AP Gov.- Chapter 3
Federalism:
Forging a New Nation
Federalism:
National and State Sovereignty
• Sovereignty:
– Ultimate governing authority
– Can be divided between different levels of governments.
• Federalism
– United States, Canada
• Confederacy
– U.S. under the Articles of Confederation
• Unitary System
– France, Japan, Sweeden
– (Modified) Great Britain, Mexico, Italy
Confederacy
National
Government
NO
Sovereignty
State
Government
ALL
Sovereignty
Unitary System
National
Government
ALL
Sovereignty
State
Government
NO
Sovereignty
Federalism
National
Government
Some
Sovereignty
State
Government
Some
Sovereignty
Federalism:
National and State Sovereignty
• The Argument for Federalism
– Federalism will:
•
•
•
•
protect liberty
force officials to be more responsive to the people
provide for a stronger national government
preserve the states as sovereign governments
• James Madison- a large republic is less likely to have an allpowerful faction Federalist No. 10
• The Framers invented federalism
– The states already existed
Federalism:
National and State Sovereignty
• Antifederalists
– Patrick Henry opposed the ratification of the
Constitution
– Antifederalists thought that:
• state-centered government would do a better job
protecting the diversity of interests among the
people
• too strong of a national government meant eventual
encroachment upon the sovereignty of the states
Federalism:
National and State Sovereignty
• The Powers of the Nation
– Enumerated Powers
• Article I- defines the lawful powers of the national government
• Article I- Section 8- “Congress shall have the power too…”
–
–
–
–
Lay and collect taxes
Declare war
Coin money
Regulate interstate and foreign trade (Commerce Clause)
• Article VI- Supremacy Clause
– Implied Powers
• Article I Section 8- Elastic Clause “To make all laws which shall
be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the
forgoing powers, and all other powers vested by this
Constitution…”
Federalism:
National and State Sovereignty
• Commerce Clause
– Congress regulates foreign and interstate trade
• State Powers (reserved powers)
– Regulate intrastate trade
– Establish schools
– Regulate marriage
– Provide for law and order
Federalism:
National and State Sovereignty
• The Powers of the States
– Reserved Powers
• 10th Amendment- addressed the concerns of the
Antifederalists about the powers of the state
governments
– “The powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved
to the States respectively, or to the people.”
Federalism in Historical Perspective
• An Indestructible Union (1789-1865)
– The Nationalist View:
• McCulloch v. Maryland
– Under the doctrine of implied powers,
» Congress had the power to create a national bank because it was
assigned the powers to tax, borrow money, and regulate interstate
commerce under the Constitution,
» Affirmed that national law is supreme to conflicting state law
• Article VI- “Supremacy Clause”
– The States’-Rights View:
• The Dred Scott Decision
– Dred Scott was property, and therefore ineligible to sue in the federal courts.
– struck down the Missouri Compromise of 1820 as unconstitutional.
– intensified the conflict between the North and South.
• Civil War
– John C. Calhoun- “government of states…not a government of people”
– Lincoln- “The Union is older than the states”
Federalism in Historical Perspective
• Dual Federalism and Laissez-Faire Capitalism
(1865-1937)
– Dual Federalism- separation of state and national
authority
• Sup. Court- “The power which one posses, the other does not”
• “Layer-Cake” theory
• Characterized by state supremacy in racial policy and business
supremacy in commerce policy
– A high wall of separation of gov. and economy
– The Fourteenth Amendment and State Discretion
• Plessy v Ferguson (1896)- “Separate but equal”
Federalism in Historical Perspective
• Toward National Citizenship
– Brown v Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas
(1954)- states could not force black children to
attend schools separate from those for white
children
– Miranda v Arizona
– National authority has expanded in the 20th
century primarily because the state and their
citizens have become increasingly
interdependent
Federalism in Historical Perspective
• Dual Federalism and Laissez-Faire Capitalism (18651937) (cont.)
– Judicial Protection of Business
• The commerce clause only applied to “transportation” of goods not
their “manufacture”
• 1886- Corporations are “persons” under the 14th Amendment
• Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918)- 10th Amendment gave the states,
not the federal government, the power to regulate factory practices
• Schecter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935)- declared FDR’s
National Industry Recovery Act unconstitutional
• FDR’s court-packing plan fails
– Justice Owen Roberts later switched to FDR’s side on New Deal cases
– National Authority Prevails
• Great Depression- the national government asserted the power to
regulate the nation’s economy
– As high as 25% unemployment at depths of depression
• Government was the only counter force strong enough to control
business trusts of the late 19th and early 20th centuries
Contemporary Federalism
(since 1937)
• Interdependency and Intergovernmental Relations
– Cooperative Federalism- a blending of state and
national authority
• Jointly funded
• Jointly administered
• Jointly determined
– Medicaid is an example of cooperative federalism
• “Marble Cake” theory of federalism
– States still retain many areas of traditional authority
• Education- primarily the function of state and local government
– Nearly 95 % of the funding for U.S. public schools comes from the
states and localities
American Federalism
Marble Cake or Layer Cake?
Marble Cake Federalism
based on pragmatic mixing of authority
and programs among the national, state,
and local governments.
Layer Cake Federalism
based on a clear delineation of authority
and programs among the levels of
government.
Contemporary Federalism
(since 1937)
• Government Revenues and
Intergovernmental Relations
– Fiscal Federalism
• Grants-in-aid
– If a state accepts a grant-in-aid, it must comply with
federal restrictions on its use
– Categorical and Block Grants
• Categorical Grants- specific purpose
• Block Grants- less restrictive, more general
Contemporary Federalism
(since 1937)
• A New Federalism: Devolution
– Devolution- the passing of authority from the national
government to the state and local governments
• Nixon & Reagan proposed versions of a “new federalism” that
would give more control to the states and localities
– Budgetary Pressures and Public Opinion
– The Republican Revolution-Newt Gingrich- Speaker of the House
• Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
– Ended some federal programs that require action by states and localities
without providing money to pay for it (exceptions included laws relating to civil
rights)
– Gingrich- “1960’s style of federalism is dead.”
• Welfare Reform Act
– Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TNAF)- restricts a
family’s eligibility for federal assistance to five years & after
two years, a family head has to go to work
– Devolution has brought about a modification of fiscal and cooperative federalism, not its
demise
Contemporary Federalism
(since 1937)
• A New Federalism: Devolution
– Devolution, Judicial Style
• Printz v. United States (1997)
– struck down a provision of the Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Brady Bill)
– Violated the 10th Amendment because it forced state employees to “enforce a
federal regulatory program.”
• Kimil v. Board of Regents (2000)
– Age discrimination is not among the rights guaranteed under the constitution
– Florida was not bound by federal law in deciding the age policies that apply to
state employees
• Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett (2002)
– Similar ruling to “Kimil” in regards to a federal law banning discrimination
against the disabled
– These rulings only apply to state employees
Contemporary Federalism
(since 1937)
• Nationalization, the More Powerful Force
– No Child Left Behind
• Bush argued that the U.S. needed an national education standard
– Terrorist Attacks of 9/11/2001
• Department of Homeland Security
– The Great Recession
• Near collapse of the financial markets
• $800 billion stimulus bill
– Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act
• “Obamacare”
• Federal Mandate- everybody must have health insurance
– Expansion of Medicaid
– States must set up insurance “pools”
– Private insurance reform
– National power has expanded due to the increasing
interdependence of the states and their citizens