FEDERALISM

 A system of organizing government  A way of organizing a nation so that two or more levels of gov’t have formal authority over the same area and people  Only 11 nations (out of about 190) have federal systems  Most gov’ts are unitary – all power resides in one central gov’t  Sometimes the American system is called an intergovernmental system which simply refers to the interactions among national, state, and local gov’ts  Why is federalism important?  1. it decentralizes our politics  2. it decentralizes our policies DEFINING FEDERALISM

 The word federalism is not mentioned in the Constitution  Division of power  Framers carefully defined powers of state and national gov’ts  Although favoring a strong central gov’t, states were seen as vital components of gov’t  The Supremacy Clause deals with the question of which gov’t should prevail in disputes between states and national gov’t; Article VI states that three items are the supreme law of the land  The Constitution  Laws of the national government (when consistent with the Const)  Treaties (which can only be made by the national gov’t)  Judges in every state were bound by the Const  Questions remain concerning the boundaries of national govt’s powers  10 th Amendment states that powers not designated to the U.S. by the Constitution are reserved for the states THE CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS OF FEDERALISM

 Establishing national supremacy  Key events have established how national and state powers are related  McCulloch v Maryland (1819) – case that 1 st brought issue of state vs national gov’t before the Supreme Court  national policies take precedence over state policies  Congress has implied powers that go beyond the enumerated powers that are specifically listed in Article I Section 8  The Civil War ( ) – settled militarily the issue that McCulloch had enunciated constitutionally  The Civil Rights Movement (policy issue was equality)  1954 Supreme Court held that school segregation was unconstitutional (Brown vs Board of Education)  Federal gov’t enacted laws in the 1960’s to end segregation in schools, housing, public accommodations, voting, and jobs

 Federalism doesn't’t just have to do with national gov’t relationship with states; Article IV of the Const outlines obligations that states have with one another  Full Faith and Credit – states are required to give full faith and credit to the public acts, records, and civil judicial proceedings of every other state  Extradition – states are required to return a person charged with a crime in another state to that state for trial or imprisonment  Privileges and immunities of citizens – citizens of each state receive all privileges and immunities of any other state they happen to be in

 Dual and Cooperative Federalism  Dual federalism is also called “layer cake federalism” – states and nat’l gov’t each remain supreme within their own spheres  Cooperative federalism is also called “marble cake federalism” – mingled responsibilities and blurred distinction between the levels of gov’t  The American federal system leaned toward dual federalism before the nat’l gov’t began to assert its dominance INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS TODAY

 Fiscal Federalism – pattern of spending, taxing, providing grants in the federal system  Is the cornerstone of the nat’l govt’s relations with state and local gov’t  Grants-in-aid are the main instrument the nat’l gov’t uses for both aiding and influencing states and localities  Federal aid to states and localities amounted to about $306 billion in 2001

 2 main types of aid for states and localities: categorical grants and block grants  Categorical grants (main source of federal aid)-grants that can only be used for specific purposes or categories  Can only be obtained by applying for them and by meeting certain qualifications  Come with numerous “strings” attached (rules and requirements)…funds are denied if certain local or state laws are not passed or if federal guidelines are not met  2 types of categorical grants  Project grants – most common type; awarded on the basis of competitive applications (such as grants to university professors from the National Science Foundation)  Federal grants – distributed according to a formula based on population, per capita income, or percentage of rural population (such as Medicare, Aid for Families with Dependent Children, public housing)  Block grants are used to support broad programs in areas like community development and social services  Because of complaints about the restrictive nature and paperwork required for categorical grants, Congress established block grants to support broad programs  States have discretion in deciding how to spend the money

 There are some occasions when states would prefer not to receive some federal aid – like when Congress extends a program that is administered by the states and only partially funded by the federal gov’t (underfunded mandate). This means that states have to budget more funds for the project in order to receive grant money  Even greater concern to the states are unfunded mandates. These require state and local gov’ts to spend money to comply with laws such as the Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 with no financial help from the federal gov’t that enacted the laws. In addition, federal courts created unfunded mandates for states regarding school desegregation, prison construction, and other policies.

 By decentralizing the political system, federalism was designed to contribute to the limited form of democracy supported by the founders  Advantages for democracy  Different levels of gov’t provide more opportunities for participation in politics  Additional levels of of gov’t contribute to democracy by increasing access to gov’t  2 levels of gov’t increase the opportunities for gov’t to be responsive to the demand for policies  A party that loses strength at the nat’l level can rebuild and groom leaders at the state and local levels  Its possible for the diversity of opinion within the country to be reflected in different public policies among different states  Federalism reduces decision making and conflict at the national level UNDERSTANDING FEDERALISM

 Disadvantages for democracy  The quality of services like education is heavily dependent on the state in which the service is provided; states differ greatly in the resources they can devote to public services  Diversity in policy can discourage states from providing services that would otherwise be available because poor people may be attracted from states with lower benefits  Local interests are able to impede national majority support for certain policies  Vast number of local gov’ts makes it difficult for many Americans to know which gov’t is responsible for certain functions

 Federalism and the scope of the national government  The national gov’ts share of expenditures has grown rapidly since 1929; today it spends about 20% of the GDP, while state and local gov’ts spend about 9%  The growth of the nat’l gov’t has not superseded the states