Chapter 4:1: Federalism

• Ezr_7:25 And thou, Ezra, after

the wisdom of thy God, that is

in thine hand, set magistrates

and judges, which may judge

all the people that are beyond

the river, all such as know the

laws of thy God; and teach ye

them that know them not.

o Do you think the president should be able to

run more than two terms in office?

Objectives: 4:1 Federalism

o Students will define the concept of Federalism.

o Students will be able to identify the powers of the national government and what is reserved to the states.

o Students will identify the powers denied to the national government and the states.

Framers wanted a limited government:

1. That any governmental power threatens individual liberty.

2. That therefore the exercise of governmental power must be curbed.

3. That to divide governmental power is to restrict it and thus prevent its abuse.

Framers wanted a limited government:

o For example: according to Federal

law statues that a young man must

register for the draft at the age of

18.

o Most employers must pay their

workers at least minimum wage;

o No one can be denied a job based

on his or her race or ethnicity.

Framers wanted a limited government:

o State law says that you must have a driver’s license in order to drive a car.

o It is illegal for anyone under age 21 to buy beer, wine, or liquor; only those who can meet certain requirements can vote in elections.

• “It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.” Proverbs 31:4-5.

• Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Proverbs 20:1

• Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Titus 2:12.

Federalism Defined:

o A system of government in which a written constitution divides the powers of government on a territorial basis.

o The division is made between a central, or national, government and several regional or local governments.

o Each level of government has its own area of powers.

Federalism Defined:

o Neither level, acting alone, can

change the basis, of the divisions

of powers the constitution makes

between them.

o Each level operates through its own

agencies and acts directly on the

people through its own officials and

laws.

Federalism Defined:

o Constitution sets out the basic design of the American federal system.

o The document provides for a division of powers between the National government and the States.

o This is called the division of powers and was implied in the Tenth Amendment.

Federalism Defined:

o “The power not delegated to the

United States by the

Constitution, nor prohibited by it

to the State are reserved to the

States respectively, or to the

people.”

Federalism Defined:

o Federalism produces a duel system of government.

o It provides the two basic levels of government.

o With its own sphere of authority.

o Each operates over the same people and the same territory at the same time.

Federalism Defined:

o Federalism’s major strength is that it

allows local actions in matters of local

concern and national action in matters

of wider concern.

o Local traditions, needs, and desires

vary from one state to another, and

federalism allows for this very

significant fact.

Federalism Defined:

o But note that federalism also

provides for the strength that

comes from union.

o National defense and foreign affairs

offer useful illustration of the point.

o Also mobilizes disaster relief.

National Government is one of delegated powers:

o Only those powers granted to it in the Constitution.

o There are three distinct types of delegated power:

o the expressed,

o the implied,

o and the inherent powers.

Expressed powers:

o Delegated to the National Government

and expressly spelled out in the

Constitution.

o Article 1 Section 9 spells out congress

can collect taxes, regulate foreign and

interstate commerce, coin money,

maintain armed forces, declare wars,

standard weights and measures.

Implied Powers:

o Are those are not expressly stated in the Constitution but are reasonably implied by those powers that are.

o The constitution basis for the implied powers is found in one of the expressed powers.

o Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 gives to Congress the “necessary and proper” power.

Inherent Powers:

o Those that belong to the National Government because it is the national government of a sovereign state in the world community.

o Although the Constitution does not expressly provide for them, they are powers that national governments have historically possessed.

o It stands to reason that the Framers intended that the National government they created would hold these powers.

Inherent Powers:

o The inherent powers are few in

number.

o The chief ones include the power to

regulate immigration, to deport aliens,

to acquire territory, to give diplomatic

recognition to other states, and to

protect the nation against rebellion or

internal subversion.

Inherent Powers:

o One can argue that most of the

inherent powers are implied by one

or more of the expressed powers.

o For example, power to acquire

territory can be drawn from the

treaty-making power and the

several war powers.

Powers Denied to the National Government:

o First the Constitution denies some powers to the National government in so many words expressly.

o Among them are the power to levy duties on exports, to deny freedom of religion, speech, press, or assembly, to conduct illegal searches or seizures, and to deny to any person a speedy and public trial, or trial by jury.

Powers Denied to the National Government:

o Among the national powers not granted to the National Government are these: create a national public school system, enact uniform marriage and divorce laws, set up units of local government.

o Tax any state of their local units.

States Are Governments of Reserved Powers:

o Are the powers to each of the States.

o The reserved powers are the powers held by the states in the federal system.

o They are those powers not given to the National Government and yet at the same time, are not denied to the states.

o States can forbid people under 18 to marry without parental consent or those under 21 to buy liquor.

States Are Governments of Reserved Powers:

o A state can require that doctors, lawyers, hairdressers, plumbers be licensed in order to practice in the State.

o The state can set up public school systems and units of local government, set the conditions under which it grants divorces, and permit certain forms of gambling and outlaw others.

Powers Denied to the State:

o No state can enter into any treaty,

alliance, or confederation.

o Nor can a state print or coin money

or deprive any person of life, liberty,

or property without due process of

law.

The Exclusive Powers:

o Are those that can be exercised only by the National Government.

o They include most of the delegated powers.

o Some of the delegated powers are also expressly denied to the States, for example, the powers to coin money, make treaties with foreign states, and lay import duties.

o These powers belong solely to the National Government.

Concurrent Powers:

o Are those that both the National Government and the States possesses and exercise.

o Include the power to lay and collect taxes, to define crimes and set up punishments for them, and to condemn (take) private property for public use.

The Supreme Law of the Land:

o Based on Article VI Section 2, it declares that the Constitution and the laws and treaties of the United States are “the supreme law of the land.”

o This means that the Constitution stands above all other forms of law in the United States.

The Supreme Law of the Land:

o It’s a ladder law concept where the Constitution of the U.S. stands at the top most rung.

o Then comes acts of Congress and treaties.

o Each state’s constitution is supreme over all other forms of state’s laws but stands below Federal law.

o And goes lower to local law, city county charters and ordinances and so forth.

The Supreme Law and the Federal System:

o The Supreme Court is the umpire in the federal system, for one of its chief duties is to apply the supremacy clause to the conflicts which that dual system of government inevitably produces.

o Marshall reasserted court’s role in 1819 case of McCulloch v. Maryland.

• Do you think the Federal Government should

only have powers that the Constitution

clearly has written or do you think the

government should continue to have implied

powers that allows it to be flexible as times

change?