Federalism

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Federalism

• AP Government Politics
• Unit 2

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Types of Governments

• 1. Democracy The word "democracy" literally means
  "rule by the people." In a democracy, the people
  govern.
• 2. Republic  A literal democracy is impossible in
  a political system containing more than a few
  people. All "democracies" are really republics.
  In a republic, the people elect representatives
  to make and enforce laws.
• 3. Monarchy A monarchy consists of rule by a king
  or queen. Sometimes a king is called an
  "emperor," especially if there is a large empire,
  such as China before 1911. There are no large
  monarchies today. The United Kingdom, which has a
  queen, is really a republic because the queen has
  virtually no political power.
• 4. Aristocracy An aristocracy is rule by the
  aristocrats. Aristocrats are typically wealthy,
  educated people. Many monarchies have really been
  ruled by aristocrats.

• Today, typically, the term "aristocracy" is used
  negatively to accuse a republic of being
  dominated by rich people, such as saying, "The
  United States has become an aristocracy.
• 5. Dictatorship A dictatorship consists of rule
  by one person or a group of people. Very few
  dictators admit they are dictators they almost
  always claim to be leaders of democracies. The
  dictator may be one person, such as Castro in
  Cuba or Hitler in Germany, or a group of people,
  such as the Communist Party in China.
• 6. Democratic Republic Usually, a "democratic
  republic" is not democratic and is not a
  republic. A government that officially calls
  itself a "democratic republic" is usually a
  dictatorship. Communist dictatorships have been
  especially prone to use this term. For example,
  the official name of North Vietnam was "The
  Democratic Republic of Vietnam." China uses a
  variant, "The People's Republic of China."

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Types of Governments

• Democracy The word "democracy" literally means
  "rule by the people." In a democracy, the people
  govern.
• Republic  A literal democracy is impossible in a
  political system containing more than a few
  people. All "democracies" are really republics.
  In a republic, the people elect representatives
  to make and enforce laws.

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Three Ways Power is Shared Between a National
Government and States/Sub-Units

• Unitary
• One strong national government
• Example Great Britain
• Most of the world uses this type
• Confederal
• Strong states or regions with a weak national
  government
• Example The Articles of Confederation, the
  Confederacy
• Federal
• A strong central government that shares power
  with states or regions
• Example The United States

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Federalism

• Federalism is the theory or advocacy of federal
  political orders, where final authority is
  divided between sub-units and a center.
• Federalism refers to the apportioning of power
  between the federal government and the states.
• In a federal system, the national government
  holds significant power, but the smaller
  political subdivisions also hold significant
  power. The United States, Canada, Australia, and
  Brazil are examples of federal systems.

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True or False??

• Most governments in the world have both state and
  national governments, as in the U.S..

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True or False??

• The powers of the state and national governments
  were clearly established in the Constitution.

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True or False??

• Under federalism, states surrender their power to
  the national government.

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True or False??

• The Framers themselves had a hard time agreeing
  on what was meant by federalism.

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True or False??

• The nature of federalism has remained consistent
  throughout U.S. History.

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True or False??

• The complexity of federalism tends to discourage
  citizen participation in government.

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Discuss

• What reasons exist for the states to continue
  exercising independent power?

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Discuss

• The speed limits vary across the nations roads
  and highways.
• Could the national government legally intervene
  to rectify these conflicting state laws ?
• Should it?

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Discuss

• Gay marriage is allowed in six states
  (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire,
  Vermont, New York) and Washington, D.C.
• The Coquille Indian Tribe in Oregon also grants
  same-sex marriage.
• Should the national government legally intervene
  to rectify the conflicting state laws ?
• Should it?

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Discuss

• Certain areas in Nevada permit prostitution.
• Could the national government legally intervene
  to forbid such practices?
• Should it?

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Discuss

• Alaska and Colorado have held referendums
  concerning the private possession of small
  amounts of marijuana.
• Could the national government legally intervene
  to forbid such practices?
• Should it?

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Discuss

• California has laws allowing for the distribution
  and use concerning the medical marijuana.
• Could the national government legally intervene
  to forbid such practices?
• Should it?

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Discuss

• Georgia, Texas, and other states have laws that
  allow the death penalty. Massachusetts and others
  have laws forbidding it.
• Could the national government legally intervene
  to rectify these conflicting state laws ?
• Should it?

