Recent developments in the intergovernmental grant system are indicating that the
U.S. may currently be experiencing a major shift in U.S. domestic redistributive funding.
This idea could be considered an outcome of the federal ‘domino effect’ based on policy
decisions regarding other national priorities, as Wright states that “the American federal
system has been shaken by the impact of recent traumatic events, especially the threats to
homeland security and the states’ fiscal crises” (2003, 10). The onset of the Department
of Homeland Security, in addition to other federal actions in response to national crises
has prompted a number of changes in federal programming. It is no surprise, therefore,
that Americans are seeing continued change in the fiscal condition of states and
communities as the federal aid to subnational levels has been affected in turn by world
events.
This study provides one aspect of how national programming changes have
affected government at the local level, particularly in the community development field.
Although a majority of intergovernmental study has focused on federal-state relations, the
current system poses a potential problem for the system in which the federal government
has direct relationships with local jurisdictions. The focus of this project involves an
evaluation of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), a federal grant
program providing funds to states and cities since 1974, in order to gain additional
information on the local point of view. Local CDBG administrators working for city
government have responded to questions posed, in the effort to further evaluate how the
federal system is working at the subnational level.
The opposing fields of cooperation and coercion have long been cited as
characteristics evident in the federal-state-local government relationship (Scheiber 1966;
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Convention