 DIVIDING GOVERNMENT POWER

 Federalism was invented in 1787 in Philadelphia when the delegates at the Constitutional met and chose to do away with the Articles of Confederation in favor of a stronger central government that had the ability to raise funds and govern the nation.  Unitary rule was not an option (1 ruler) because that was what England was  They eventually came up with a government that would balance the power between the central government and the states.  They broke it up in a very simple way as follows:  All powers having to do with the states common interests (national defense, national currency with the NATIONAL GOVERNMENT  All other powers remained with the states

 Expressed Powers- Powers LISTED that are granted to the Federal Government  Expressed powers are specifically listed in the Constitution  In Article I the Legislative Branch enumerated powers are listed  In Article II the Executive Branch enumerated powers are listed  In Article III the Judicial Branch enumerated powers are listed  Implied Powers-  Inherent Powers are powers not listed in the Constitution  The last clause of Article I, Section 8 is the implied powers also known as the necessary and proper clause or “elastic clause”  This clause allows congress to stretch their powers based on need of the country  Inherent Powers-  Powers that historically have been recognized as naturally belonging to all governments that conduct business of a sovereign nation.  Conduct foreign affairs, acquire land

 Powers with the Federal Government were few and defined  Powers with the State Government were numerous and indefinite  Reserved powers are powers not listed in the Constitution because the Constitution neither delegates these powers to the Federal Government nor prohibits them from the states  State laws effect the daily lives of people more than federal laws do  Health  Public Safety  Drivers laws  Marriage laws  Public Schools  Local Businesses

 Concurrent Powers are powers shared by the state and federal government  Collecting taxes  Establishing courts  Making and enforcing laws  Education  Borrowing and spending money  If National Laws and state laws conflict the Supremacy Clause comes into effect stating that the supreme law of the land is the Constitution or the Federal Government

 In order to prevent the Federal Government from gaining to much power they put limits on what the Federal Government can do listed in Article I, Section 9  In order to prevent conflict from the state and federal government Article I, section 10 denies specific powers to the states (coin money, tax imports/exports from other states, having separate armies, etc.)  There are some laws that prohibit the state or federal government mostly listed in bill of rights  “ex post facto laws” – or laws passed after the fact

 In order to make this Government work they had to make laws that regulated a relationship between both the state and local government.  Article IV, Section 4 states that every state in the union must be allowed to run a Republican style government  The National Government must protect the states from foreign attack  The National Government must treat all states equal  States have the right to manage affairs within their borders and deal with other states  Full faith and credit clause means that all laws in states must be honored in other states  The US Constitution does not have a single word in it about local government

 American Federalism: Conflict and Change

 Out of fear that the states would pass laws that conflicted with the national government the framers of the Constitution gave the Supreme Court the power to solve conflicts between the nation and the states  Article III gave the Judicial Branch the authority to hear cases involving the Constitution, U.S. Laws, and disputes between states  Article VI also address this in the description of the Supremacy Clause

 He 1 st era of American Federalism is known as dual federalism  Both state and national governments were equal authorities operating within their own spheres of influence.  This era was known for the great debate between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson  Hamilton wanted a national bank created and Jefferson was against it.  Congress sided with Hamilton and granted a 20 year charter for the 1 st national bank  McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) was a supreme court case in which John Marshall heard about the creation of the national bank in which he sided with the national governments right to run a national bank  He also stated that Maryland did not have the right to tax the bank because the tax was a attempt to destroy the bank

 In the years leading up to the Civil War slavery divided the country as the Southern states fought any attempt to ban slavery  Southern politicians believed in doctrine of nullification or saying the states could nullify any laws that they believed contradicted the best interest of the states  This doctrine states that is a state challenged a national law ¾ of the other states would have to ratify an amendment allowing congress to enact the law

 Doctrine of secession was the most extreme measure for state rights advocates as it stated states could separate themselves from the Union  When Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860 Southern states feared he would abolish slavery so the seceded from the Union  In 1865 following the Civil War states and federal government changed and states no longer had the right to challenge the federal government on laws or secede  The Civil War also led to expansion of Constitutional powers  The 13 th, 14 th, and 15 th amendment was also passed dealing with slavery and former slaves rights

 The turn of the 20 th century was a time of major change for the United States as the US population more than doubled and technologies changed the culture of the nation  Many economic and social problems arose with this massive growth and the federal government had to act to protect the people  1887 Interstate Commerce Act was put into place in order to regulate the railroad industry  1890 Sherman Anti-trust act was put into place in order to break a number of large monopolies that controlled society

 1930’s a major economic crisis “The Great Depression” led to many other changes  1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt put into place the New Deal which was a set of national programs to bring relief to Americans  This was the 1 st time the Federal Government assumed responsibility of social and economic welfare of the people  The Federal and state governments worked together on this so it was known as cooperative federalism

 In the 1960’s under President Lyndon B. Johnson he put into place “The Great Society” which further expanded the powers of the federal government aimed at eliminating poverty and social inequality  Johnson’s approach was known as creative federalism because it utilized different strategies to stimulate the economy  He put into place a grant system that would give money to states if they fully cooperated with his policies and it increased the size and cost of national government

 In the 1980’s many political leaders tried to reverse this trend and give more power back to the states in an era known as new federalism  Reagan believed state governments would better know the needs of it’s peoples than the federal government and wanted the states to make more decisions for it’s policies as opposed to the federal government.  In the 1990’s the Republican’s pushed a policy of devolution or the return of power to the states expanding on Reagan’s policies  They wanted to reduce the size and power of the national government  Democratic President Bill Clinton declared “The era of big government is now over” in

 Federalism Today

 In the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 the need for national security led to more change and expansion in the powers of the government  This time period became known as fiscal federalism or a system of spending, taxing, and providing aid in federal system.  This is a practice that dates back to the Articles of Confederation with the land ordinance of 1785 where the government set aside land for public schools in the northwest territory.

 After the Constitution was ratified this continued with the Morrill Act of 1862 which also granted large tracts of land to the states which they in turn sold and established Universities with it. Texas A & M and Ohio State were started due to the Morrill Act  The 16 th Amendment in 1913 gave the Federal government the ability to set a federal income tax which allowed them to have this money to use  Federal Income tax is the Federal Governments main source of income

 Categorical grants is the most common way money is distributed to the states from the federal government by stating that the money given can only be used for specific purposes.  Block Grants are federal grants that are given for a more general purpose or for broad policy areas like welfare, public health, community development, or education  Federal Mandates are demands the federal government makes in order for a state to receive money.  Federal mandates were instrumental in passing Civil Rights and environmental policies.  They have put into place unfunded mandates which require the states to pay with no federal funding and these issues have caused

 There are several key issues in today’s federalism as follows:  Poverty – In 1996 they changed the policy of dealing with poverty from the federal government to the states and since then poverty has decreased nationwide in part due to the states better understanding their own peoples needs  Homeland Security- Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks the department of Homeland Security was formed in order to assist in those matters as well as any disasters that may occur a good example was the assistance in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 

 Immigration- In today’s society immigration issues are a major concern. This is currently a federal issue but the states with international borders put into place their own policies along with federal guidelines in order to combat this. No big resolution has been put into place to combat this.  Health Care- Health care is a major issue in society as recently as 2003 more than 45 million Americans could not afford Health Insurance. The question is should the government foot the bill for this and at what level?