The Administrative Presidency and Fractious Federalism: Lessons from Obamacare
Year: 2013
Type: preprint
Abstract: This paper rests on two premises in seeking to advance knowledge of the administrative presidency. First, research on the subject should consider the particular dynamics that apply in contexts where partisan polarization leads to sharply divergent views on the legitimacy or value of a program or an administrative agency. Second, efforts to illuminate the administrative presidency need to address more squarely issues of federalism – when the national government depends on the states to implement a program. In this vein, we examine the strategic response of the Obama administration to the challenges of implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) under conditions of fractious federalism rooted in partisan polarization. Three cases come under the microscope. One involved efforts by the Obama administration to prevent the ACA’s Medicaid expansion from being undercut by low provider payment rates. A second entailed the administration’s strategy for enticing states to participate in the expansion. A third deals with how the Obama administration approached the issue of state participation in designing and operating the ACA’s insurance exchanges. A concluding section presents more general propositions concerning the administrative presidency and fractious federalism based on the cases.
Source: SSRN Electronic Journal
Authors: Frank J. Thompson, Michael K. Gusmano
Institutions: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Hastings Center
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7730130