The Regents of the University of California: "Evolution of Federalism"
Watch this two-part presentation on cooperative and fiscal federalism. While fiscal federalism has resulted in federal monies for states in a wide variety of areas - agricultural, transportation, and research - some states have expressed concern about burdensome regulations and requirements. In recent years, there has been a push to return power to the states (devolution), placing the burden of a wide range of domestic programs on state governments so that they can design programs in a way that suits their own residents.
The Democratic and Republican parties stand for different principles with regard to federalism. Democrats prefer policies to be set by the national government. They opt for national standards for consistency across states and localities, often through attaching stringent conditions to the use of national funds. Republicans usually decry such centralization and endorse giving powers to the states and reducing funds for the national government. These differences reveal the parties' divergent political ideologies on the "proper" role of government.