American Politics
and Foreign Policy
Federalism and Separation of
Power
Prof. Jaechun Kim
Distinct Characteristics of
American Political System

Division of power -- territorial and
functional divisions

 entrenched tradition of “(classical)
liberalism”
Federalism
Why Federalism? – Historical Backdrop
* Declaration of Independence – 1776. 7. 4.
* Article of Confederation – 1781



The US under the Article of Confederation
Confederation of 13 independent states
There was the central government, but the Congress was the
only governmental institution. No executive and judicial
branches!
 No power to levy taxes and to regulate intrastate commerce
 Similar to UN?
 The US was not a unified country… so to speak…

Limits of Confederation

This system, effective enough?

Foreign Relations – Defense; Intl Trade

Internal Relations – Intrastate Commerce; Local
Dissidents (Shay’s Rebellion); Border dispute between
Maryland and Virginia…

We need a stronger central government!!

The Annapolis Convention

Virginia Plan


A two-chamber legislature, elected by the people,
with wide-ranging power

A strong executive, chosen by the legislature

A national judiciary, appointed by the legislature
New Jersey Plan

A single-chamber legislature, with one vote for each
state and limited powers

A weak executive

A limited national judiciary

Connecticut Compromise

The legislative branch would consist of two
chamber, the lower based on population and
the upper having two members from each
state  bicameral system
 Writing of Constitution 1787

Debate as to whether to ratify the
Constitution…

Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists


Anti-federalists and Thomas Jefferson (3rd president
of the US) opposed the Constitution
The Constitution is creating a national government
that is too powerful and oppressive…
* Case of Federalists  Federalist Papers - 85
newspaper articles written by John Jay, James
Madison, Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton first United States
Secretary of the Treasury and the Federalists
The new nation would not survive w/o a national
government with sufficient power
 Federalist paper 15, 16, 17
  It is necessary to create a national government
that can act directly upon the citizens of states to
regulate the common concerns of the nation


James Madison (4th president of the US) and
the Federalists
The national government should have enough
power to be effective but face restrictions that stop
it from becoming tyrannical
 These mechanisms are:




Federalism
Separation of Power; Checks and Balances
Federalist paper 47, 48, 51

Key to the ratification of
constitution and creation of a new,
stronger government?
 We
will have means to limit the new
central government… to persuade the
skeptics…
 System of Checks and Balances (or
Separation of Powers) and Federalism.
What is Federalism?

A system of government in which power is divided by a
constitution between a central government and
regional governments

What is the opposite concept of Federalism?

Unitary system - all the governing power is vested in the
central government

Why did the US adopt Federalism?

States already existed as former colonies and, for
nearly thirteen years, as autonomous units of
confederacy. No states wanted to lose their
autonomy…

The new central government could not rule the entire
territory w/o delegating power and authority to the local
governments.

It was a practical solutions!

By creating a second layer of state government, they
wanted to limit the power of the central government! –
a compromise between unitary system and
confederacy…

cf. Europe – strong central government!!
Evolution of American Federalism

Two Views in Regard to the Federalism :
Statists vs. Nationalists (Federalists)

Statists
: Federal government was granted with power
expressed only in the Constitution. The rights
which are not specified in the Constitution are
reserved to the states. Constitution is a contract
by the states! Thomas Jefferson and John
Calhoun.

Nationalists (Federalists)
: Constitution was created for the people! Federal
government does not speak for the local
governments. It speaks for the people. John
Marshall, A Lincoln, T & F Roosevelt.

Different Phases of American Federalism
* McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
Visit : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCulloch_v._Maryland

State-Centered Federalism ( -- before the Civil War 1861)
Before the Civil War, the state governments had upper hands…
* American Civil War
: We usually think of the Civil War simply as the fight to free the
slaves, but also at the heart of the controversy that led to the
Civil War was the issue of national government supremacy
versus the rights of the separate states
: The ultimate defeat of the South (Confederate States of America)
in 1865 permanently ended any idea that a state within the
Union can successfully claim the right to secede, or withdraw,
from the Union
: The Civil War resulted in an increase in the political power
of the national government.
 Dual Federalism (Civil War – New Deal)
: The power of federal and local governments was about
equal…
: Emphasized a distinction between federal and state
spheres of government authority.
: Layer Cake!
 Cooperative Federalism (1930s and 1940s)
: Great Depression and FDR's "New Deal"
: States and the national government cooperate in solving
complex common problems.
: Strengthened the Federal government
: Marble Cake!
 Creative Federalism or Regulated Federalism
(1960s and early 1970s)
: Greater expansion of the national government's role
in domestic policy. Why?
: Civil Rights Movement and Great Society.
 New Federalism (Nixon, Reagan, Clinton? Bush)
: Efforts to reverse the trend of regulated federalism give back usurped authority to the states!
•
Devolution Revolution in 1994, 1995 - N. Gingrich’s ‘Contract with
America’
•
The nature of A Federalism has changed and the power of Federal
Government has increased. But from the comparative perspective, the
American central government is a weak government.
•
One of the salient features of President Bush's conservatism is his belief
that the states, and not the federal government, should manage large
social programs, such as welfare. Mitt Romney is also running on this
platform…
•
A Return to Creative Federalism? (Obama)
• Health care reform bill (2010. 3. 23)
• Quantitative easing (QE 1, 2)
•
It will depend on who will be the next president of the US…
•
The essay questions!
•
It may appear that the federal gov. predominates in the US. But that
might be an exaggeration, for there are 87,900 separate governmental
units in the US. See the following Table 3-1.
Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances
Why did the Americans adopt such
institutions?

To persuade the skeptics, territorial division of power was
not enough… !

*The primary concern was how to limit the power of the
central government! (Think about it! They were building
new central government!!)

*FF  Popular, electoral control over the power was not
enough… Why?
 “ tyranny of majority ” ; majoritarian will should not overwhelm
minority opinions!
 Auxiliary mechanism…  SoP
What are the tenets of American system of
separation of power?

Division of the state (fed gov) power into legislative
power, administrative power, and judicial power

What are the mechanisms by which these
separate branches check and balance each
other?
 Separate institutions having separate powers
– is this enough?
 What if these branches collaborate with each
other?
 each separated institution will be
accountable to different constituencies!
 selection methods of each branch is different!
 President – electoral college
 Senators – state legislature
 Members of House – popular election
 Supreme Court Justices –
 Different terms for different offices!
 President – 4 years
 Senators – 6 years
 Members of House – 2 years
 S.C. Justices –
 Bicameral system
 “Ambitions must be made to
counteract ambition” – James Madison
 “If human nature is good…”
 American Separation of Power 
government of separated institutions
sharing powers instead of government of
separated powers
 Executive branch has some legislative power
and legislative has executive power as well…
 veto
 Judiciary branch decides whether the bills are
in contradiction with the constitution…
 Many auxiliary devices to prevent tyranny
of majority!!!

Efficiency vs. Limitation of Power
 Restraining devices and Checks and Balances 
inefficiency and incoherence!! Multiple veto points…
 But American political system is meant to be inefficient !!
cf. efficiency vs. limitation of power
Parliamentary system of the Great Britain
 Rule of the majority (Great Britain) vs. Rule
based on consensus shared by various
constituencies (the US)
 Lower changer of the Parliament has all the
constitutional power
 British governments, working within an
unmodified constitution, have been more
flexible and effective…
 US governments, with the codified
Constitution, are more inflexible…

Of course, the American political system
has transformed over years, but the spirit
of limited government is still there… this is
very important!!!  Origin of the nation;
strong tradition of classical liberalism