Prentice Hall
PoliticalScienceInteractive
Magleby et al.
Government by the People
Chapter 3
American Federalism
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The Controversy Over Same-Sex Marriage
3 same-sex couples in
Vermont filed a
lawsuit in 1997 when
their request for a
marriage license was
denied. Eventually
they were allowed a
“civil union.”
“Full Faith and
Credit Clause” in
Article VI of the
Constitution
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Defining Federalism
Federalism
Constitutional arrangement whereby power is
distributed between a central government and
subdivisional governments called states in the United
States. The national and the subdivisional government
both exercise direct authority over individuals
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Versions of Federalism
Dual Federalism
Cooperative Federalism
Views the Constitution as
giving a limited list of
powers to the national
government, leaving the
rest to sovereign states
Federalism as a cooperative
system of intergovernmental
relations in delivering goods
and services to the people
Marble Cake
Federalism
“As the colors are mixed in a
marble cake, so functions
are mixed in the American
federal system.”
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Competitive Federalism
Views the levels of
government as being in
competition to provide
packages of services and
taxes
Versions of Federalism
“Our Federalism”
Presumes that the power of the
federal government is limited in
favor of the broad powers
reserved to the states
Permissive Federalism
Powers are shared, but state
power rests upon the
permission and
permissiveness of the
national government
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Alternatives to Federalism
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Federalism and Confederation
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Why Federalism?
Protecting liberty
Dispersing power
Ensuring policy
responsiveness
Increasing
participation
Encouraging
policy innovation
Improving
efficiency
Managing conflict
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Powers of State and National
Government
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Number of Governments in the
United States
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Interstate Relations
Full faith and credit clause
Interstate privileges and
immunities
Extradition
Interstate compacts
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McCulloch versus Maryland (1819)
Doctrine of Implied National Powers
“Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the
Constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which
are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited,
but consist with the letter and spirit of the constitution, are
constitutional.”
Doctrine of National Supremacy
“The power to tax involves the power to destroy…If the right
of the States to tax the means employed by the general
government be conceded, the declaration that the
constitution, and the laws made in pursuance thereof, shall
be the supreme law of the land, is empty and unmeaning
declamation.”
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The Great Debate: Centralists versus
Decentralists
Centralism
Decentralism
Supporters: Chief Justice John
Marshall, Presidents Abraham
Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt,
and Franklin Roosevelt, and the
Supreme Court for most of its
history
Supporters: Antifederalists,
Thomas Jefferson, Supreme
Court from 1920s to 1937, and
Presidents Ronald Reagan and
G. W. Bush
Position: The central
government should be denied
authority only when the
Constitution clearly prohibits it
from acting
Position: Views the
Constitution as a compact
among states that gives the
central government very little
authority
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The Supreme Court and the Role of
Congress
Beginning in 1995, justices interested in
granting more deference to state authority
gained a slim five-to-four majority in the
Supreme Court
The Constitutional
Counterrevolution
A return to an older version of federalism not
embraced since the constitutional crisis over
the New Deal in the 1930s
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Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist
A major legacy of the
Rehnquist Court is how
it has curbed Congress
in defense of the states
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Types of Federal Grants
In 1996 there was a shift
from Categorical Grants
to Block Grants
2 types of Categorical
Grants:
• Formula grants
• Project grants
Block Grants
• Far more flexible
Purposes of Federal Grants to State
and Local Governments
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The Politics of Federal Grants: Devolution
The Republican
“Contract with
America” called
for devolution-the transfer of
political and
economic power to
the states
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The Politics of Federal Grants: Devolution
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New Techniques of Federal Control
Total and Partial
Preemption
Crossover Sanctions
Cross-Cutting Requirements
Direct Orders
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The Growth of Big Government
Why has the power
of the national
government grown
over the last two
centuries?
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The Future of Federalism
The persistence of
international
terrorism, the war
in Afghanistan and
Iraq, and rising
deficits all ensure a
substantial role for
the national
government in the
years to come
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