Title:
1Federalism
- Objectives
- How the federal governments involvement in
states affairs has grown? - How have grants-in-aid affected the growth of
federalism? - What role do federal mandates play in federalism?
2Three Systems of Government
- Unitary System centralized government in which
local governments exercise only those powers
given to them by the central government - Confederal System consists of a league of
independent states, each having essentially
sovereign power - Federal System power is divided by a written
constitution between a central government and
regional governments
3The Flow of Power in Three Systems of Government
4So Why Adopt Federalism?
- A Practical Solution to the dispute between
advocates of a strong central government and
states rights advocates - Geography and population make it impractical to
locate all political authority in one place - Brings government closer to the people
- State governments train future national leaders
- Prevention of Tyranny
- State governments can be testing grounds for
policy initiatives - Federalism allows for many political subcultures
5Constitutional Basis of Powers of the National
Government
- Expressed Powers First 17 clauses of Article I,
Section 8, examples include coining money,
setting standards of weights and measures,
declaring war - Implied Powers the clause in Article I, Section
8, that grants Congress the power to do whatever
is necessary to execute its specifically
delegated power (necessary and proper clause) - Inherent Powers powers derive from the fact
that the United States is a sovereign power among
nations
6The Powers of State Government
- Reserved Powers derived from the 10th
Amendment, states powers not assigned to the
federal government are reserved for the states - Police Powers power reserved to the state
government to regulate the health, safety, and
morals of its citizens regulation/enforcement - Concurrent powers states and federal government
share power on issues such as granting business
license (national policy usually wins when there
is a conflict)
7Examples of Federalism
- States pass their own laws regarding
- Gay Marriage, Abortion, Affirmative Action,
Bilingual Education, Death Penalty, K-12
Education, Speed Limit, Drinking Age, Gambling,
Marijuana, Assisted Suicide
8The Growth of the National Government
- McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)- established the
implied powers of the national government and the
idea of national supremacy - (from the necessary and proper clause)
- (from the supremacy clause)
- Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) established that the
power to regulate interstate commerce was an
exclusive national power - (from the commerce clause)
9The Shift Back to States Rights in the
Jacksonian Era
- Nullification the idea that states could
declare a national law null and void - Secession the withdrawal of a state from a
union - South Carolina first state to repeal its
ratification of the U.S. Constitution (1860)
10War and the Growth of the National Government
- The defeat of the South ended the idea that
states could secede from the Union. - The defeat of the South also resulted in an
expansion of the powers of the national
government (the opposite of what te South was
fighting for) - New governments employees were hired to
conduct the war effort, and Reconstruction - A billion dollar budget was passed
- A temporary income tax was imposed on
citizens - Civil liberties were curtailed because of the
war effort and the nationals governments role
expanded to include providing pensions to
veterans and widows
11The Continuing Dispute over the Division of
Power
- Dual Federalism (Layer Cake) the national and
state governments as equal sovereign powers - Cooperative Federalism (Marble Cake) the idea
that states and the national government should
cooperate to solve problems
12The Decline of Dual Federalism
- Great Depression resulted in FDRs New Deal
policies which established a large and far
reaching federal government - FDR fought with the Sup. Ct. for years and won
re-election in landslide in 1936 and threatened
to pack the court - Result was a return to a strong federal government
13Federal Preemption from 1900 to the Present
Source U.S. Advisory Commission on
Intergovernmental Relations, plus authors update.
14Cooperative Federalism in action
- Grants-in-aid
- Categorical grants Heres some money, but you
do exactly what I tell you to do with it. - Block grants Heres some money, spend it how
you like as long as you it relates to what I
want. - General revenue sharing grants Heres some
money, do whatever you want with it. - Unfunded mandates I dont have the money, but
you still have do exactly what I tell you to do.
15Federalism in action
- No Child Left Behind Act
- Problem
- Declining student performance
- Solution
- Federal funding requires tough performance
standards - Unintended consequences
- Localities forced to make huge investment to
implement testing requirements. - Localities suing states, arguing that testing
requirements represent an unfunded mandate. - States opting out of federal funds and
performance standards.
16Inequities in State Education Spending
17The Number of Governments in the USA
18Discussion Questions
- Should the U.S. federal government have the right
to regulate marriage or is this best decided by
each individual state? What are the advantages
and disadvantages of each? - Does the federal government have too much control
in state affairs or too little? - Why is it important that powers be divided
between the federal government and the states?