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Federalism Terms to Know

• Dual Federalism
• Cooperative Federalism
• AKA Creative Federalism
• New Federalism

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Models of Federal Governments
Cooperative Federalism
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Dual Federalism

• Dual Federalism, holds that the federal
  government and the state governments are
  co-equals, and each are sovereign.
• In this theory, parts of the Constitution are
  interpreted very narrowly.
• In this case, there is a very large group of
  powers belonging to the states, and the federal
  government is limited to only those powers
  explicitly listed in the Constitution.
• In this narrow interpretation, the federal
  government has jurisdiction only if the
  Constitution clearly grants such.
• Examples 10th Amendment, the Supremacy Clause,
  the Necessary and Proper Clause, and the Commerce
  Clause.

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AKALayer Cake Federalism"
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Examples of Dual Federalism

• Laissez faire or hands off business
• Gilded Age
• The Dred Scott decision
• States can decide about slave laws
• Jim Crow laws
• States can decide about segregation/integration
• Plessey v Ferguson

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The Switch from Dual to Cooperative Federalism

• The shift from Dual to Cooperative Federalism was
  a slow one, but it was steady from the New Deal
  to the late 20th century.
• Dual federalism is not completely dead, but for
  the most part, the United States' branches of
  government operate under the presumption of a
  cooperative federalism.

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Cooperative Federalism

• This theory asserts that the national government
  is supreme over the states, and the 10th
  Amendment, the Supremacy Clause, the Necessary
  and Proper Clause, and the Commerce Clause have
  entirely different meaning than in the Dual
  Federalism theory.
• A good illustration of the broad interpretation
  of this part of the Constitution is exemplified
  by the Necessary and Proper Clause's other common
  name the Elastic Clause.

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AKAMarble Cake Federalism"
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Examples of Cooperative Federalism

• The New Deal
• Government programs to end the Great Depression
• The Great Society
• Government programs to end discrimination AND to
  provide for those less fortunate
• NCLB and Race to the top
• Federal government regulation and grants
  concerning K-12 education

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Cooperative Federalism Grants

• Cooperative Federalism" included an explosion of
  grants that reached beyond the states to
  establish intergovernmental links at all levels,
  often bypassing states entirely.
• AKA as picket fence federalism"
• AKA as Creative Federalism
• Started with the Morrill Land Grant of 1862
• federal government gave each state 30,000 of
  public land for each representative in Congress
• the money from the sale of the lands was to
  establish and support agricultural and mechanical
  arts colleges (UGA, Texas A M, Michigan State)

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New Federalism

• New Federalism is the arrangement of
  administrative reforms with a devolutionary
  objective.
• This idea began during modern presidential
  administrations starting with Richard Nixon.
• Ronald Reagans campaigns centered around
  devolution
• It included decentralization of national programs
  to regions, streamlining of federal services, and
  the redirection of funds towards other levels of
  government.
• It also included efforts to reduce national
  control over the grants-in-aid programs and
  revise the character of federal involvement in
  general welfare spending. 

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Federal Mandates (the stick)

• Federal laws that direct state and local
  governments to comply with federal standards,
  rules, or regulations
• Federal Clean Air Act
• Sometimes the federal government will impose a
  mandate on state or local governments to
  implement a costly policy in return for funds
  that may not make up the full costs of the
  program.
• This is called an Unfunded Mandate
• Example Endangered Species Act
• Passed by Congress in 1973, which imposes federal
  mandates on states to protect animal species that
  are deemed in danger of becoming extinct.
• States have NO CHOICE but to follow this Act
  whether or not money is supplied by the feds

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Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

• Prevented Congress from passing costly federal
  programs along to the states with at least a
  debate on how to fund them
• With its origins in the Devolution Revolution
  (Republican- Contract with America), UMRA was
  designed to make it more difficult for the
  federal government to make state and local
  governments pay for programs and projects that it
  refuses to pay for itself.
• Unfortunately, UMRA largely has proven to be a
  case of promises unfulfilled

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Federal Grants (the carrot)

• The federal government transfers payments or
  shares its revenues with lower levels of
  government via federal grants.
• Its all about the money!!!!
• Who has it (the national government)
• Who wants it (the states)
• And who gets it (the states who jump through the
  right hoops)
• Federal governments use this power to enforce
  national rules and standards by opening and
  closing its purse strings for the states

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Revenue Sharing

• The transfer of tax revenue to the states
• Congress gave an annual amount of federal tax
  revenue to the states and their cities, counties
  and townships.
• Revenue sharing was extremely popular with state
  officials, but it lost federal support during the
  Reagan Administration.
• In 1987, revenue sharing was replaced with block
  grants in smaller amounts to reduce the federal
  deficit

