FEDERALIST #51: OPERATION TO LIMIT
THE AUTHORITY OF THE CENTRAL
GOVERNMENT?
Week 2
American Exceptionalism: Major Characteristics of
American Political System
GISA 220: American Politics and American Foreign Policy
Professor Jaechun Kim
I33004 Seme Park
International Relations
Table of Contents
1. James Madison
2. Federalist Papers
3. Federalist #51: The Structure of the Government Must
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the
Different Departments
Separation of Power
Checks and Balances
Current Issue 1
Current Issue 2
Discussions
James Madison
• March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836
• American statesman, political
theorist and the fourth president
of U.S (1809–1817).
• Hailed as the "Father of the
Constitution" for being
instrumental in the drafting of
the United States
Constitution and as the key
champion and author of
the United States Bill of Rights
Federalist Papers
• The Federalist Papers are a series
of 85 articles and essays written
by Alexander Hamilton, James
Madison, and John Jay promoting
the ratification of the United States
Constitution.
• Seventy-seven were published
serially in The Independent Journal
and The New York Packet between
October of 1787 and August 1788.
Federalist #51: The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper
Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments
• Addresses appropriate checks and
balances can be created in
government
• Advocates a separation of powers
within the national government.
• Purpose: to "form a more correct
judgment of the principles and
structure of the government planned
by the Constitutional Convention“ by informing the reader of the
safeguards created by the
convention to maintain the separate
branches of government, and to
protect the rights of the people and
of the country.
"Ambition must be made to
counteract ambition. The
interest of the man must be
connected with the
constitutional rights of the
place. It may be a reflection on
human nature, that such
devices should be necessary
to control the abuses of the
government…In framing a
government which is to be
administered by men over men,
the great difficulty lies in this:
you must first enable the
government to control the
governed; and in the next
place oblige it to control itself".
Federalist #51: The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the
Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments
• Key point: members of each
• In 1788, power over people was
department should be as little
dependent as possible from the
members of the other departments
• "the great security against a
gradual concentration of the several
powers in the same department"
• In a republican form of government,
Madison asserts, the legislative
branch is the strongest, and
therefore must be divided into
different branches, be as little
connected with each other as
possible, and render them by
different modes of election.
• Deems the legislative branch to be
the strongest since it is essentially
the true voice of the people and
stresses the need for the checks
and balances.
divided both through federalism and
through branches within the national
(or federal) government.
• "double security arises to the rights
of the people. The governments will
control each other, at the same time
that each will be controlled by itself".
• Madison discusses at great length
at the end the issue of political
factions. In other words, even if
individuals mingle with other
members of the same social groups,
ideals, and goals, no particular
group should be able to become so
strong as to thwart the interest of all
other groups. No faction can
become large enough to overthrow
all other factions in a well-run
democracy.
Separation of Powers
• Separation of powers divides
power among the executive,
legislative, and judicial
branches as distinct
departments of American
national government.
• This endows several different
institutions: the Congress, the
executive branch, and the
judicial branch, with the ability
to influence the nation’s
agenda and affect decisions.
• This also establishes a system
of checks and balances in
which power is divided to
ensure that no one branch
becomes predominant.
Checks and Balances
• In designing the U.S Constitution, the Framers sough to secure individual
liberty against the encroachment of governmental power by not giving too
much power to any one individual or branch in government.
• By doing so, they expected that ambitious men would keep each other in
check as they jealously guarded their powers granted by the Constitution.
• Examples
1.
The president can veto legislation passed by Congress (but Congress can
override that veto with 2/3 vote)
2.
The president commands the army but Congress declares war and
appropriates funds
3.
The president appoints justices to the Supreme Court (but only with the
approval of the Senate)
4.
Congress and the president can pass laws (but the Supreme Court can
strike those laws down as unconstitutional).
• http://www.c-span.org/video/?15130-1/checks-balances
Source: Essentials of the U.S. Constitution
Utah Education Network (August 5, 2002)
Current Issue 1: Obamacare
• Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act (March
23 2010)
• Goal to give more Americans
access to affordable, quality
health insurance, and to
reduce the growth in health
care spending in the U.S.
• Expands the affordability,
quality, and availability of
private and public health
insurance through consumer
protections, regulations,
subsidies, taxes, insurance
exchanges, and other
reforms.
• https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=JZkk6ueZt-U
Current Issue 1: Obamacare
• Efforts to oppose and repeal the
legislation have drawn support from
prominent conservative advocacy
groups, Congressional and many
state Republicans, certain small
business organizations, and the Tea
Party movement.
• These groups believe the law will
lead to disruption of existing health
plans, increased costs from new
insurance standards, and that it will
increase the deficit.
• Some are also against the idea
of universal healthcare, viewing
insurance as similar to other
commodities to which people are
not entitled.
• Opponents turned to the federal courts to
challenge the constitutionality of the legislation.
In National Federation of Independent
Business v. Sebelius, decided on June 28,
2012, the Supreme Court ruled on a 5–4 vote
that the individual mandate is constitutional
under Congress's taxation powers, although
the law could not have been upheld under an
argument based on the regulatory power of
Congress under the Commerce Clause.
• The Court also determined that states could
not be forced to participate in the Medicaid
expansion, effectively allowing states to opt
out of this provision. As written, the ACA
withheld all Medicaid funding from states
declining to participate in the expansion.
