"Erin Ryan offers an astute analysis of constitutional federalism both substantively and procedurally, and illustrates her points with exceptionally helpful examples from the national response to the Katrina disaster and a wide range of other federal and state efforts to deal with environmental problems. Her work is likely to become one of the handful of books that are part of the regular discourse about federalism." --Mark Tushnet, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Harvard Law School "This is a wonderful book. Professor Ryan places contemporary federalism debates in their broader historical and theoretical context, analyzes the sweep of Supreme Court precedent and legal scholarship, and reveals both the challenges and the opportunities that federalism presents for lawmaking. And, in an analysis that is simultaneously aspirational and pragmatic, Ryan proposes a new, balanced pathway for crafting laws that address some of the most pressing issues facing the nation. A tour de force of excellent legal analysis and scholarship." --Richard Lazarus, Howard J. and Katherine W.

Aibel Professor of Law, Harvard Law School "This impressive volume challenges both the New Federalism of the Rehnquist and Roberts Courts and the anything-goes jurisprudence of its opponents, offering in their place a persuasive treatment of the values underlying constitutional federalism and a nuanced account of how to reconcile the tensions among them. This book should be of interest to all scholars of federalism." --G. Alan Tarr, Director of the Center on State Constitutional Studies at Rutgers University "Amidst all that has been written about federalism, Professor Erin Ryan has written a brilliant book that offers a new way of thinking about this important topic. At a time when some of the most important social issues are once again being fought over in terms of states'' rights, Professor Ryan carefully examines the underlying values of federalism and offers a new approach, Balanced Federalism. This is a book that judges and lawyers, as well as all interested in American government, will greatly benefit from reading." --Erwin Chemerinsky, Founding Dean, University of California-Irvine "Ryan''s work succeeds in broadening the federalism debate and demonstrates how governing in contentious interjurisdictional gray areas is not only complex but may also require flexible and creative institutional arrangements that are achieved through cooperation among national and state policy-makers." --Jack McGuire, Publius Journal of Federalism "Federalism and the Tug of War Within mounts an effective critique of dual federalism and offers an attractive alternative to that approach.

It expertly guides the reader through the labyrinth of intergovernmental policy making--her analysis of the creation and implementation of environmental law and of the intergovernmental failures in the response to Hurricane Katrina are exceptional. Finally, it demonstrates through close analysis of actual policy making how the distribution of political authority can advance or retard federalism values. In short, this is a valuable book for legal scholars and political scientists alike." --G. Alan Tarr, Publius Journal of Federalism "Federalism and the Tug of War Within, offers a comprehensive analysis of legal cases from cooperative federalism to New Federalism.Articulating the key political commodities that federalism purportedly offers- checks on sovereign authority to safeguard individuals, accountability and democratic participation local autonomy (innovation, diversity, competition), subsidiarity, and state- federal problem-solving- Ryan nicely illustrates that, not only is it unclear whether Americans actually value all of these equally, but even if they do, they often run into conflict with one another." -Lisa L. Miller, Tulsa Law Review.