1. Chapter 3 Federalism (pp 64-93)

2. I. Defining Federalism (pp 66-69)
A. Federalism is the division of power between the federal government and state (50) governments.
1. Only 11 (out of approximately 196 nations of the world) have federal systems; including, Germany, Mexico, Argentina, Canada, Australia, and India.

3. 2. The workings of the American system are sometimes called intergovernmental relations, which refers to interactions among national, state, and local governments.
a) To fight the War on Terror, for example, the FBI, a federal organization, seeks to cooperate with state and local police forces.
b) Worries about an impending avian flu epidemic have state health agencies and local hospitals working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the federal Department of Health.

4. B. Most governments in the world today have unitary governments, in which all power resides in the central government.
1. American states are unitary in form – local governments get their authority from the states; they can be created or abolished by the states. States, however, receive their authority not from the national government, but directly from the Constitution.
2. The French Assembly can redraw boundaries of local governments; however, if the U.S. Congress wants to abolish Alabama or Oregon, it cannot.

5. C. In a confederation, the national government is weak and most or all of the power is in the hands of its components.

6. D. Why is Federalism Important?
1. Allows the national government to be concerned with broader issues affecting the entire country such as foreign policy, interstate matters, and immigration while allowing the local governments to be concerned with matters that have a direct impact on the daily lives of their citizens such as motor vehicle laws, garbage, education, and public health and welfare.

7. 2. The federal system decentralizes our politics.
a) Senators are elected as representatives of individual states, not of the entire nation.
b) On election day, there are 51 presidential elections, one in each state and one in Washington D.C. (per the 23rd Amendment).
c) The more levels of government, the more opportunities there are for participation in politics.

8. 3. Federalism decentralizes our policies (in addition to our politics).
a) Should states or the national government regulate abortion, determine speed limits on highways, or tell 18-year olds they cannot drink alcohol?
b) The overlapping powers of the two levels of government mean that most of our public policy debates are also debates about federalism.
c) There is one national government and 83,000 governments (state, county, municipalities, towns, villages, and schools).

9. II. The Constitutional Basis of Federalism (pp. 69-76)
A. The word federalism is not mentioned in the Constitution; however, the writers of the Constitution carefully defined the powers of state and national governments.

10. To the National Government
Some Powers Granted by the Constitution
To the National Government
Concurrent Powers
To the State Governments
Coin money
Conduct foreign relations
Regulate commerce with foreign nations and among states
Provide an army and a navy
Declare war
Establish courts inferior to the Supreme Court
Establish post offices
Make laws necessary and proper to carry out the foregoing powers
Tax
Lend and Borrow Money
Establish Courts
Make and Enforce Laws
Charter banks and corporations
Transportation
Spend money for the general welfare
Take private property for public purpose, with just compensation
Establish local governments
Regulate commerce within a state
Conduct elections
Ratify amendments to the federal Constitution
Take measures for public health, safety, and morals
Exert powers the Constitution does not delegate to the national government or prohibit the states from using.
Some Powers Denied by the Constitution
Tax articles exported from one state to another
Violate the Bill of Rights
Change State Boundaries
Grant Titles of Nobility to Citizens
Grant titles of nobility
Permit slavery (13th Amendment)
Deny citizens the right to vote because of race, color, or previous servitude (15th Amendment)
Deny citizens the right to vote because of gender (19th Amendment)
Tax imports or exports
Enter into treaties
Impair obligations or contracts
Abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens or deny due process and equal protection of the law (14th Amendment)

11. B. National Government
1. The supremacy clause (Article VI) deals with the question of which government should prevail in disputes between the states and the national government; three items are the supreme law of the land:
a) The Constitution
b) National Laws (when consistent with the Constitution)
c) Treaties (which can only be made by the national government)

12. 2. Enumerated Powers a.k.a expressed powers (Article 1, Section 8) powers granted specifically to Congress. The powers include the declaring war, coining money, and regulating interstate commerce.

13. 3. Implied Powers (Article 1, Section 8) grants Congress the power to do anything “necessary and proper” to carry out its duties. This clause is known as the necessary and proper clause or the elastic clause because of its mutability (ability to stretch like a rubber band without breaking). Because the powers bestowed by this clause are implied rather than stated, they also are known as implied powers.

