Federalism: Forging a Nation
Chapter 3
Federalism: National and
State Sovereignty

The Argument for Federalism


Authority divided into two levels: national and regional – each directly
governs the people and derives its authority from them
Protects liberty – checks and balances

Moderates the power of the national government – large republic is less
likely to have all powerful factions

Strengthens the union – overcome the problems of the Articles of
Confederation
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Federalism: National and
State Sovereignty

The Powers of the Nation
 Enumerated
(expressed) powers
powers  secure defense & stable commerce
 Article VI - Supremacy clause
 17
 Implied
powers
 “Necessary
and proper clause
 Elastic clause - the authority to take action that is not
expressly authorized by the Constitution but that
supports actions that are expressly authorized
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Federalism: National and
State Sovereignty

The Powers of the States
 Oversight
of local matters: public education and
safety
 The national government would take responsibility
for a strong defense and sound economy while the
states would retain nearly all other functions
 Tenth
Amendment: reserved powers
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Figure 3-1
Federalism as a Governing
System: Examples of National,
State, and Concurrent Powers
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Federalism in Historical Perspective

Two levels of authority would be sure to conflict
from time to time
 Framers provided vagueness in the Constitution so
that flexibility would be sought between the two
levels
 An indestructible union (1789-1865)


The nationalist view: McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
The states’-rights view: the Dred Scott Decision (1857)
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Federalism in Historical Perspective

Dual federalism and laissez-faire capitalism
(1865-1937)



Dual federalism: separation of national from state power was possible
and desirable
 Who would regulate business? Would the federal government be
allowed to intervene to ensure fair treatment of African Americans?
This era was characterized by state supremacy in racial policy and
business supremacy in commerce policy
The Fourteenth Amendment and state discretion
 Plessy v. Ferguson
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DUAL FEDERALISM


Judicial protection of business: Supreme Court limited national power
 Laissez – faire capitalism
 Corporations were persons
 Courts narrowly interpreted the national government’s commerce
power
National authority prevails starting in 1937
 Court packing by Roosevelt
 The court who had originally ruled much of the New Deal
unconstitutional now had a majority of Democrats
 The court granted Congress the authority to broadly apply its
commerce powers
 Brown v. BOE – national citizenship
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Federalism Today


1930s and on have shown a continued expansion of national
authority
 Great Society programs
 The ability to tax without being hurt population wise
Interdependency and intergovernmental relations
 Cooperative federalism: shared policy responsibilities
 National, state, and local levels work together
 Joint funding, administration, and determination of
programs
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Federalism Today

Government revenues and
intergovernmental relations

Fiscal federalism: federal funds used for state programs
 Grants–in–aid (cash payments)
 If states accept the money they must spend it in the way
specified by congress
 Categorical
and block grants
 Federal
funds restricted to certain state programs
 Federal funds for state programs addressed to a general
concern
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Federalism Today

Devolution



Shift of power from national government to states
 New federalism
The Republican Revolution – reduce unfunded mandates, increase
block grants
 Welfare Reform Act of 1996
Devolution, judicial style
 United States v. Lopez
 11th amendment
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The Public’s Influence

Setting the boundaries of federal-state power
Roosevelt’s “New Deal”  jobs during the Great
Depression
 Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society”  increased social
services in 1960s
 Republican Revolution  rolled back federal authority in
1990s
 Framers felt that Americans would shift their loyalties
between the nation and the states according to their needs at
that time

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