Download Federalism - AP US Government and Politics

Federalism
Governmental Structure
• Federalism: a political system where
local government units can make final
decisions regarding some governmental
activities and whose existence is
protected
• Unitary System: local governments are
subservient to the national government
Government Structure
Government Structure
Government Structure
Government Structure
• Political power is locally obtained by the people.
• As a result national government has come to have
vast powers, which exercise its power through the
state government.
• Washington spends most of its money and
enforces most rules on local units of government.
example: welfare system, interstate highway,
unemployed, military manpower(National Guard)
Types of Federalism
Federalism, Good or Bad?
• In our country we have many different
people in different places, and these people
will use federal power in different ways.
• Since we let states and cities make some
decisions it allows for some people to make
corrupt decisions. But this also enables
people to fight against corruption.
Increased Political Activity
• Federalism most obvious effect has been to
facilitate the mobilization of political
activity.
• Having a federal system lowers the cost of
organized political activity.
The Founding
• The founders goal is clear that federalism is one
device so that personal liberty was protected.They
believed placing final political authority into one
set of hands would risk tyranny.
• So they put together a Confederation.
-People create state governments
-Which creates and operates a national
government
-So now the national government is depended on
the states cooperation.
A Bold New Plan
• Having a federal government had never been
heard of, much less put into action.
• The Constitution doesn’t tell us what powers the
states are to have. But then they added the 10th
Amendment so no one would assume something
else was intended.
• Has showed up in Supreme Court
• Interpreted as putting certain state action out of
reach of federal government.
• But the Court later changed its mind.
Elastic Language
• Organize the Congress so that they’re not
telling exactly what relationship is to exist
between national and state systems.
• Knew they couldn’t make an exact list
-Circumstances would change, new exigencies
would arise.
So they added Article I.
The Debate on the Meaning of
Federalism
• Civil War- National Government vs. States
Rights. National Government won.
• The states couldn’t lawfully secede from the
Union.
The Supreme Court Speaks
• Chief of Justice-Defended national supremacy
• James McCulloch, refused to pay a tax
levied by Maryland. State convicted him.
• 1819, he appealed and went to the Supreme
Court. McCulloch vs. Maryland
McCullock vs. Maryland
• It expanded the powers of the Congress
- Necessary and Proper clause
-Charting a bank was within powers of
Congress.
• Confirmed supremacy of the Federal Gov.
-States may not tax any Federal instrument.
-Maryland law was unconstitutional.
Nullification
• Came up in 1798-Congress passed laws to
punish newspaper editors who published
stories critical to Federal government.
• Madison and Jefferson opposed the laws.
-Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
-States could “Nullify” a federal law.
- Laws expired before entering the Supreme
Court.
Nullification
• John Calhoun revived the doctrine of
Nullification.
- Opposed a tariff enacted by federal gov.
-Opposed when federal gov. tried to restrict
slavery.
• He argued that the states had rights to declare
some acts unconstitutional. Settled by war.
-North won: States can not make acts of congress
unconstitutional.
-Later Confirmed by Supreme Court.
Dual Federalism
• It means the national government is
supreme in it’s sphere, the states are equally
supreme in theirs, and these two spheres
should be kept separate.
• Example of Dual Federalism:
Interstate Commerce = Congress
Intrastate Commerce = States
Interstate and Intrastate
• Many efforts were made to regulate which
was which, but most were abandoned. The
current court interpretation of interstate and
intrastate commerce is very complex and
difficult to explain. For Example, lawyers
are considered intrastate commerce, but pro
baseball players are not.
Dual Federalism Cases
• In state –federal relations, dual federalism is on a
case-by-case basis.
• US v. Morrison (2000) proved that attacks on
women are not interstate, and therefore Congress
cannot pass a law of that sort. Chief Justice
William Rehnquist said, “The Constitution
requires a distinction between what is truly
national and what is truly local.”
Dual Federalism Cases
• Printz V. US (1995) said that a federal law
for policemen to do background checks on
all gun purchases was invalid. The court
ruled that this violated the tenth amendment
by commanding state programs to carry out
federal program guidelines. Justice Antonin
Scalia declared, “Such commands are
fundamentally incompatible with our
constitutional system of dual sovereignty.
Dual Federalism Cases
• The courts have also protected the eleventh
amendment which says that a citizen of
another state or foreign nation can sue a
state. Alden V Maine (1999) proved that
state employees could not sue the state over
federal fair-labor laws.
Dual Federalism Cases
• Not all decisions are better for the states
though. In 1999 the court ruled that persons
moving from one state to another must
receive welfare benefits if they would be
able to do so in the state they are moving
from.
