These grants are large sums of money given by the national government to a regional government. Considering that only very general provisions are provided with how it can be spent, they have the advantage in that they allow the regional governments to experiment with the spending of the money in different ways as long as the same goal is targeted. However, it can be extremely difficult to reach a conclusion on the results of such spending. It could be said that there is a disadvantage if you compare this type of grant with regional government taxation systems. If the regional government collected money from the local taxes, then they could spend it without restrictions associated to this type of grant.

There are a few criticisms of block grants though...

Some political maneuvering can occur so that the awarding process can be manipulated. This allows for these types of grants to be awarded to the federal administration's own party. An example would be how the federal administration can see that a state with a governor the same party can get an advantage in competing over a block grant versus a state with a governor from a different political party. This type of political favor can even be experienced down at a local level.

Another criticism is how the fund dispersal down through state and local governments creates difficulty with federal oversight. Therefore, it can be problematic for validating the funding is properly spent.

In addition, there is only moderate discretion when used in general purposes which creates a restrictive spending controls for the funds.