Federalism
An Increasingly President-Dominated Federalism
Constitutional Developments
Partisan Polarization
Executive Federalism
The Dangers of Presidential Federalism
Federalism's Constraints on the President
Chapter Eight: Concluding Thoughts on the Future of Federalism
The Case Against Presidential Federalism
Moving Toward Executive Federalism
Directions for Future Research
About the Authors