Understanding Intergovernmental Relations, Twenty-five Years Hence

This article reviews Deil Wright’s textbook, Understanding Intergovernmental Relations, and assesses its current relevance to its field of coverage. Wright’s last edition of this book was published in 1988. This article, after describing significant lessons from the textbook, summarizes Wright’s related research and commentary from the following two decades, and also analyzes three current intergovernmental topics based on four of Wright’s most important metaphors and historical observations. The 1988 book remains relevant to intergovernmental relations today, though it only tangentially informs the more cross-sectoral turn that the field has taken in recent years.