Tim Conlan and John Dinan of George Mason University and Wake Forest University analyze Bush's approach to federalism. Ok, he doesn't have an explicit approach to federalism, but these profs can glean one from their interpretation of a variety of Bush utterances and actions. Their Douthatian conclusion: federalism and Republican party politics often conflict. The party has come to appreciate the fruits of a larger, more robust federal government and have warmed to the idea of using the instruments of federal power to achieve conservative ends.
Scholars Sidney Milkis and Jesse Rhodes puzzle over the contrast between the GOP's thematic preference for limited government and the "principal" Bush domestic legacy, which they say is the "centralization of power in the federal government and the executive branch."
| 
