The Federalism Project

American Enterprise Institute

The Federalism Project
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036

Tel: 202-862-5848
Fax: 202-862-7171

AEI's Federalism Project explores opportunities to restore real federalism--that is, a federalism that limits the national government's power and compels states to compete for their citizens' assets, talents, and business.

The current political and legal environment renders this project more salient, and the prospects for a competitive federalism agenda more promising, than at any time in recent memory:

  • The United States Supreme Court is taking federalism seriously. Recent decisions show that the Court is prepared to enforce the "enumerated powers" constraints of the Constitution and its distinction between national and state authority.
  • Dramatic economic and technological changes--globalization, the Internet, the emergence of entire new industries--heighten the appeal of competitive federalism. Some of those changes provide opportunities to reform ossified policy regimes and institutions and to substitute competitive, federalist approaches. 

AEI's Federalism Project surveys this new landscape and suggests alternatives to uniform national solutions

Further information on the Project Outlooks
Transcripts from recent events Director Michael S. Greve

We welcome your comments and suggestions on future projects and issues. Please direct all inquiries, comments, and suggestions to our general mailbox: [email protected].