Discussion Strategy Lesson
Topic: What is Federalism? Standards: USG.3.2 Identify and describe provisions of the United States Constitution and the Massachusetts Constitution that define and distribute powers and authority of the federal or state government. CCSS.ELA­LITERACY.RH.11­12.9 Connection to Year­Long Themes: Power, Authority, and Governance Connection to Habits of Mind/Historical Thinking Skills: Why do these ideas matter? Why are we considering them? Connection to the Pedagogical Triangle—Intellectual & Social Essential Question: How has federalism changed throughout the course of U.S. History? How does federalism impact your life? Objective: Students will be able to discuss and analyze the different forms of federalism through a group discussion activity (big paper). Teaching Procedure: Preview: Students will watch this short video What is Federalism? By USLawEssentials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF3EvltwHYk&feature=youtu.b 1. Students will be presented with the following question and asked to journal write for a few minutes: What purpose does splitting the government between national and state hold? a. This will be projected on the board i. Image 1: http://mrkash.com/activities/images/federalism.jpg b. Handout attached note­taking worksheet for the students. We will discuss the different types of federalism that have been used in the United States. Teacher will write key points of each definition on the board, but allow the students to listen and write what they think is most important about each definition. i. Dual Federalism (layer cake federalism) 1790­1930 ii. Cooperative Federalism (marble cake federalism) 1930­1960 Display this diagram: Image 2 http://apgovt.wikispaces.com/file/view/Federalism.jpg/30992839/
Federalism.jpg iii. Creative Federalism (picket­fence federalism) 1960­1980 iv. New Federalism (discuss Devolution Revolution, block grants, and unfunded mandates) 1980 ­ Today 2. Discussion Strategy Activity: Students will break up into groups and participate in a Big Paper activity. On four pieces of big paper scattered around the room will be descriptions of forms federalism. The basic steps are as follows: 1. The teacher puts the federalism term and definition in the middle of the large paper, and posts them around the room. 2. Students are put into groups of 3 or 4, each group starts at a different paper. 3. Prompt for student: Using your knowledge of U.S. History, and the political changes that why do you believe different forms of federalism have emerged? 4. Students have anywhere from 3­5 minutes to react to what is on the paper with a silent conversation. This means using their marker to write, circle, draw whatever comes to their mind. They can also pose questions and react to other students markings. Tell the students to think about the relationship between people and their governments, state governments and national. Pros/cons of each form of federalism. 5. Groups will move to the next paper and get a certain amount of time to do the same as they did on the first. As they continue on, there will be more and more comments/markings to react to. 6. After every group has hit every paper, each group will be back at their original paper to make any final comments. 7. Each group will be asked to interpret their paper to the best of their ability, and as a class, each paper will be discussed. 3. Processing: After completing the Big Paper activity, students will write a few sentences on what form of federalism they believe is the best. 4. Assessment: There will be no formal assessment. Students will submit their note worksheet to be checked off if completed correctly or not. We will be reviewing these terms throughout the entire unit. Teachers Notes: Different forms of federalism ● Dual Federalism 1790­1930 o Dual federalism describes the nature of federalism for the first ~150 years of the American republic. The Constitution outlined provisions for two types of government in the United States, national and state. For the most part, the national government dealt with national defense, foreign policy, and fostering commerce, whereas the states dealt with local matters, economic regulation, and criminal law. This type of federalism is also called layer­cake federalism because, like a layer cake, the states’ and the national governments each had their own distinct areas of responsibility, and the different levels rarely overlapped. ● Cooperative Federalism 1930­1960 o Federalism over much of the last century has more closely resembled a marble cake rather than a layer cake as federal authority and state authority have become intertwined. The national government has become integrated with the state and local governments, making it difficult to tell where one type of government begins and the other types end. State and local governments administer many federal programs, for example, and states depend heavily on federal funds to support their own programs. This type of federalism is called cooperative federalism, or marble­cake federalism. ● Creative Federalism 1960 ­ 1980 o was the type of federalism that shifted more power towards the national government by bypassing state governments and allowing the federal government to have direct control over statewide programs. This form of federalism is also known as "picket­fence federalism", and was most prevalent during the terms of Lyndon Johnson and his Great Society. The national government began to interfere more in welfare programs in an effort to make a stride towards a better nation, and alleviate some of the problems the nation was faced with at the time. In this era, the state government was generally overlooked as the national government decreed what was to be done in the states, directly affecting the local governments and the citizens of the state. The power of the states weakened during this type of federalism. Grants were used as a way to coerce the state governments into complying with the national government's wishes. ● New Federalism 1980­ Present o An era of federalism where national policy mandates were challenged by the states. President Ronald Reagan, a strong proponent of new federalism acting on behalf of the states, proposed reductions in federal grants and moved to consolidate numerous categorical grants into fewer, less restrictive block grants. Within broad policy areas including education, health, and transportation, states gained more leeway in deciding how to spend federal funds. But as a result of the economic recession in the early 1990s many states had to cut specific programs due to lack of funds. ▪ Block Grants: Block grants were essentially grants to the state governments with little description or restrictions on how to handle the money. In this way, the national government was in essence giving states funds for basically whatever they wanted. ▪ Unfunded mandates were issues from the national government to the state governments to comply with a certain order without offering funds to aid the states in achieving the national government’s requirement. By preventing Congress from passing potentially costly federal programs and no allocating the state governments funds to carry out Congress’s wishes, more power was returned to the states. Image 1: Image 2: Types of Federalism What is Federalism: Dual Federalism Time Period: Cooperative Federalism Time Period: Creative Federalism Time Period: New Federalism Time Period: