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Analyzes and chronicles the significant and profound developments in federalism worldwide by seeking to understand the workings of established, emerging, and transitory federal arrangements; case studies of the US, Brazil, Canada, Nigeria, Switzerland, Russia, and Australia; 7 articles. Contents: American federalism on the horizon, by Ann O'M. Bowman; Brazil: the prospects of a center-constraining federation in a fragmented polity, by Celina Souza; Intergovernmental relations in Canada: the emergence of collaborative federalism, by David Cameron and Richard Simeon; Federalism in Nigeria's new democratic polity, by J. Isawa Elaigwu; Recent developments of Swiss federalism, by Thomas Fleiner; Central governing incapacity and the weakness of political parties: Russian democracy in disarray, by Kathryn Stoner-Weiss; Australian federalism: a prospective assessment, by Brian Galligan and John S. F. Wright.

This article analyzes municipal governments, capital spending, and revenue‐raising decisions between 1993 and 2000, an era of unprecedented economic growth. It finds that, as anticipated, greater‐than‐expected revenues allowed many cities to advance projects from their capital improvement plans to their capital budgets. Moreover, the article concludes that growth in cities' own‐source‐revenue‐generating capacity and transfers from carryover or ending balances from earlier years, rather than debt issuances and intergovernmental aid, seem to be the most important fuel for the remarkable growth rate in capital spending.

Pagano reviews 'Regional Politics: America in a Post-City Age' edited by H. V. Savitch and Ronald K. Vogel.

In the 20 years since "obsolete" infrastructure was discovered as a public policy problem by the academic and policy communities (see Peterson, 1978), federal and state infrastructure programs have been proposed, debated, and, in many cases, implemented—but frequently they have not. Yet, as much as policy makers would like to learn from these programs or be informed by theories about grant designs, the literature and evaluations on these infrastructure programs do not speak with one voice; conflicting conclusions and policy recommendations abound. The purpose of this article is to sketch out some elements of an infrastructure grants research agenda that are in need of clarification, specification, and rethinking. In particular, this article examines reasons for infrastructure's relative invisibility in municipal budgeting, the design and intended effects of infrastructure grants policy by federal and state governments, and future issues surrounding infrastructure.

Cities, like states, have faced serious fiscal challenges and decisions during the economically strained 1992 year. This article is an analysis of cities' fiscal situation and policies of 1992. Specifically, cities' fiscal status, varied coping fiscal policy actions, and the relation between ending balances and fiscal policy are addressed.