Final answer:
Funding affects the ways the federal government and state governments work together through grants and unfunded mandates.
Step-by-step explanation:
Funding plays a significant role in the ways the federal government and state governments work together. The federal government provides funding to state and local governments through grants, which can be used to support specific policy objectives.
These grants act as incentives for states to align their policies with federal goals. At the same time, the federal government can also use unfunded mandates, which impose federal requirements on state and local authorities without providing adequate funding, as a means to influence their actions.