14. a) The Constitution does not specifically grant Congress the power to regulate telecommunications because such technology did not exist at the time of the founding. But according the Constitution, Congress has the power to regulate interstate commerce. Regulating telecommunications is considered necessary for Congress to properly regulate interstate commerce, and so Congress has since assumed this power.

15. b) McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
(1) The case that first brought the issue of state versus national power before the Supreme Court.
(2) The Supreme Court ruled that national policies take precedence over state policies (supremacy clause): Chief Justice John Marshall wrote that “the government of the United States, though limited in its power, is supreme within its sphere of action.”
(3) The Court also established implied powers (based on the provision granting Congress the power to “make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers”) that go beyond the enumerated powers that are specifically listed in Article 1, Section PER. 3

16. 4. Inherent Powers (Preamble) powers natural to a sovereign nation; those powers necessary to protect its citizens and defend its right to exist. The primary inherent power is self-preservation: the right to defend itself from foreign and domestic enemies.

17. 5. Prohibited Powers (Article 1, Section 9) – The Constitution also explicitly denies the national government certain powers.
a) The Tenth Amendment states that “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.”
(1) The national government can only operate within its appropriate sphere and cannot usurp the states’ powers.
(2) Questions remain concerning the boundaries of the national government’s powers and thus this Amendment is often cited in arguments in favor of states’ rights.
(3) There have been variations in the Court’s interpretation of the Tenth Amendment. (United States v. Darby, Garcia v. San Antonio Metro, National League of Cities v. Usery)

18. C. The State Governments
1. Federalism involves more than the relationships between the national government and state and local governments: Article IV of the Constitution outlines certain obligations that each state has to every other state these are also known as the reserved powers.

19. 2. Full Faith and Credit (Article IV Section 1) – States are required to respect the laws and decisions of other state governments including public acts, records, and civil judicial proceedings of every other state. Reciprocity (res-uh-pros-i-tee) is essential to the functioning of society and the economy.
a) Hawaii’s (1996) and Vermont’s (2000) legal status to gay marriages has been countered by Congress’s Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which permits states to disregard gay marriages of other states.
b) Ensures people cannot avoid their obligations to loans by escaping to another state.

20. 3. Extradition (Article IV Section 2) – States are required to return a person charged with a crime in another state to that state for trial or imprisonment.

21. 4. Privileges and Immunities of Citizens (Article IV Section 2) – Citizens of each state receive all the privileges and immunities of any other state in which they happen to be.
a) The purpose is to prohibit states from discriminating against citizens of other states.
(1) Example: A Texan visiting California will pay the same sales tax and receive the same police protection.
(2) Exception: Out of state tuition to state colleges / universities.
(3) Exception: Must be a resident of the state in order to vote.
b) States often attempt to pass the burdens of financing the state government to those outside of the state.
(1) Example: Out-of-State tuition at a public university.
(2) Example: Special taxes on hotel rooms rented by tourists.
c) The U.S. Supreme Court has never clarified which privileges a state must make available to all Americans and which privileges can be limited to its own citizens.
d) Saenz v. Roe (1999) – the court held that a state could not require a new resident to wait a year before becoming eligible for welfare benefits that exceeded those available in the state from which the new resident came.

22. D. Challenges/Conflicts Within Federalism
1. Commerce Power was defined broadly in the case of Gibbons v. Ogden to encompass virtually every form of commercial activity including the movement of goods, radio signals, electricity, telephone messages, the Internet, insurance transactions, and much more.
a) United States v. Lopez (1995) – Guns in a school zone have nothing to do with commerce.
b) United States v. Morrison (2000) – Gender-motivated crimes of violence are not, in any sense, economic activity.

23. 2. The Civil Rights Movement addressed the policy issue of equality while balancing state rights.
a) In 1954, the Supreme Court held that school segregation was unconstitutional (Brown v. Board of Education) thus overturning its 1896 ruling that states had the right to impose separate but equal facilities on its citizens (Plessy v. Ferguson)
b) The conflict between states and the national government over equality issues was decided in favor of the national government throughout the 1960s, the federal government enacted laws and policies to end segregation in schools, housing, public accommodations, voting, and jobs.

