Coercive federalism continues, although “cooperative coercion” seems to characterize the current situation with President Barack Obama and Congress because of a significant increase in federal aid to state and local governments, improvements in intergovernmental communication, and movement away from total pre-emption of certain state powers. Nevertheless, federal officials continue to insist that state and local governments adhere to federal policy priorities.
Kincaid, J. (2010) "State-federal relations: Cooperative coercion." In The Book of the States, 2010. Lexington, KY: The Council of State Governments, pp. 21-30.