The Lewis & Clark Bookstore

Events

Faculty Bookwarming

Date: February 26 2013 3:30pm - 4:30pm Location: Templeton Campus Center - Templeton Campus Center

Join the Lewis & Clark Bookstore in celebrating the release of Federalism and the Tug of War Within written by Erin Ryan, Associate Professor of Law. Coffee and cookies will be served. 

Federalism and the Tug of War Within

The Constitution’s dual sovereignty directives foster an ideal set of good governance values—checks and balances, accountability, local autonomy, and problem-solving synergy—that are nevertheless in constant competition. This inherent “tug of war” is responsible for epic instability in the Supreme Court’s federalism jurisprudence, but it is poorly understood.

Federalism and the Tug of War Within explores how constitutional interpreters reconcile the competing values that underpin American federalism, with real consequences for governance that requires local and national collaboration. Drawing examples from Hurricane Katrina, climate governance, health reform, and other problems of jurisdictional overlap, author Erin Ryan demonstrates how faulty federalism theory can inhibit effective interjurisdictional governance by failing to navigate the tensions within federalism itself.

With new conceptual vocabulary to wrestle with old constitutional dilemmas, Ryan traces the development of federalism’s tug of war, and proposes innovations to better focus judicial, legislative, and executive efforts across all levels of government.

Professor Erin Ryan teaches federalism, negotiation, and natural resources, property, and water law at Lewis & Clark Law School.  She has presented on federalism theory at academic and administrative venues in the United States, Europe, and Asia, including the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.  She spent 2011-12 in China as a Fulbright Scholar, where she taught American law, studied Chinese multilevel governance, and lectured widely.  Ryan is a graduate of Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review and a Hewlett Fellow at the Harvard Negotiation Research Project.