Chapter 3 Federalism

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Chapter 3 Federalism
Juliet Alfaro Lecture Series
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• Government in the United Sates consists of
• One national government
• Fifty state governments
• Thousands of local governments

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There are three basic systems of government

• Unitary strong central government local
  government only have powers given to them by
  central government
• Confederal strong state governments central
  government only has powers given to it by states
• Federal power is divided between central
  government and states each has their own sphere
  of influence

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The Flow of Power in Three Systems of Government
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Why Federalism?

• Practical solution brought government closer
• Retained state traditions and power while
  creating a strong central government
• Solved problems caused by regional isolation and
  geographical size.
• Diffused political dissatisfaction among the
  various governments
• Provides a training ground for potential leaders
• Allows diverse groups develop in their own
  regions
• Example administering and maintaining a bridge
  or tunnel that connects two states

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Arguments against federalism include

• Allows national power to expand at the expense of
  the states
• Provides a way for powerful state interests to
  block national progress
• Denies equal rights for minorities

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How the United States Compares

• Federal Canada, Germany, United States
• Unitary France, Japan, Sweden

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Constitutional Basis for Federalism
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Constitutional Basis for Federalism

• Concurrent Powers are implied powers such as the
  power to tax.
• Prohibited Powers are powers denied to national
  government such as the ability to impose taxes on
  goods sold to other countries, and the ability to
  make treaties with foreign countries is
  prohibited to the states.
• The Supremacy Clause (Art.VI, Clause 2) makes
  national law supreme over state law when national
  government is acting within its constitutional
  boundaries.
• National government is said to preempt state or
  local laws.

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Federal Preemption from 1900 to the Present
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The American Federal System-The Division of
Powers between the National Government and the
State Governments
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Constitutional Clauses concerning Horizontal
Federalism

• Give Full Faith and Credit to every other states
  public acts, records, and judicial proceedings.
  (Art.IV, Sec 1)
• Extend to every other states citizens the
  Privileges and Immunities of its own citizens.
  (Art.IV, Sec. 2)
• Extradition or agree to return persons who are
  fleeing justice in another state back to their
  home state when requested to do so. (Art.IV, Sec.
  2).
• Interstate Compact

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The Early Years

• The most significant disputes in the early years
  arose over implied powers or the necessary and
  proper clause.
• Two cases considered milestone cases decided by
  the Marshall court are McCulloch v. Maryland
  (1819)
• and
• Gibbons v. Ogden (1824).

Chief Justice John Marshall (1801-35)
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Defining Constitutional Powers

• 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)

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• Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) established that the
  power to regulate interstate commerce was an
  exclusive national power
• (from the commerce clause)

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States Rights and the Resort to the Civil War

• Slavery was an issue, but national supremacy and
  states rights were also issues of the Civil War
  as well.

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The Shift Back to States Rights

• During the Jacksonian Era (1829-37) the shift
  back to states rights began.
• The issue of commerce regulation became a topic
  of conflict in federal-state relations.

Congress passed a tariff in 1828 which North
Carolina argued was void because in conflicts
between federal and state , the state should
prevail.
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The Reassertion of States Rights and the Civil
War

• Finally in 1860, representatives from six
  southern states used nullification and secession
  to withdraw from the Union and to from the
  Confederacy States of America.
• Nullification the idea that states could
  declare a national law null and void
• Secession the withdrawal of a state from a
  union

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War and the Growth of National Government

• The Souths defeat led to
• Eliminating the idea of secession
• Increasing national governments power
• The hiring of thousands of employees to deal with
  the war effort and its aftermath
• A temporary income tax
• Increased government spending, such as widows
  benefits and pensions
• Curtailing of civil liberties

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The Continuing Dispute Over The Division of Power

• The Civil War ultimately rubber stamped national
  supremacy, but the debate over states rights
  continued.
• Federalism can be seen in three stages
• Dual Federalism
• Cooperative Federalism
• New Federalism

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The Continuing Dispute over the Division of Power

• After the Civil War, the prevailing doctrine was
  dual federalism.
• Dual Federalism the national and state
  governments as equal sovereign powers
• States exercised authority in areas such as
  police powers and intrastate activities.

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The Great Depression

• In 1932, a year before FDR had been inaugurated
  as the 32nd president of the United States, 1500
  banks failed, 32,000 businesses closed, and ¼ of
  the labor force was unemployed.
• The government did not take an active role until
  three years later with FDRs New Deal.

FDR
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• This phase is known as Cooperative Federalism
  the idea that states and the national government
  should cooperate to solve problems.

• Federal grants given to the states for
• Housing projects
• Public works
• Welfare
• Unemployment
• Allowed national and state government to
  cooperate.

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Children working in coal mines in the 1800s.
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The Great Society

• Later in the 60s (1963-66), the national
  governments role expanded with President Lyndon
  Johnsons Great Society with programs such as
• Job Corps
• Head Start
• Vista
• Medicare
• Medicaid
• This brought rise to a new metaphor, picket-fence
  federalism

President Lyndon Baines Johnson
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Federal Grants in Aid are a part of cooperative
federalism.

• Categorical grants
• Matching funds
• Equalization
• National government uses grants to control
  states.
• Ronald Reagan threatened to withhold highway
  funds unless drinking ages were raised to 21.

President Ronald Reagan
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Commerce Clause

• Has been used by Supreme Court to justify
  national regulation in many areas.
• Home grown wheat and consumption affected
  commerce
• National government could regulate local
  intrastate affairs.
• The commerce clause was used to regulate in areas
  beyond interstate commerce

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The Third Phase is New Federalism labeled by
Richard Nixon.

• limits national governments power to regulate
• restores power to state governments
• allows states to decide how money should be spent
• uses block grants
• opposes federal mandates

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The New Federalism
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The Supreme Court and New FederalismHas the
government gone too far?

• Tenth Amendment issues
• New York v. US (1992) Government may not
  conscript state governments as their agents.
• Printz v. US (1997) Struck down provisions of
  the Brady Handgun Violence Act of 1997)

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Commerce Power Issues

• US v. Lopez (1995) Congress had exceed its
  commerce power when it passed the Gun-Free Zones
  Act of 1990. Schools had nothing to do with
  commerce.
• US v. Morrison (2000) Congress had overreached
  its authority when it passed the Violence Against
  Women Act of 1994.

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Eleventh Amendment Issues

• Alden v. Maine (1999) Maine employees could not
  sue the state for violating overtime requirements
  of a federal act.
• Kimmel v. Board of Regents (2000) employees from
  a state university could not sue a state
  university for violating a federal statute
  banning aged based discrimination.