Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Prentice Hall PoliticalScienceInteractive Magleby et al. Government by the People Chapter 3 American Federalism

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall 3 same-sex couples in Vermont filed a lawsuit in 1997 when their request for a marriage license was denied. Eventually they were allowed a “civil union.” “Full Faith and Credit Clause” in Article VI of the Constitution The Controversy Over Same-Sex Marriage

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Defining Federalism Federalism Constitutional arrangement whereby power is distributed between a central government and subdivisional governments called states in the United States. The national and the subdivisional government both exercise direct authority over individuals

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Versions of Federalism Dual Federalism Views the Constitution as giving a limited list of powers to the national government, leaving the rest to sovereign states Cooperative Federalism Federalism as a cooperative system of intergovernmental relations in delivering goods and services to the people Marble Cake Federalism “As the colors are mixed in a marble cake, so functions are mixed in the American federal system.” Competitive Federalism Views the levels of government as being in competition to provide packages of services and taxes

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Versions of Federalism Permissive Federalism Powers are shared, but state power rests upon the permission and permissiveness of the national government “Our Federalism” Presumes that the power of the federal government is limited in favor of the broad powers reserved to the states

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Alternatives to Federalism

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Federalism and Confederation

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Why Federalism? Protecting liberty Dispersing power Increasing participation Improving efficiency Ensuring policy responsiveness Encouraging policy innovation Managing conflict

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Powers of State and National Government

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Number of Governments in the United States

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Interstate Relations Full faith and credit clause Interstate privileges and immunities Extradition Interstate compacts

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall McCulloch versus Maryland (1819) “Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the Constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the letter and spirit of the constitution, are constitutional.” “The power to tax involves the power to destroy…If the right of the States to tax the means employed by the general government be conceded, the declaration that the constitution, and the laws made in pursuance thereof, shall be the supreme law of the land, is empty and unmeaning declamation.” Doctrine of Implied National Powers Doctrine of National Supremacy

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall The Great Debate: Centralists versus Decentralists Centralism Supporters: Chief Justice John Marshall, Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin Roosevelt, and the Supreme Court for most of its history Position: The central government should be denied authority only when the Constitution clearly prohibits it from acting Decentralism Supporters: Antifederalists, Thomas Jefferson, Supreme Court from 1920s to 1937, and Presidents Ronald Reagan and G. W. Bush Position: Views the Constitution as a compact among states that gives the central government very little authority

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall The Supreme Court and the Role of Congress Beginning in 1995, justices interested in granting more deference to state authority gained a slim five-to-four majority in the Supreme Court The Constitutional Counterrevolution A return to an older version of federalism not embraced since the constitutional crisis over the New Deal in the 1930s

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist A major legacy of the Rehnquist Court is how it has curbed Congress in defense of the states

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Types of Federal Grants In 1996 there was a shift from Categorical Grants to Block Grants 2 types of Categorical Grants: Formula grants Project grants Block Grants Far more flexible Purposes of Federal Grants to State and Local Governments

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall The Politics of Federal Grants: Devolution The Republican “Contract with America” called for devolution-- the transfer of political and economic power to the states

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall The Politics of Federal Grants: Devolution

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall New Techniques of Federal Control Total and Partial Preemption Crossover Sanctions Cross-Cutting Requirements Direct Orders

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall The Growth of Big Government Why has the power of the national government grown over the last two centuries?

Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall The Future of Federalism The persistence of international terrorism, the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and rising deficits all ensure a substantial role for the national government in the years to come