1. Concepts of Federalism
Jamie Monogan University of Georgia January 23, 2018

2. Objectives By the end of this meeting, participants should be able to:
Explain how a federal system works.
Describe the role of the national, state, and local governments in Georgia politics.

3. What Is Federalism? Federalism
System of shared powers between two or more levels of government
Lower level of government enjoys constitutional protection from national government
National government can compel action
Example: United States under the Constitution of 1789
Definition of "federal system": A system in which power is formally divided between the national government and regional entities such as states.
U.S. states enjoy constitutional protection, but most county, city, and other local governments do not enjoy these privileges. States can choose to eliminate them unless the state constitution protects local governments.

4. Contrast: Confederation
System of shared powers between two or more levels of government
Lower-level governments retain sovereignty
National government cannot compel action
Example: United States under Articles of Confederation
Definition of "confederal system": A system of government in which power rests primarily with regional entities that have banded together to form a league of independent governments.
Compare and contrast state and national powers under the Articles of Confederation versus the Constitution.
States could set trade barriers, coin money, and control militias under the Articles.
Each state also had veto power over changes to the Articles.
Articles preserved state powers, but created numerous barriers to collective action.
Constitution solved many of these problems at the expense of state power and state sovereignty.
Debate over the “proper” roles of national and state governments continues to this day.
Many Tea Party activists assert that states should have more rights.
Another example that is similar to the United States under the Articles of Confederation ( ) is the European Union.

5. Contrast: Unitary System
All power centralized with the national government
Lower-level governments (if they exist) only have powers if the central government delegates
Example: United Kingdom
Power centralized in London
Powers delegated to subnational parliaments in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
Definition of "unitary system": A system of government in which the national government has ultimate control over all areas of policy.

6. Centralization of Political Control
Small geographic areas tend toward unitary systems, while larger areas favor more decentralized systems (Federations/Confederations).
Could reconnect this point about geographic areas to Federalist #10 and Madison’s argument about how cross-cutting cleavages in a large republic would prevent majority tyranny.

7. Dynamics of Federalism Which best describes the U.S. system?
Dual Federalism
Separate spheres of power
Notice that some prerogatives are separate
Federal: national defense, currency, tariffs & trade, treaties
State & Local: traffic regulation, zoning, marriage, insurance regulations, conduct elections, education (principally)
Cooperative Federalism
Shared spheres of power
Notice that some prerogatives are shared
Social welfare (TANF/Medicaid), tax collection, research & development, business regulation (minimum wage, environment)
Can also use a “cake” metaphor: layer cake is dual federalism and marble cake is cooperative federalism.
Examples of dual federalism: national defense and treaties are both solely controlled by national government. Sales tax and many election rules are controlled solely by states.
Examples of cooperative federalism: tax collection, social welfare policies.

8. Constitutional Allocation of Powers
The Constitution sets some clear limits
States cannot coin money or negotiate treaties
Supremacy clause holds that national laws trump state laws if in conflict (Article VI, Clause 2)
The Constitution also creates ambiguities, with Supreme Court interpretations changing over time
Necessary and proper clause
Commerce clause
Tenth Amendment
Relations among states: Article IV
Full faith & credit clause, privileges & immunities clause, extradition clause
The Tenth Amendment also creates ambiguities by being in conflict with necessary and proper and commerce clauses. The two clauses seem to grant non-specific powers to the federal government, but the Tenth Amendment can be interpreted as sharply limiting federal power.

9. Assignments For Thursday: Read Maltese, Pika & Shivley, pp. 91-106
For Friday: Read Bullock & Gaddie, Chapter 8
Chapters 4-5 critical thinking exercise due at 11:59pm on Tuesday, Jan. 30
Login to ELC to complete.

10. Additional Material

11. State Governments Most are similar in structure to federal government
Bicameral (Exception: Nebraska)
Gubernatorial powers vary by state
Professionalization of legislatures varies by state
Key distinction is presence of direct democracy—initiative, referendum, recall
To make this clear, it can help to discuss certain states as examples.
Nebraska, for example, is most unique—unicameral legislature that is nonpartisan.
Pay, staff, and length of sessions vary greatly from state to state.
Larger states tend to be more like federal government (with long sessions, full-time legislators, powerful governors).
For discussion: Can ask students from different states to describes differences/similarities in their states.

12. Local Governments More variation than state governments
Mayoral—large cities, mayor has considerable power
Council-manager—small-to-medium cities
Commission—declining in number due to collective action problems
Discuss large cities such as New York and Chicago and the high-profile nature of their mayors. Rudy Giuliani became a national figure in part because of his response to the 9/11 attacks in New York. His successor, Michael Bloomberg, is also a very high-profile national figure who has used his powers as mayor to shape major policies. New York has the most restrictive smoking policies in the country.
For discussion: Ask students to describe the type of their local government; discuss similarities and differences with national/state governments.