Comparative inter-governmental relations: models that need to travel

Studies of inter-governmental relations are generally country-specific. The analysis of the relationship in the United States makes little or no reference to the theories that currently describe British practice and similarly British studies make little reference to United States theory. Therefore, in studies of inter-governmental relations there is little that can establish a genuinely comparative framework for the description of such a relationship. This paper will seek to develop a basis for a more comparative approach, arguing that such an analysis needs, at root, to consider the established cultural values that condition the extent of consensus concerning the role of central and local governments within the state rather than issues of bargaining and conflict.