US Politics Federalism. Federalism: Overview Forms of Government Federalism and Freedom Evolution of...

US Politics

Federalism

Federalism: Overview

• Forms of Government• Federalism and

Freedom• Evolution of Federalism

– Dual– Cooperative– Creative– “New”

Forms of Government:Unitary Government

Sovereign Government

Forms of Government:Confederations

CB

D

States

A


SG

SGSG

SG

SG = Sovereign Government


SG

SGSG

SG

National Government is not Sovereign

National Government


SG

SGSG

SG

Voluntary union of independent states

National Government

Forms of Government:Federalism

State Government

National Government


National Government

State Government

Enumerated Powers: Powers specifically granted to national government (Art. I, Section 8 mostly)


National Government

State Government

Implied Powers: Powers not directly expressed but held to derive from enumerated powers


National Government

State Government

Inherent Powers: Powers based in international law and the basic definition of a sovereign nation


National Government

State Government

•Specific (Enumerated) Powers

•Implied Powers

•Inherent Powers

•Reserved Powers


National Government

State Government


•Implied Powers

•Inherent Powers

•Reserved Powers:

Derived from 10th Amendment


National Government

State Government


•Implied Powers

•Inherent Powers

•Reserved Powers

C

O

N

C

U

R

R

E

N

T


National Government

State Government


•Implied Powers

•Inherent Powers

•Reserved Powers

C

O

N

C

U

R

R

E

N

TPowers shared by both levels of Government

Federalism

• In addition to “vertical” federalism, or the relation between national government and states, we also have “horizontal” federalism, or the relation among the states

Federalism

• Article IV, section 1, of the Constitution guarantees “Full Faith and Credit shall be given each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial proceedings of every other State.”

Federalism

• Article 4, Section 2, guarantees that

“The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the Several States”

Federalism

One consequence of this form of governmentis a huge proliferation of governments in the U.S.

Federalism

National Government 1State Governments 50Local Governments 87,849

Counties 3,034Municipalities 19,431Townships 16,506Special Districts 35,356School Districts 13,522

How is all this compatible with freedom?

Federalism and Freedom

• Federalism was a new idea for organizing a state that has different ethnic or national components

• Conventional wisdom was that democracy only possible on a small scale

• During ratification debates, supporters of the Constitution had to show that their system of government -- federalism -- was compatible with liberty


• Federalist Paperswere a collection of essays published during the New York state ratification debates by “Publius”


“Publius” was the pseudonym used by 3 different authors

John Jay

Alexander Hamilton

James Madison


In Federalist #10 Publius (Madison) argues that historically, democracies have collapsed because they have been riven by factional strife where a faction is:


“a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.”


• In other words, democraciescollapse when the public good is given over to groups whouse public resources for private gain

• The question then becomes:Can we cure the evil of factions?


• How do we insulate ourselves from factional strife?

• Either remove the causes of faction or control the effects of faction


Factions

Causes Effects


Factions

Causes Effects

Liberty Inequality


Sources of faction1. Freedom/Liberty

Factions form if we allow people to freely associate, to think freely, to worship freely

“Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it constantly expires...

Cure? -- Eliminate Liberty?


“It could not be a less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency.”


Factions

Causes Effects

Liberty Inequality


• Sources of faction1. Freedom/Liberty

2. Inequality1. People have different thoughts, beliefs, skills

Cure? Make sure everyone is completely equal


“It is in vain to say that enlightened statesmen will be able to adjust these clashing interests and render them all subservient to the public good. Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm...”


“The inference to which we are brought is that the causes of faction cannot be removed and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its effects.”


Factions

Causes Effects

Liberty Inequality


• But controlling the causes of factions depends on the type of faction we must confront

• Madison argues there are 2 types of faction, based on the size of the interest:– Minority– Majority


Faction

These are electoral minorities; that is, theyare defined by how many people/votes theycan deliver

MajorityMinority

How do we control each type?


Faction

Democracy(since,as electoral minorities, thesefactions will lose every votingcontest

MajorityMinority


Faction

MajorityMinority

DemocracyAs electoral minoritiesthey lose every votingcontest

As electoral majority, democracyby itself can’t controlthese factions


Faction

MajorityMinority


Need to establishinstitutional andprocedural ways tocontrol this faction


Faction

MajorityMinority


•Separation of Powers •Checks & Balances•Federalism


National Government

State Government


•Implied Powers

•Inherent Powers

•Reserved Powers

C

O

N

C

U

R

R

E

N

T

each level checks the other, and protectsour freedom

Evolution of Federalism

• Early Years: Defining the Power of Each Level– McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)– Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

• Expanded federal power over states • States Rights renewed• Civil War

Evolution of Federalism

• Civil War Amendments (13th, 14th, 15th)– Expansion of

federal power

• End of Reconstruction– Scale back federal

government to include only the Enumerated Powers

– Re-Establishment of “Dual Federalism”

Dual Federalism

• The idea that the federal and state governments should be restricted solely to their exclusive spheres of power as outlined in the constitution

• Federal and State governments are co-equal sovereign partners

• Dominant from end of Reconstruction through Great Depression (1877 - 1932)

Dual Federalism

National Government

State Government

Cooperative Federalism

• Developed as response to problems of the Great Depression, particularly the fiscal crisis in the states

• In response to these problems, states and the national government should cooperate in solving these problems

Cooperative Federalism

• Primary tools were financial– Grants in Aid

• Huge expansion of federal programs and expenditures

• Federal governmentnow involved in whatwere state governmentactivities

These subsidize a

wide variety of state policies

Creative Federalism

• Beginning with President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” Programs

• Opened federal government programs to application by local officials and non governmental groups

• Categorical Grants– e.g., Head Start

• Unfunded Mandates

New Federalism

• “New Federalism” refers to the idea of shifting responsibility for various programs from federal government to the states

• Two primary financial tools:– “general revenue sharing”

(ends in 1986)– block grants

• Unfunded mandates

Federalism Today

• Overall direction of federalism has been an increase in federal governmental power

• Much of this power is connected to the financial dependencies of the states

Federalism Today

• The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 required all states to raise their minimum purchase and public possession of alcohol age to 21.

• States that did not comply faced a reduction in highway funds under the Federal Highway Aid Act.

Federalism Today

Cash for Highways Drunken teenagers?

VS.

New Jersey Division of Alcohol Control

Federalism Today

• Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind) (2001)

• States must require school to meet federally mandated test targets or risk losing federal money for schools

Federalism Today

• Attempt to transfer more government authority and responsibility back to state governments

• Federal money, federal mandates (funded or not), but state control plus some flexibility on use of those monies

Federalism Today

• Welfare Reform Act (1996)– Replaces federal Aid for Families with

Dependent Children (AFDC) with state-run Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

Federalism Today

• Ongoing effort to work out power relations between national government and the states

• Issues: environmental legislation, education, abortion, national identity cards, “unfunded mandates”

US Politics Federalism. Federalism: Overview Forms of Government Federalism and Freedom Evolution of...

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