24. III. Intergovernmental Relations Today (pp. 76-85)
A. From Dual to Cooperative Federalism
1. Dual Federalism (“layer cake federalism”) is a form of federalism in which states and the national government each remain supreme within their own spheres / layers. Existed through 1930.
a) National Government – exclusive control over foreign and military policy, the postal system, and monetary policy.
b) State Government – exclusive control over schools, law enforcement, and road building.

25. 2. Cooperative Federalism (“marble cake federalism”) is a form of federalism with mingled responsibilities (shared costs and shared administrations) and blurred distinctions between the levels of government. It involves shared costs, federal guidelines, and shared administrations. Existed through 1964.
a) Education – usually thought of as being mainly a state and local responsibility; however Congress set aside land in the Northwest Territory to be used for schools and American Universities such as Texas A&M owe their origins to the national policy of land grants.
b) Highways – states and cities were largely responsible for building roads, although the Constitution does authorize Congress to construct “post roads.” In 1956, Congress passed an act creating an interstate highway system.

26. B. Creative Federalism – increased the marble cake approach of intergovernmental relations.
1. Was seen during the Great Society of Lyndon Johnson (democrat).
2. Sharing the costs between the national and state governments for programs that typically would fall under the purview of state control.
3. Guidelines and rules set down by the federal government in order for the states to reap the benefits of federally funded programs.
4. Providing for the dual administration of programs such as Medicaid, which has a shared approach financially as well as administratively.

27. C. Competitive Federalism (a. k. a
C. Competitive Federalism (a.k.a. New Federalism) – reversed the marble cake nature, creating a “new federalism” where the states were given more responsibility.
1. Seen during the Nixon and Reagan, and Bush Administrations (republicans).
a) Party Politics – Republicans tend to believe that the national government should be involved less in domestic issues.
b) Sign of the Times – Federal deficits of the 1980s forced a reduction in federal funds for state and local governments thereby shifting some responsibility for policy and funding back to the states.

28. 2. The aim of competitive federalism was to offer states pieces of the marble cake but to have them accept it with conditions and with a promise to develop programs on their own.
3. Placed restrictions on other federal programs if a state did not meet the criteria of a specific program.

29. 4. If a state is going to receive federal money, it must agree to do something in return.
5. No Child Left Behind Act (2001) According to the Department of Education, NCLB “incorporates increased accountability for state, school districts, and schools; greater choice for parents and students, particularly those attending low-performing schools; flexibility for states and local educational agencies in the use of federal education dollars; and a stronger emphasis on reading, especially for our youngest children.”

30. D. Fiscal Federalism is the pattern of spending, taxing, and providing grants in the federal system.
Grants-in-Aid, federal funds appropriated by Congress (approximately $408 billion in 2004), are the main instrument the national government uses for both aiding and influencing states and localities. The national government regularly publishes the Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance, a massive volume listing federal aid programs available to states, cities, and other local governments.
There are two major types of federal aid for states and localities: categorical grants and block grants.

31. 1. Categorical Grants (the main source of federal aid) are grants that can be used only for specific purposes, or categories, as defined by federal law. There are two types of categorical grants (project and formula).
a) State and local agencies can obtain categorical grants only by applying for them and by meeting certain qualifications and often requires that the state or locality put up money to match some part of the grant (such as building an airport or a college dormitory).

32. b) Categorical grants come with numerous “strings” (rules and requirements) attached, such as nondiscrimination provisions and punitive cross-over sanctions and cross-cutting requirements that reduce or deny federal funds if certain local or state laws are not passed or if federal guidelines are not met.

33. (1) Cross-Over Sanctions uses federal dollars in one program to influence state and local policy in another, such as when funds are withheld for highway construction unless states raise the drinking age to 21 or establish highway beautification program.
(2) Cross-Cutting Requirements occurs when a condition on one federal grant is extended to all activities supported by federal funds, regardless of their source. Example: Title IX of the 1964 Civil Rights Act bars discrimination in the use of federal funds because of race, color, national origin, gender, or physical disability. If a university discriminates illegally in one program – such as athletics – it may lose the federal aid it receives for all its programs.

