Federalism Today
UNIT 1 DAY 8…TEST THURSDAY.
OBJECTIVE:
ANALYZE THE BALANCE OF POWER BETWEEN
NATIONAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS
Current Political Climate
 States’ Rights supporters are generally
conservative
 National Authority supporters generally liberal
Why National Authority?
 Government helps everyone
 Engine
of change…Civil War Amendments, New
Deal Programs
 War on Poverty under Pres. Lyndon Johnson
(1960s)
 Currently – Obamacare and Common Core
education standards
Why States’ Rights?
 Preserve individual viewpoints
 Gay marriage…conservative states recognize only one man-one
woman
 Drug policy…maintain different policies
 Compete for business
 Favorable tax rates
 Education policy
Shifting Party Allegiance
 “New Federalism” promoted by Nixon
& Republicans, they called it
“devolution” of power back to states
 Liberal support of states’ rights on
social issues, currently gay marriage,
when they can’t get enough national
support
The Supreme Court: Commerce Cases
 US v Lopez (1995): Gun-Free School Zones
Act was ruled unconstitutional because it
attempted to regulate an area that did not
involve commerce
 Gonzales v Raich (2004): Argued that
Controlled Substances Act should not be
applied to intrastate commerce, specifically
medical marijuana, decision favored nat’l
control (nullified by recent laws)
Additional Constitutional Questions
 10th Amendment: Reserved Powers
 Printz
v United States (Background checks before
purchasing handguns) result - states cannot be
compelled to administer or enforce a federal
regulatory program
 11th Amendment: States cannot be sued for upholding
Federal laws
 Discrimination cases…handicapped access, FMLA
Why do we care?
 Our Federal system promotes diversity among
states
 Good…you can choose to live where you like the
policies known as “Voting with your feet”
 Bad…diversity can be interpreted as inequality or
unfairness such as different criminal codes or
education funding
Class Discussion
 Federalism worksheet
 Keep as notes
 Potential Essay question: compare a case of state’s
rights with a case of strong federal power