American federalism

Since the publication of the first edition of American Federalism: A View from the States in 1966, American federalism as well as Ameri can society as a whole has undergone great trials. It may be that both have been brought to the brink of radical changes. Certainly, the perspective of 1970 is less assuring than that of 1965. Yet, at the same time, a review of the field in light of the theses and propositions ad vanced in the first edition reveals that very little of substance has changed in the intervening five years. The first edition sought to fill the void of literature available on federalism that was written from the perspective of the states. It was also intended to be a step toward ex panding our knowledge of the states as political systems and some of the fundamental forces shaping them as civil societies. Even in this most limited time period, then, the issue of continuity and change re mains before us. This new edition attempts to consider that issue for the immediate present as well as for the long range.