The past year has been one of repeated shocks to government and the larger society. Terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D. C, the burst of the dot.com bubble in the stock market, a wave of corporate scandals, and a slowdown in the economy posed severe problems for officials of all governments in the federal system. The combined effects of the war on terrorism and the economic turmoil forced federal policymakers to create new agencies and to enact new policies. Slate and local governments also responded to the multiple shocks with a variety of initiatives, often independent of Washington. Instead of a move toward centralization that might have been predicted as a consequence of the serious shocks, all elements of the American federal system demonstrated a capacity and energy to marshal resources in a lime of urgency
