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Mandate Madness : How Congress Forces States and Localities to Do its Bidding and Pay for the Privilege - James T. Bennett

Mandate Madness

How Congress Forces States and Localities to Do its Bidding and Pay for the Privilege

By: James T. Bennett (Editor)

Hardcover | 30 May 2014 | Edition Number 1

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What do drivers' licenses that function as national ID cards, nationwide standardized tests for third graders, the late unlamented 55 mile per hour speed limit, the outlawing of the eighteen-year-old beer drinker, and the disappearing mechanical lever voting machine have in common? Each is the product of an unfunded federal mandate: a concept that politicians of both parties profess to oppose in theory but which in practice they often find irresistible as a means of forcing state and local governments to do their bidding, while paying for the privilege.

Mandate Madness explores the history, debate, and political gamesmanship surrounding unfunded federal mandates, concentrating on several of the most controversial and colorful of these laws. The cases hold lessons for those who would challenge current or future unfunded federal mandates. James T. Bennett also examines legislative efforts to rein in or repeal unfunded federal mandates. Finally, he reviews the treatment of unfunded mandates by the federal courts. Those who find wisdom in America's traditional federalist political arrangement maintain—perhaps with more wishfulness than realism—that the unfunded federal mandate has not yet joined death and taxes as an immovable part of the modern political landscape.

Industry Reviews

-This book is among the few scholarly treatments of the stealthy extension of federal power through mandates and regulations placed on our states and localities. Using well-chosen cases, the book highlights major trends in the use of mandates to achieve national goals ranging from education to homeland security. Bennett is extraordinarily even handed and neutral--no party or interest group is spared from well-deserved criticism for climbing aboard the mandate express. While deeply researched and documented, this book is well-written and compelling, appealing to a broad audience of scholars, advocates, scolds, and citizens alike.-

--Paul Posner, George Mason University

-Professor Bennett performs an important service, both for the novice being initiated into the unfunded mandates debate and for the more experienced reader. Professor Bennett's overview of the mandate problem, its history, and key episodes is exhaustive--as is his discussion of the relevant literature. Professor Bennett's book is a good introduction to the problem of unfunded mandates, but also teaches the expert in this area new lessons about well-known episodes.-

--Edward A. Zelinsky, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University


"This book is among the few scholarly treatments of the stealthy extension of federal power through mandates and regulations placed on our states and localities. Using well-chosen cases, the book highlights major trends in the use of mandates to achieve national goals ranging from education to homeland security. Bennett is extraordinarily even handed and neutral--no party or interest group is spared from well-deserved criticism for climbing aboard the mandate express. While deeply researched and documented, this book is well-written and compelling, appealing to a broad audience of scholars, advocates, scolds, and citizens alike."

--Paul Posner, George Mason University

"Professor Bennett performs an important service, both for the novice being initiated into the unfunded mandates debate and for the more experienced reader. Professor Bennett's overview of the mandate problem, its history, and key episodes is exhaustive--as is his discussion of the relevant literature. Professor Bennett's book is a good introduction to the problem of unfunded mandates, but also teaches the expert in this area new lessons about well-known episodes."

--Edward A. Zelinsky, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University


"This book is among the few scholarly treatments of the stealthy extension of federal power through mandates and regulations placed on our states and localities. Using well-chosen cases, the book highlights major trends in the use of mandates to achieve national goals ranging from education to homeland security. Bennett is extraordinarily even handed and neutral--no party or interest group is spared from well-deserved criticism for climbing aboard the mandate express. While deeply researched and documented, this book is well-written and compelling, appealing to a broad audience of scholars, advocates, scolds, and citizens alike."

--Paul Posner, George Mason University

"Professor Bennett performs an important service, both for the novice being initiated into the unfunded mandates debate and for the more experienced reader. Professor Bennett's overview of the mandate problem, its history, and key episodes is exhaustive--as is his discussion of the relevant literature. Professor Bennett's book is a good introduction to the problem of unfunded mandates, but also teaches the expert in this area new lessons about well-known episodes."

--Edward A. Zelinsky, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University

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