1. Longman PoliticalScienceInteractive
Magleby & Light
Government by the People
Chapter 3
American Federalism
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2. Defining Federalism Federalism
Constitutional arrangement whereby power is distributed between a central government and subdivisional governments (eg., states). The national and the subdivisional governments both exercise direct authority over individuals.
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3. Number of Governments in the United States
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4. Why Federalism? Training for national officials Limit tyranny
Allows for differences
More arenas for public participation
Limit tyranny
Unity without uniformity
Encourage policy experimentation
Better for a large nation
Training for national officials
Allows for differences
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5. 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 or "Marble Cake" Federalism
Federalism as a cooperative system of intergovernmental relations in delivering goods and services to the people
Fiscal Federalism
Federalism based on the federal government providing funding to the states, usually with specific conditions attached
“New Federalism”
Goal is to limit the power of the federal government in favor of the broad powers reserved to the states
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6. Powers of the National Government
Delegated powers:
~Expressed (or enumerated) powers (i.e. Art. I, Sec. 8, Cl. 1-17)
~Implied powers
(Art. I, Sec. 8, Cl. 18: necessary and proper clause)
~Inherent powers (natural powers for a government)
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7. Constitutional Provisions Enabling National Government Expansion
National supremacy article
• Art. VI, Cl. 2
War power
• Art. I, Sec. 8, Cl. 11
Power to tax and spend
• Art. I, Sec. 8, Cl. 1
• Art. I, Sec. 9, Cl. 7
• Federal mandates
Power to regulate interstate and foreign commerce
• Commerce Clause
(Art. I, Sec. 8, Cl. 3)
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8. The Federal Courts and Federalism: McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
Doctrine of Implied National Powers
“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 National Supremacy
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9. (powers granted to both federal and state governments)
Powers of the States
Reserved powers
(10th Amendment)
Concurrent powers
(powers granted to both federal and state governments)
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10. Interstate Relations Full faith and credit clause (Art. IV, Sec. 1)
Interstate privileges and immunities (Art. IV, Sec. 2, Cl. 1)
Extradition (Art. IV, Sec. 2, Cl. 2)
Interstate compacts (Art. I, Sec. 10, Cl. 1)
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11. Regulatory Federalism
FEDERAL GRANTS:
Supply state and local governments with revenue
Establish minimum national standards
(eg., highways, clean air)
Equalize resources among the states
Attack national problems, yet minimize the growth of federal agencies
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12. 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
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13. The Politics of Federal Grants
The Republican “Contract with America” called for devolution— the transfer of political and economic power to the states
For example: Welfare
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14. 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
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15. The Growth of National Government
Why has the power of the national government grown over the last two centuries?
Industrialization
Great Depression
WWII
Political leaders’ promotion of federal initiatives
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16. The Great Debate: Centralists versus Decentralists
Strict Construction
Loose Construction
Supporters: Anti-Federalists, Thomas Jefferson, Supreme Court from 1920s to 1937, and Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush
Position: Views the Constitution as a compact among states that gives the central government very little authority.
Original intent or judicial restraint
Supporters: Alexander Hamilton, Chief Justice John Marshall, Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and FDR, 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.
"Living document" or judicial activism

17. The Future of Federalism
During recent decades, state governments have become stronger than ever.
Increasingly aggressive on economic and environmental matters
Questionable effect on minority rights
Even so, the persistence of international terrorism, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and rising deficits all ensure a substantial role for the national government in the years to come.
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18. Debates Over the Relationship of the National Government and the States: California’s Emissions Standard Battle with the EPA
Impatient with the lack of action by the national government, in 2002 California required that vehicle carbon dioxide emissions be reduced by 30 percent starting in 2009
In 2003, the EPA ruled that carbon dioxide was not a pollutant and could not be regulated
California has since sued the EPA
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