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UNIT 15
THE NATURE AND SOURCES
OF AMERICAN FEDERALISM
Forms of government organization
UNITARY STATE – a state whose three organs of state
are governed as one single unit with one legislature and
one parliament with local administrative branches
FEDERATION – a union comprising a number of partially
self-governing states or regions united by a central
(“federal”) government – multiple levels of government
CONFEDERATION – an association of sovereign states or
communities, usually created by treaty by which they
delegate certain powers to common institutions; often
later adopt a common constitution (central issues usually
– defense, foreign affairs, foreign trade, common
currency)
The United
States of America
 the world's third largest country in population and in area
Land area: 9,166,601 sq km; Total area: 9,631,420 sq km
Population (2009 est.): 307,212,123 , birth rate: 13.8/1000; life
expectancy: 78.1; density per sq mi: 85
 Government: a federal constitutional republic
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- 50 states + 1 federal district (District of Columbia)
- founded by 13 colonies of Great Britain in 1787 (by the
Constitution of the United States)
Capital: Washington, DC
President: Barack H. Obama
Vice President: Joseph Biden
Legislature: United States Congress
The United States of America - early
history in brief
1773 – The Boston Tea Pary: an act of rebellion against British rule (taxes but no
representation in the Parliament)
1775–1783 - American Revolutionary War: War of independence fought between
Great Britain and the 13 British colonies on the eastern seaboard of North
America
1776 Declaration of Independence adopted in Philadelphia (July 4)
1777 Articles of Confederation, the first U.S. constitution adopted – a weak
CONFEDERAL government
1783 – Treaty of Paris - Great Britain formally acknowledges American independence
1787 Constitutional Convention, made up of delegates from 12 of the original 13
colonies, meets in Philadelphia to draft the U.S. Constitution – a strong
national FEDERAL government with powers of taxation 1789 George Washington is unanimously elected president of the United States
U.S. Constitution - ratified by nine states
1791 First ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, are
ratified
1861-1865 Civil War: Conflict between the North (the Union) and the South (the
Confederacy) over the expansion of slavery into western states
The Declaration of Independence
(1776)
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document that established the new nation of the United States (accepted by the
Continental Congress, July 4, 1776); severed the ties of 13 colonies to the British
Crown; drafted (almost entirely) by Thomas Jefferson
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Consists of three parts
A) a preamble (a declaration of individual rights )
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
B) a list of grievances or justifications for seeking independence (lists the acts of
tyranny by George III)
C) the point of all that preceded
“the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United
Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States”
The Articles of Confederation
(1777)
 the first constitution of the USA
 created a CONFEDERATION, called the United States of
America, a weak central government
 states maintain their sovereignty (each is its own nation),
but they join together in a coordinated way to deal with
certain issues, such as making war, negotiating diplomatic
agreements, resolving issues regarding the Western
Territories
 Introduced the system of equal representation – “one state
– one vote” – unfair to the larger states
The Constitutional Convention
(1787)
 also known as the Philadelphia Convention - one of the
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central events in the history of the United States
took place in 1787 to address problems in the United States of
America following independence from Great Britain
intended only to revise the Articles of Confederation
(primarily the division of powers between the states and the
nation) but the intention of many of the Convention's
proponents were to create a new government rather than
"fix" the existing one
George Washington elected to preside over the convention
the result of the Convention - the United States Constitution
Two plans for the improvement were proposed
A) The Virginia Plan
B) The New Jersey Plan
The Virginia plan – the idea
James Madison – a new, entirely different
conception of the United States government - a
republican model
- people would elect their representatives to
govern (in contrast to the Confederation model
of the time, when the states appointed members
of Congress)
- a dominant national government, diminished
power of the states
The Virginia Plan – main features
 a bicameral legislature (two houses) with
PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION in both
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houses
the legislature was very powerful
an executive elected by congress
a national judiciary, with life-terms of service
the executive and some of the national judiciary
would have the power to veto legislation, subject
to override
congressional over any state legislation
The New Jersey Plan – the idea
William Paterson - feared that smaller states like his own
would be overtaken by the larger ones without specific
protections (in the current Confederation, each state
was perfectly equal - all had one vote on all matters in
Congress) – EQUAL REPRESENTATION
 the Virginia Plan - everything proportionate to
population
 New Jersey, New Hampshire, Maryland, Delaware,
Connecticut, and even New York felt they had to fear
any attempt by the large states of Virginia,
Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts to take away equal
suffrage
 New Jersey plan – a rebuttal of Virginia Plan
The New Jersey Plan – main features
 the current Congress was granted new powers (e.g. could set
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taxes and force their collection)
an executive, elected by Congress, was created
the executives served a single term and were subject to recall
based on the request of state governors
a judiciary appointed by the executives, with life-terms of
service
laws set by the Congress took precedence over state law
instead of giving congress the nearly unlimited scope proposed
in the Virginia plan created a system of government less
powerful at the national level than in the Virginia plan;
protected the small states from the large ones by ensuring “one
state - one vote”; ultimately rejected
Conclusion – The Constitution of the
United States of America
CRUCIAL QUESTIONS
 How much power to allow the central
government?
