Unfunded mandates: Directing subnational governments

Abstract

Unfounded mandates are an extreme manifestation of the phenomenon of governing from the centre; the federal government through various strategies imposes national mandates on state and local governments at the expense of the latter. Unsurprising in federal systems, state and local governments object to unfunded mandates because, first, they shrink their policy space, and, second, limit their expenditure choices, and ultimately subnational governments' accountability to their electorates. They establish a hierarchy of authority that sits uncomfortably with federal notions of self-rule by subnational governments.