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Two Types of Grants-in Aid

• Block grants
• Grants provided to the states from the federal
  government with few strings attached
• For example, a grant for transportation but the
  state can decide which roads will be built or
  where they will be located Categorical grants
• Categorical grants
• Grants provided to the states from the federal
  government with many strings attached
• For example, a grant for roads but the federal
  government decides where the road will go or
  which road can be widened can decide which road

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Welfare Act of 1996

• AKAThe Personal Responsibility and Work
  Opportunity Reconciliation Act
• Was signed in to law on August 22, 1996, by
  President Bill Clinton.
• It was a bipartisan effort with the Republican
  Congress
• It dramatically changed the nation's welfare
  system into one that required work in exchange
  for time-limited assistance.
• The law contained
• strong work requirements
• a performance bonus to reward states for moving
  welfare recipients into jobs
• state maintenance of effort requirements
• comprehensive child support enforcement
• and supports for families moving from welfare to
  work -- including increased funding for child
  care and guaranteed medical coverage."

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Important Supreme Court Cases Concerning
Federalism

• South Dakota v Dole
• U.S. v Lopez
• Printz v U.S.
• District of Columbia v. Heller
• MacDonald v Chicago
• Boumediene v. Bush
• Bush v Gore

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South Dakota vs. Dole (1987)

• The withholding of federal highway funds followed
  a study of teenage driving and alcohol-related
  accidents
• The federal government required states to raise
  their drinking age to 21 in order to receive
  highway funds
• South Dakota claimed that the law is
  unconstitutional because the 21st amendment gave
  power to the states for regulating alcoholic
  beverages.
• The state filed suit against Secretary of
  Transportation Elizabeth Dole
• Can Congress withhold federal funding in order to
  force a state to pass legislation it deems
  useful?

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Decision and Importance

• Decision Yes!
• Why important? The provision was designed to
  serve the general welfare AND it was held that
  even if Congress lacks the power to impose a
  national minimum drinking age directly, the
  non-requirement aspect of the regulation was a
  valid exercise of Congress' spending power and
  upheld states rights

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United States vs. Lopez (1995)

• Was the first modern Supreme Court case to set
  limits to Congress's lawmaking power.
• Alfonso Lopez, Jr. carried a handgun and bullets
  into his high school.
• He was charged with violating Section 922(q) of
  the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990.
• The government believed that the possession of a
  firearm at a school falls under jurisdiction of
  the Commerce Clause.

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Decision and Importance

• The Court said, NO! to Commerce Clause in Lopez
• Too much of a stretch to connect guns in school
  to commerce
• Federal government had overstretched its
  boundaries
• Forced states to create the gun laws themselves.
• Why important? Interstate commerce, gun-free
  school zones can not be federally mandated
  (states rights)
• Was this a change in the direction of the Court?

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Printz vs. United States (1997)

• Reagans press secretary, James Brady was
  seriously injured during the assassination
  attempt
• He later lobbied for stricter gun controls and
  background checks - these passed and became known
  as the Brady Bill
• Printz was a sheriff who challenged the Brady
  Bill charging that it violated the 10th Amendment
• Did the federal mandated law take it too far??

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Importance

• The Court said YES!
• The Court ruled in favor of Printz, ruling that
  Congress may not require the States to administer
  a federal regulatory program and that the Act
  violated the Tenth Amendment to the U.S.
  Constitution
• The decision overturned requirements for local
  enforcement of the background checks
• Why important? The states are no longer
  subordinates in all power disputes involving
  unfunded mandates

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Amendment II

• A well regulated militia, being necessary to the
  security of a free state, the right of the people
  to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
• What exactly does that mean???

Huh????
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Amendment II

• A well regulated militia, being necessary to the
  security of a free state, (or should it be a
  semi-colon ??) the right of the people to keep
  and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

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District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)

• For the first time in seventy years, the Court
  heard a case regarding the central meaning of the
  Second Amendment and its relation to gun control
  laws.
• After the District of Columbia passed legislation
  barring the registration of handguns, requiring
  licenses for all pistols, and mandating that all
  legal firearms must be kept unloaded and
  disassembled or trigger locked, a group of
  private gun-owners brought suit claiming the laws
  violated their Second Amendment right to bear
  arms.
• Do local government have the right to impose such
  strict laws concerning guns?

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District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)

• Decision
• No!
• In a 5-4 decision, the Court held that the
  Second Amendment protects an individual right to
  possess a firearm unconnected with service in a
  militia, and to use that firearm for
  traditionally lawful purposes, such as
  self-defense within the home.

