Objectives: How the federal government’s involvement in states’ affairs has grown?How have grants-in-aid affected the growth of federalism?What role do federal mandates play in federalism?

Unitary System – centralized government in which local governments exercise only those powers given to them by the central governmentConfederal System – consists of a league of independent states, each having essentially sovereign powerFederal System – power is divided by a written constitution between a central government and regional governments

The Flow of Power in Three Systems of Government

So 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 peopleState governments train future national leadersPrevention of TyrannyState governments can be testing grounds for

policy initiativesFederalism allows for many political

subcultures

Constitutional Basis of Powers of the National GovernmentExpressed 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

The Powers of State GovernmentReserved 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)

Examples of FederalismStates 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

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)

The Growth of the National Government

The 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)

War and the Growth of the National GovernmentThe 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 national’s government’s role expanded to include providing pensions to veterans and widows

The Continuing Dispute over the Division of PowerDual 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

The Decline of Dual FederalismGreat Depression resulted in FDR’s 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

Federal Preemption from 1900 to the Present

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

1900-1909

1910-1919

1920-1929

1930-1939

1940-1949

1950-1959

1960-1969

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-2003

Environment, Health, SafetyCommerce, Energy, Labor, TransportationBanking, MoneyFish, Natural Resources, WildlifeTaxationCivil RightsOther

Source: U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, plus author’s update.

Cooperative Federalism in actionGrants-in-aid

Categorical grants: “Here’s some money, but you do exactly what I tell you to do with it.”

Block grants: “Here’s some money, spend it how you like as long as you it relates to what I want.”

General revenue sharing grants: “Here’s some money, do whatever you want with it.”

Unfunded mandates: “I don’t have the money, but you still have do exactly what I tell you to do.”

Federalism in actionNo 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.

Inequities in State Education Spending

The Number of Governments in the USA

Discussion Questions(1) 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?

(2) Does the federal government have too much control in state affairs or too little?

(3) Why is it important that powers be divided between the federal government and the states?