The Constitution: Federalism
What is Federalism, Exactly?
• A form of government in which power is divided between central and local (state) governments
• United States: between central government and state governments
• Layer cake vs. marble cake federalism
• Layer cake (dual): clear delineation of authority between levels
• powers to states vs. powers to government
• Marble cake: a mixing of authority between levels
• All levels of government share responsibilities
• “The incredible shrinking Tenth Amendment”
The Federal System: National Powers
• The Constitution creates a federal system, dividing power between the national and state governments
• Federalism is a dynamic, not static relationship — it changes constantly
• Three types of federal government powers: expressed, implied, inherent
• Expressed: directly stated in the Constitution; also called “enumerated”
• like printing money
• Implied: powers that emerge from expressed powers
• like judicial review
• Inherent: powers that the government has simply because it is a national government
• like establishing diplomatic relations with other nations
The Federal System: State Powers
• The basis of reserved powers is Amendment 10
• States’ powers are those “not delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the States”
• Things like administering elections, establishing local government, public schools
• Supremacy clause: national law is supreme
• No state law may conflict with national law
• Concurrent powers: powers held by both the state and national governments
• like the power to tax
• Denied powers: powers that no level of government may have
• many listed in Article 1, Section 9, as well as Bill of Rights
Why even have federalism? Like, what good does it bring?• Federalism checks the growth of tyranny
• Different parties can remain in power at different levels of government
• Also, different for uniformity of policies across levels of government
• Allows unity without uniformity
• There can be regional differences/solutions to public policy questions
• Encourages experimentation
• States as “laboratories of democracy”
• Provides training for national officials, opportunities for future candidates
• Individuals can work at lower, smaller levels of government before working for central government
• Keeps government close to the people
The Federal System: Interstate Relations (Article IV)
• Full faith and credit: judicial settlements, court awards, civil judgments must be enforced across states
• Privileges and immunities: states must extend privileges and immunities to citizens of other states
• Extradition: states must deliver fugitives to states from which they have fled
• Interstate compacts: states must settle disputes without force
• May take disputes to Supreme Court
• May establish interstate agreements, like the Port Authority of NY and NJ
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