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McDonald v. Chicago, 2010

• Facts of the case
• Several suits were filed against Chicago and Oak
  Park in Illinois challenging their gun bans after
  the Supreme Court issued its opinion in District
  of Columbia v. Heller.
• Here, plaintiffs argued that the Second Amendment
  should also apply to the states.

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McDonald v. Chicago, 2010

• Ruling and Importance (5-4)
• The Supreme Court ruled that the Fourteenth
  Amendment makes the Second Amendment right to
  keep and bear arms for the purpose of
  self-defense applicable to the states
• The Court reasoned that rights that are
  "fundamental to the Nation's scheme of ordered
  liberty" or that are "deeply rooted in this
  Nation's history and tradition" are appropriately
  applied to the states through the Fourteenth
  Amendment.

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Habeas Corpus You have the Body

• A writ of habeas corpus is a judicial mandate to
  a prison official ordering that an inmate be
  brought to the court so it can be determined
  whether or not that person is imprisoned lawfully
  and whether or not he should be released from
  custody.
• Prisoners often seek release by filing a petition
  for a writ of habeas corpus.
• A habeas corpus petition is a petition filed with
  a court by a person who objects to his own or
  another's detention or imprisonment.
• The petition must show that the court ordering
  the detention or imprisonment made a legal or
  factual error.

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Boumediene v. Bush (2008)

• Facts of the Case 
• In 2002 Lakhdar Boumediene and five other
  Algerian natives were seized by Bosnian police
  when U.S. intelligence officers suspected their
  involvement in a plot to attack the U.S. embassy
  there. The U.S. government classified the men as
  enemy combatants in the war on terror and
  detained them at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
  (GITMO), which is located on land that the U.S.
  leases from Cuba.

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Boumediene v. Bush (2008)

• Questions of Law
• Should the Military Commissions Act of 2006 be
  interpreted to strip federal courts of
  jurisdiction over habeas petitions filed by
  foreign citizens detained at the U.S. Naval Base
  at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba?
• If so, is the Military Commissions Act of 2006 a
  violation of the Suspension Clause of the
  Constitution?
• Are the detainees at Guantanamo Bay entitled to
  the protection of the Fifth Amendment right not
  to be deprived of liberty without due process of
  law and of the Geneva Conventions?
• Can the detainees challenge the adequacy of
  judicial review provisions of the Military
  Commissions Act?

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Importance

• No and Yes to the questions (5-4 split decision)
• The Court ruled in favor of the detainees in each
  question.
• The procedures laid out in the Detainee Treatment
  Act are not adequate substitutes for the habeas
  writ.
• The detainees were not barred from seeking habeas
  or invoking the Suspension Clause merely because
  they had been designated as enemy combatants or
  held at Guantanamo Bay.

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Bush v. Gore (2000)

• Facts of the Case 
• Following the closely contested 2000 presidential
  election, the Florida Supreme Court ordered that
  the Circuit Court in Leon County tabulate by hand
  9000 contested ballots from Miami-Dade County.
• It also ordered that every county in Florida must
  immediately begin manually recounting all
  "under-votes" (ballots which did not indicate a
  vote for president) because there were enough
  contested ballots to place the outcome of the
  election in doubt.
• Governor George Bush and his running mate,
  Richard Cheney, filed a request for review in the
  U.S. Supreme Court and sought an emergency
  petition to reverse the Florida Supreme Court's
  decision.

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Bush v. Gore (2000)

• Questions of Law 
• Did the Florida Supreme Court violate Article II
  Section 1 Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution by
  making new election law?
• Do standardless manual recounts violate the Equal
  Protection and Due Process Clauses of the
  Constitution?

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Importance

• In a hotly contested, 5-4 decision the Supreme
  Court ruled for presidential candidate George W.
  Bush, vice pres. Candidate Dick Cheney (and
  Florida Governor Jeb Bush)
• 1. Yes , the Florida Supreme Ct. acted
  incorrectly
• Noting that the Equal Protection clause
  guarantees individuals that their ballots cannot
  be devalued by "later arbitrary and disparate
  treatment," the opinion held 7-2 that the Florida
  Supreme Court's scheme for recounting ballots was
  unconstitutional.
• 2. Yes, the manual recounts were unconstitutional
• Even if the recount was fair in theory, it was
  unfair in practice. The record suggested that
  different standards were applied from ballot to
  ballot, precinct to precinct, and county to
  county.

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Read Your Chapters!!(Many) More Supreme Court
cases to come? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?