Using a recent example from the current or past administration, explain coercive federalism and explain how it has altered state-national relations.

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Coercive Federalism
Coercive Federalism refers to the strong centralized national government that practices strict control over its state by using set orders without providing funds to support the state in carrying out the requirements. In this case, the federal government exerts pressure on the states to adjust their policies by using regulation orders and conditions. This form of governance motivates the state to keep on working towards achieving the given mandates as the state receive the grand funding from the federal government once it has met its mandates. The US government has followed this form of governance on publicly funded education and the environment ever since the 1960s. The presidency of George W. Bush was marked by a significant shift toward national power where the national government took control of education, sale tax collection and infrastructure and election management a role previously played by the states.
Effects of coercive federalism on state-national relation
These pressures from the federal government to the states have been faced with challenges that have led to conflicting relationships between the state and the federal government. This is because the states are fighting the federal government in order to reverse their traditional roles. This fights lead to Supreme Court ruling for the states by invalidating some national laws on federalist grounds in1980s and 90s. Most importantly there have been major clashes and state-federal disputes over various matters such as health services, education, environmental protection and conservation, cultural issues such as abortion, right to vote and immigration.

Clearly the relationship between the state and the federal government is at stake for some reasons as indicated above but it is important to consider that too much power to the states will lead to inequality in resources distribution and unequal protection of civil rights, therefore, it is necessary for the federal government to exert some pressures on the states.

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