Implications of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 for the “Devolution Revolution”

Robert Tannenwald

Publius: The Journal of Federalism, vol. 28, issue 1, 23-48

Abstract: From an economist's perspective, the fiscal and administrative goals of the so-called “devolution revolution” include less federal intergovernmental aid, especially if fiscally equalizing; the substitution of block grants for matching grants; greater administrative flexibility for the states; and fewer underfunded mandates. This article uses these devolulionary yardsticks to analyze the major provisions of the federal Balanced Budget Act of 1997. These provisions fall far short of a “devolution revolution.” The act increases the level of federal assistance, leaves Medicaid as an open-ended entitlement, and preserves a strong role for the federal government in shaping intergovernmental grants. The article discusses the political forces moderating the act's devolutionary impact. Copyright , Oxford University Press.

References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/ (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:publus:v:28:y::i:1:p:23-48

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

Publius: The Journal of Federalism is currently edited by Paul Nolette and Philip Rocco

More articles in Publius: The Journal of Federalism from CSF Associates Inc. Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().