1. American Government and Politics Today
Chapter 3
Federalism

2. A Federal System
-Divides power between the national and lower level governments.
-Each government has distinct powers that the other governments cannot override.
Examples of countries with a federal system government:
Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Mexico, and the United States.

3. Why Federalism?
-The Founding Fathers wanted to combine a central government strong enough to maintain order with strong states.
Federalism Allows for Many Political Subcultures.
To prevent runaway power and assure individual liberty

4. Arguments against Federalism
(1) inequalities amongst the states
(2) minorities dominated by those in power
What are arguments for it?

5. Beneficial separation of power between national and state governments
Allows for political flexibility and assures individual rights
Facilitates political participation and activity
Allowed for local decisions to be made that has ended segregation long before it became national

6. Figure 3.1 The Flow of Power in Three Systems of Government

7. Powers of the National Government
Expressed Powers
-Article 1, Section 8
“The Necessary and Proper Clause”
-Implied Powers—allow the national government to make decisions that fall outside the expressed powers.
-ex. est. immigration laws

8. Inherent Powers—recognized by all sovereign nations.
- These are powers it exercises simply because it is a government.
-ex. Acquiring land, waging war
Reserved Powers belong strictly to the states, which may exercise any power not delegated to the national government, reserved to the people, or denied them by the Constitution.

9. Powers of State Governments
According to the Tenth Amendment, all powers that were not delegated to the national government.
In theory states still retain all powers not delegated to the national government,
Police power, the authority to legislate for the protection of the health, morals, safety, and welfare of the people.
In the United States, most police power is reserved to the states.

10. Concurrent and Prohibited Powers
-Concurrent Powers - Shared by both the national and state governments.
Examples: power to tax, the make and enforce laws and to establish courts, and to a limited extent, the police power.
-Prohibited Powers. Apply to both the national and state governments.
The nat’l govt can’t tax exports.
State govt can’t conduct foreign policy or coin money.

12. Supremacy Clause
Article VI of the Constitution mandates that actions by the national government are supreme.
Any conflict between a legitimate action of the national government and a state will be resolved in favor of the national government.

13. Vertical Checks and Balances
Federalism can be seen as an additional way of preventing government from growing too strong, beyond the division of the national government into the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
-check on the powers of the national, state, and local governments

14. Interstate Relations
Article IV of the Constitution attempts to resolve potential problems between states by stipulating the following:
-Full faith and credit clause—states must honor actions of other states.
-Privileges and immunities
-Interstate extradition
-Interstate compacts

15. Defining Constitutional Powers
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819). Affirmed that the power of Congress is not strictly limited to the expressed powers.
-Marshall held Congress has implied powers to carry out the expressed powers.
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824). This case set the precedent for the national government to regulate a wide range of economic activities.

16. States’ Rights and the Civil War
The Jacksonian Era and the shift back to States’ Rights
The Civil War and the return to national government supremacy
-Post Civil War amendments represented a serious enhancement of national power.
-The nat’l govt now abolished slavery, defined who was an American citizen, and attempted (with limited success) to provide rights to the freed slaves

17. Dual Federalism
Emphasized dividing the state and national spheres of power into entirely separate jurisdictions.
Part of the Supreme Court’s attempt to regain its powers after the Civil War.

18. In the years leading up to the 1930’s, the government maintained a somewhat “hands-off” approach to society and business
What effect / impact did this have?

19. The New Deal New Deal legislation vs. Dual Federalism
Cooperative federalism emphasized an expanded role for the national government, and cooperation between the national government and the states.
Roosevelt’s programs typically were funded by the fed govt, but administered by states and local govts, thus creating a cooperative framework for federalist relations.

20. Implementing Cooperative Federalism
(1) Categorical Grants
-federal grants-in-aid to states or local governments that are for very specific programs or projects

21. (2) “Strings-Attached” Federal Grants -providing states with money only if they comply with a federal policy -”carrot and stick” approach -ex.: NCLB > get money only if states held schools accountable for student achievement

22. (3) Block Grants -federal programs that provide funds to state and local governments for general functional areas, such as criminal justice or mental-health programs (4) Federal Mandates -a requirement in federal legislation that forces states and municipalities to comply with certain rules

23. (5) Cross-over Sanctions
-force the implementation of federal requirements in one area or the states risk losing money in another, similar area.
-for instance, states may lose highway grants if they failed to follow certain health or safety requirements imposed by the federal government

24. (6) Crosscutting" -requirements are used to further social and economic goals and to ensure uniformity throughout the states -a popular example is the Davis-Bacon Act, which states that construction projects receiving federal monies must pay union-scale or "prevailing" wages, even if less expensive labor is available.

25. (7) Preemptions
to overrule current state regulations
States may have the responsibility for programs delegated to them by the federal government;
however, if they fail to meet specific requirements they risk having the federal government assume responsibility for the program
it tells states what they cannot do, as opposed to what they must do.

26. (8) Formula Grants: determined by the population and the needs of the state
-use a formula to determine the amount of aid

27. Figure 3-2 The Shift Toward Central Government Spending

28. The Politics of Federalism
States’ rights have been associated with conservatism and national authority has been associated with liberalism.
Why?

29. CREATIVE FEDERALISM
Johnson’s Great Society saw the creation of a new type: creative federalism
-included National Authority to provide
Economic relief
Civil rights protection
The War on Poverty
States favor the status quo; why?

30. Federalism as a Partisan Issue
“New Federalism.”
-Beginning with President Richard Nixon (1969–1974) the Republican Party championed devolution, or the transfer of powers from the national government to the states.
-They called this policy new federalism, a new use of the term.

31. CONTRACT WITH AMERICA Written in 1994 by House Rep.
This sweeping ten-point plan promised to reshape government.
Its main theme was the decentralization of federal authority by :
-deregulation
- tax cuts
-reform of social programs
-increased power for states
-a balanced federal budget

32. Federalism today continues to be shaped by Conservatives
Under current conditions liberals may have pragmatic reasons to support states’ rights in some instances
However changes are occurring:
-1996 Clinton’s Welfare Reform Act
-Bush’s NCLB

33. Federalism and the Supreme Court
-Reigning in the Commerce Power
--United States v. Lopez (1995)
held that Congress had exceeded its authority under the commerce clause when it created the Gun-Free School Zone Act

34. --United States v. Morrison (2000) Held that Congress had over-reached its authority under the commerce clause with the Violence against Women Act (federal remedy for gender-motivated violence)

35. -State Sovereignty and the Eleventh Amendment
--Alden v. Maine (1999)
-held that Maine state employees could not sue the state for violating the overtime pay requirements of a federal act