Robert Nagel's book examines the Court's renewed interest in federalism and relates it to wider cultural issues. He argues that worries about political disunity are overrated: far from being in the throes of a return to a confederated system by giving power back to the states, the US is tied in a system of centralization more likely to implode than disintegrate.;Nagel takes the controversial position that the Court's small but highly controversial efforts at promoting decentralization are significant mainly in revealing a partial awareness of the powerful centralizing trend that is now in place.
