Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Journal Article 4.1: Dinan, J. (2017). The U.S. Supreme Court and federalism in the twenty-first century. State and Local Government Review, 49, 215-228.

Abstract: This article analyzes the U.S. Supreme Court’s record in twenty-first-century federalism cases and compares these rulings with rulings issued in the late twentieth century, a time when the Court was aggressive in invalidating federal acts on federalism grounds and reluctant to limit state authority when reviewing state acts. The twenty-first-century Court has displayed a continued willingness to enforce limits on federal power when reviewing federal statutes but has been less willing than in recent years to sustain state laws with an eye to preserving state autonomy.

Journal Article 4.2: Fabbrini, S. (January 1999). The American system of separated government: An historical-institutional interpretation. International Political Science Review, 20, 95-116.

Abstract: How should one define the American system of government? Sometimes, especially among non-American scholars, it is taken for granted that the American is a presidential system, or that it is the archetype of presidentialism. At other times, especially among American scholars, it is taken for granted that it incarnates the separation of power system envisioned by Madison. An historical-institutional analysis shows that both interpretations are unsatisfactory. The American system is better defined as a system of separated government which experienced different institutional pre-eminances during its two centuries of democratic history. The very same Constitution allowed a long period of congressional and then of presidential pre-eminence, recently tamed by a regime of divided government.

Journal Article 4.3: Boushey, G. & Luedtke, A. (December 2011). Immigrants across the U.S. federal laboratory: Explaining state-level innovation in immigration policy. State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 11, 390-414.

Abstract: The passage of a restrictive immigration law in Arizona in 2010 rekindled an old debate in the United States on immigration policy and the role of federalism. Despite periodic constitutional controversies, scholars of federalism and U.S. state politics have not adequately explained variation in state-level policy making on immigration. The authors explore pressures leading to state immigration policy innovation and adoption in the United States. The article evaluates factors leading to the introduction and adoption of two types of policies: those dictating the cultural and economic incorporation of immigrants and those attempting to control their flow and settlement. Factors such as fiscal federalism, ethnic contact, and ethnic threat generate incentives for states to pass such laws. The authors compiled a comprehensive data set of state immigration laws from the past decade to explain how factors commonly associated with national immigration policy development—economic conditions, rates of immigration, demographics, party control, and political institutions—influence state-level immigration policy activity.