State Guidelines
• A state can do anything that is not prohibited by
the constitution or preempted by federal policy,
and that is constant with their own constitution.
• Police Power- States can enact laws that promote
health, safety, and morals.
• Many state and local governments pass things
related to public education, law enforcement and
criminal justice, health, transportation, welfare,
and land and water policies.
Direct Democracy
• Laws are to be made by representatives of
citizens, not citizens themselves. There are,
though, three types of “direct democracy”.
• Initiative- allows voters to place legislative
measures and sometimes constitutional
amendments on the ballot by getting a petition
filled.
• Referendum- allows voters to reject a measure
adopted by legislature on a ballot
• Recall- voters can remove a state official form
office by petition.
Basic State’s Rights
• The existence of the states is guaranteed by the
Constitution
• No state can be divided without consent
• Each state must have two representatives in the
senate
• Every state is ensured of a republican form of
government
• The powers not granted to Congress are reserved
for the states.
Federal-State Relations
• Laws passed by the federal government
must be approved by the members of
congress.
• Grants-in-Aid are made by the national
government to the states (for education ,
roads, militias, etc.)
• The government could print more money to
give the states.
Federal-State Relations
• To meet the national need officials began to
judge how much money each state would
get.
• Intergovernmental Lobby
States were trying to get more money with
fewer strings attached
Federal-State Relations
• Federal aid Switched from categorical
grants to revenue sharing or block grants
• Categorical grants are a specific purpose
defined by federal law (usually matched by
the states ex. 10% states to 90% fed )
• Revenue sharing gives the states more
freedom in deciding how to spend their
money
The Slowdown in “Free” Money
• Block grants grew slowly
• The federal government didn’t like letting
the states free with their money
• The republicans and democrats agreed to
end block grants
The Slowdown in “Free” Money
• Money wasn’t being spread evenly to all
cities and states
• Rivalry among states increased because of
the unfair distribution
• A formula was created to figure money
spread, but some still thought they were
being cheated
Federal Aid & Federal Control
• Categorical grants grew more rapidly
because the government had more control
of them
• Conditions of aid are what the government
uses to tell the states what they must do
with their money
Federal Aid & Federal Control
• Mandates are new rules that tell the states
exactly what it must do with it’s money
• Most mandates concern civil rights and
environmental protection
• Some are of regulatory statues and others
represent new areas of federal involvement
• The 10th Amendment provides no protection
against the march of mandates
Federal Aid & Federal Control
• The best example of a federal mandate is
school desegregation
• If the states want the money then they must
follow all the rules and accept the strings
• Grants actually started costing the states
money
Federal Aid & Federal Control
• Maybe the grants aren’t so good
• Edward I. Koch, a congressman from New
York, voted for the conditions, but looking
back he states, “It is hard to believe I could
have been taken in by the simplicity of what
congress was doing…”
• Studies show the 1981 federal aid cuts
produced higher service levels.
Devolution
• Devolution is the granting of powers from
the central government to the state and local
governments. Most of these are temporary.
• Second-order devolution is a flow from
state to local governments
• Third-order devolution increases the role of
non-profit organizations in policy
implementation.
Grant-in-aid programs
• Grants in aid are federally funded programs
provided for the betterment of airports,
highways, education, and major welfare
services.
• The two most popular forms of this are
AFDC (Welfare) and Medicare. Together
these two account for half of all federal
grant-in-aid spending.
Types of Grants
• All grants are classified as block grants.
These are the types:
• Operational grants - for running things like
child-care programs.
• Capital grants – for purposes like building
local wastewater treatment plants.
• Entitlement grants – for transferring income
to families and individuals.
The Future of Devolution?
• The future of devolution is hard to see.
Most Americans favor devolution in
principle, but little know how it cuts into the
federal deficit. Congress is making many
attempts to cut the funding of many of these
programs, but to much opposition from the
citizens. Americans in a poll disagreed of
cuts in almost all programs. Welfare being
the big exception.
Congress and Federalism
• Why does Congress pass so many laws that create
so many problems for governors and mayors?
• One reason is that Congress and state officials see
their constituencies different. Take Los Angeles.
Congress would see it as a city of businesspeople,
taxpayers, and homeowners. The mayor or the
governor would see it as a city of African
Americans, Hispanics, and nature lovers. Though
on the issue of sending funding to the city they
would agree, other issues they are likely to be on
separate sides.
Congress and Federalism
• Another reason is that a few years ago, the
political parties had one voice in Washington.
Nowadays, congressmen have become more
independent not voting strictly to a party ticket,
but voting out of personal feelings.
• The best organized states are more likely to
receive financial aid. In all, Americans don’t agree
on much of anything which spells trouble in the
name of Congress.