• However, the Supreme Court ruled that this
withdrawal of funding was unconstitutionally
coercive and that individual states had the
right to opt out of the Medicaid expansion
without losing pre-existing Medicaid funding
from the federal government.
Current Issue 1: Obamacare - 2013 federal government shutdown
• Strong partisan disagreement in Congress has prevented adjustments to the Act's
provisions. However, at least one change, a proposed repeal of a tax on medical devices, has
received bipartisan support
• Republicans attempted to defund its implementation, and in October 2013, House Republicans,
supported by Senators Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and Marco Rubio, refused to fund the
federal government unless accompanied with a delay in implementation of the ACA, after the
President unilaterally pushed back the employer mandate by one year, which critics claim he had no
legal right to do.
• The Republican-held House of Representatives passed three versions of a bill funding all elements
of the government while submitting various versions which would repeal or delay the ACA, with the
last version delaying enforcement of the “individual mandate”. These bills were unable to muster
enough votes in the Democrat-held Senate, with Democratic leadership stating the Senate would
only pass a "clean" funding bill without any restrictions on the ACA.
• After Congress failed to pass a continuing funding resolution by midnight on October 1,
a government shutdown ensued. Conservative groups such as Heritage Action provided lobbying
support for the linkage between the ACA and the government shutdown. Senate Republicans
threatened to block appointments to relevant agencies, such as the Independent Payment Advisory
Board and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Current Issue 2: Legalization of Marijuana
• The government's failure
to significantly reduce
illegal drug use and the
underground economy it
generates has led many
individuals and a few
states to rethink the
wisdom of outlawing
drugs such as marijuana,
particularly in cases
where marijuana may
have medical benefits.
Current Issue 1: Legalization of Marijuana
• California was at the forefront of
reformulating policy concerning marijuana
laws.
• In 1996, the voters of California approved
Proposition 215 that allowed people with a
doctor's recommendation to possess and
grow marijuana for personal medical use.
• A 2000 Supreme Court decision upheld
federal laws outlawing the use of marijuana
(for any purpose) over the California law
authorizing prescription and use of medical
marijuana.
• Marijuana possession and use, medical or
recreational, remains a federal crime.
However, the decision also recognized that
while federal law is technically supreme
over state law, the federal government
cannot compel state law enforcement
officials to enforce federal laws. When
state laws conflict with federal laws, it
becomes problematic and can undermine
national policy objectives. As a practical
matter, the overwhelming majority of
arrests for illegal marijuana possession are
by state police officers rather than federal
agents. So while the federal government
can continue to investigate and make
arrests of citizens in violation of federal law
within a state, the limited legalization of
marijuana would effectively gut law
enforcement measures.
Current Issue 2: Legalization of Marijuana
• Washington and Colorado
became the first state in the US
to legalize recreational use of
marijuana. Ballot initiatives
passed in both states allow for
the possession of up to one
ounce for adults over the age of
21.
• The laws also legalize the sale
of marijuana through authorized
retail outlets, subject to state
regulation and taxation.
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014
/01/13/colorado-mile-marker-420419-weed_n_4590392.html
Current Issue 2: Legalization of Marijuana
• The controversy over state legalization of marijuana illustrates
arguments for and against federal systems of government. On
the one hand, supporters of legalizing marijuana, much like
supporters of state laws and judicial decisions recognizing
same-sex marriage, celebrate federalism's openness to
creative policy solutions that can be pioneered at the state level.
• On the other hand, legalizing marijuana at the state level
conflicts with federal drug laws, illustrating how a federal
system can foster state policies that work at cross-purposes
with policies of other states or the federal government itself,
since marijuana is clearly a product of interstate commerce.
The effects of state-level marijuana legalization have spillover
effects on states that may wish to maintain a more
conservative strategy in combating drug use and abuse.
Discussions
• Health policies always replete with discussion of
federalism, most often when advocates of reform put their
hopes in states. Is the “Obamacare” rationally allocated
health policy authority between the states and the federal
government?
• America has been at the edge of marijuana legalization
several times during the past half-century, but never as
close to mass acceptance of the drug as the nation is
today. With Washington and Colorado on board, how far
should the federal government be involved in individual
state’s preferences towards marijuana?
References
• Edwards-Levy, Ariel, Pot Legalizations Support At Record High Poll Finds, The
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Huffington Post, April 12, 2012, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/04/potlegalization_n_2240257.html
Lowi, Theodore J., et al, American Government: Power and Purpose, 8th edition,
New York, W. W. Norton & Company, 2004, p.48.
ObamaCare Facts, http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-facts.php
Pinkowski, Jack, Checks and Balances: The Government Shutdown in
Perspective, The Huffington Post, October 10, 2013,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jack-pinkowski/checks-and-balances-theg_b_4080850.html
Powel, Jim, James Madison – Checks and Balances to Limit Government Power,
FEE, March 01, 1996, http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/james-madisonchecks-and-balances-to-limit-government-power
http://www.c-span.org/video/?15130-1/checks-balances
https://www.healthcare.gov/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/obamacare/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Madison
http://useconomy.about.com/od/healthcarereform/f/What-Is-Obama-Care.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZkk6ueZt-U