FEDERALISM Chapter Four! Yeah baby!!

3 WAYS TO ORGANIZE GOVERNMENT Steffen W. Schmidt, Mack C. Shelley and Barbara A. Bardes, American Government and Politics Today Brief Edition (New York: Wadsworth, 2005), 47

Why Federalism? Appeased supporters of state sovereignty Checked the national government’s power Allowed for autonomous decision-making on the part of the states Provided a political training ground Allows for unity without uniformity (though recent Supreme Court decisions challenge this) Experimentation and innovation

Constitutional Structure of American Federalism Dividing and sharing power Powers delegated to the national government Powers reserved to the state governments Concurrent powers exercised by both the national and state governments Prohibited powers of the national and state governments National Supremacy Relations among the states

Delegated Powers Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution Aka, “enumerated powers” Examples –Raise an army –Coin money –Regulate interstate commerce –Create a system of patents & copyrights –Etc.

Implied Powers Article I, Section 8-18 In addition to the delegated powers, Congress shall have all powers “necessary and proper” to carry out all the delegated powers. Congress’ use of implied powers was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of McCulloch v. Maryland (1819).

Reserved Powers The 10 th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that those powers –Not delegated to the national government –Not prohibited to the national or state governments Are reserved to the states or respectively, the people. Examples –Conduct elections –Charter local governments –The police power—public, health, safety and morality

Concurrent Powers Powers exercised by both the national and state governments. Examples: –Tax, spend and budget –Eminent domain –Regulate commerce (states can only regulate INTRA state commerce)

Prohibited Powers No suspension of the writ of habeas corpus Article I, Section 9 prohibits the national and state governments from –Granting titles of nobility –Passing ex-post facto laws or bills of attainder States may not –Enter into agreements with foreign nations –Pass laws that go against the Bill of Rights

National Supremacy Article VI, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution The supreme law of the U.S. consists of –The Constitution –Treaties –And laws made pursuant unto it. Though some exceptions exist, generally when a state law conflicts with a federal law, the federal law prevails.

Relations Among the States Article IV Full faith and credit clause: all states must honor the legal proceedings & papers of other states Privileges & immunities Extradition No interstate compacts without Congress’s permission National government guarantees each state a republican form of government

Development of American Federalism The Supreme Court has served as the umpire Establishing the national government’s role: –McCulloch v. Maryland –Gibbons v. Ogden The Taney Court and Dred Scott The Civil War settled national supremacy Reconstruction to 1935, the Supreme Court ruled for the states over the national government Little cooperation between national, state & local governments Dual or layer cake federalism layer cake federalismlayer cake federalism

Cooperative Federalism 1937: The Supreme Court began to side with and uphold national government power. New Deal brought a new era where national, state and local governments worked together to solve complex social problems. Cooperative or marble cake federalism From the Great Depression, WWII, and on through the 1960s up until the 1980s, national government power grew and expanded.

Federal Grants The tools of cooperative federalism Categorical –Specific –Usually allocated by a formula –Lots of strings (conditions) attached Project—recipients apply for these Block –Broader with less strings attached –State & local governments have flexibility in how they spend these grants

Federalism & the Future In the 1980s with Reagan and with both President Bushes, efforts were made to return or devolve power to the states Sometimes known as “new federalism.” Overlapping jurisdictions & redundant, conflicting regulations (Regulatory Federalism) New New National Government tools: –Unfunded Mandates: national government sets requirements but provides no or little funding to meet them. –Pre-emption: national government partially or totally takes over a policy area from the state or local governments –Uniformity becoming the norm which stifles experimentation and innovation