34. c) Project Grants – the most common type of categorical grant; awarded on the basis of competitive applications (such as grants to university professors from the National Science Foundation)
d) Formula Grants – distributed (not applied for) according to a formula; states and local governments automatically receive funds based on a formula developed from factors such as population, per capita income, or percentage of rural population (such as Medicare, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and public housing).

35. 2. Block Grants are used to support broad programs in areas like community development and social services with very few strings attached.
a) In response to complaints about the cumbersome paperwork and restrictive federal requirements attached to categorical grants, Congress established block grants to support broad programs.
b) States have discretion in deciding how to spend the money.
c) Example…Clinton’s Welfare Reform Bill in 1996 transferred the responsibility of welfare to the states. The federal government eliminated the entitlement and gave block grants to the states. The states then developed their own programs to move people from welfare to work within a five-year period ST.

36. One of the biggest block grant programs is called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF for short. TANF is commonly called welfare. This block grant replaced an earlier categorical grant called Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), which placed a lot of requirements on states. Now, under TANF, states have more control over how money is spent. Another block grant is the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Block Grant, which provides assistance to low-income families to help pay energy bills. Like TANF, this grant gives a lot of control to states

37. 3. Revenue Sharing – Federal aid with no requirement as to matching funds and freedom to spend the money on almost any governmental purpose. It occurs when there is a budget surplus.
a) General Revenue Sharing was enacted in 1974 and discontinued in 1986.
b) Special Revenue Sharing – block grants developed by the Nixon administration in which a number of categorical grants were bundled into Special Revenue Sharing grants intended to enhance state and local discretion over programs and spending.

38. E. On the whole, federal grant distribution follows the principle of universalism – that is, something for everybody, even though some money goes where it is not really needed. Senators and representatives regularly go to the voters with stories of their influence in securing federal funds for their constituencies to ensure continued support at the polls.

39. F. The Mandate Blues
1. Mandates are when the federal government imposes its will outside the context of grants.
2. Underfunded mandate means that the states have to budget more funds for the project in order to receive federal grant money. There are some occasions when states would prefer not to receive some federal aid – such as when Congress extends a program that is administered by the states and only partly funded by the national government.

40. 3. Unfunded mandates require state and local governments to spend money to comply with laws with NO financial help from the federal government that enacted the laws. In additional federal courts create unfunded mandates for states regarding school desegregation, prison construction, and other policies.
a) Example: American with Disabilities Act of 1990 required states to make facilities, such as state colleges and universities, accessible to individuals with disabilities but were allocated NO funds to implement such a policy.
b) Example: Clean Air Act of 1970 established national air quality standards but requires states to administer them and to appropriate funds for their implementation.

41. IV. A New Federalism: Devolution
A. Devolution embodies the idea that American federalism will be strengthened by a partial shift in authority from the federal government to the state and local governments.

42. B. Budgetary Pressures and Public Opinion
1. When the federal government faces huge budget deficits, and awarding new grants-in-aid to states are not feasible, budgetary pressures intensify.
2. A slowdown in the annual increase in federal assistance forces states and localities to pay an increasingly larger share of the costs of joint programs.
3. As state and local governments raise taxes or cut other services to meet the costs of joint programs, taxpayer criticism of programs intensify.

43. C. Republican Revolution (1994): The Republican “Contract with America”
1. After the Republicans scored a decisive victory in the 1994 congressional elections, they moved to a more decentralized form of federalism.
2. Moved to reduce unfunded mandates, federal programs that require action by states or localities but provide no or insufficient funds to pay for it.

44. 3. The GOP-controlled Congress also took action to lump additional categorical grants into block grants, thereby giving states more control over how federal money would be spent.
4. The Welfare Reform Act with its key element, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant (TANF), ended cash assistance to poor families with children. TANF gave the states the power to set benefit levels, eligibility criteria, and other regulations.

45. D. Devolution, Judicial Style
1. United States v. Lopez (1995) gave power to the states versus Congress (federal government).
2. Printz v. United States (1997) stated that Congress cannot require state officials to enforce federal regulatory programs.
3. Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents (2000) and Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett (2002) established that the states cannot be sued by their own employees for violations of federal age and disability discrimination laws because they are not “protected categories”.
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