 How many representatives in Congress to allow
each state?
 How the representatives should be elected-directly by the people or by the state legislators?
Conclusion – the Constitution of
the United States of America
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the final document of the Convention – established the government we are
familiar with today
- US BECAME A FEDERAL STATE
- BICAMERAL LEGISLATURE - PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION IN THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, EQUAL IN THE SENATE
- REPRESENTATIVES ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE IN DIRECT (POPULAR) ELECTION,
SENATORS BY STATE LEGISLATIONS IN INDIRECT ELECTIONS
 showed signs of its origins in the Virginian plan, but government less powerful at the
national level than Madison had envisioned
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the pattern of allocation of powers was worked out
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legislative veto (Virginia plan) discarded – judicial veto instead
constitution + treaties – “the supreme law of the land, and the judges in every state
shall be bound thereby”
primary responsibility for the conduct of foreign affairs in the hands of the president
president – commander in chief of the armed forces
electoral college to select the president – to ensure the executive independent of the
national legislature
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American federalism
FEDERALISM
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a basic structural feature of the American political system;
has generated a great deal of conflict throughout American
political history
involves multiple layers of government with shared powers among
them and powers unique to each of the levels of government
Division of powers between
a) federal government
b) state governments
The federal government - three branches:
a) the executive
b) the legislative
c) the judicial
Evolution of American Federalism
 DUAL FEDERALISM – (19th cent.) strong states and a weak
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federal government
the Civil War (1860-1865) increases the power of federal
government
CO-OPERATIVE FEDERALISM - the New Deal of President
Roosevelt expanded the role of the federal government based
on partnership with states (continued through the
administration of Kennedy and Johnson )
The NEW FEDERALISM - Nixon and Reagan – elected running
against the federal government – shifted some powers and
revenues back to to the states and localities
Clinton – stressed “devolution” – program run by the federal
government shifted over to the states
Evolution of American Federalism
REPUBLICANS
– the federal government
should deal only with
matters of defense, foreign
commerce, and diplomacy –
more powers to states and localities
DEMOCRATS
– tighter, more centralized
federal government
Sources of American Federalism
 The tenth amendment of the Constitution
 The fourteenth amendment
 The grant of unique powers of various levels of
government under the Constitution
 numerous Supreme Court decisions
The Tenth Amendment (1791)
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a part of the Bill of Rights, ratified in 1791
“The 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.”
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defines the relationship between the national and state
governments
grants certain powers to the federal government and reserves the
rest for the states
the federal government is supreme with regard to those powers
expressly or implicitly delegated to it, the states remain supreme in
matters reserved to them.
SEPARATE SUPREMACY – the supremacy of each government in its
own sphere – each government is sovereign in its own right
The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) –
Citizenship Rights
 a post-Civil War amendment (the Reconstruction
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Amendments)
intended to secure rights for former slaves –THE RIGHT TO
CITIZENSHIP, LIFE, LIBERTY, PROPERTY
provides a broad definition of United States citizenship
requires the states to provide equal protection under the
law to all persons
used to dismantle legal segregation
additional provisions on the preconditions for the election
of representatives and senators
Division of powers
National powers:
- declaring war
- making treaties (foreign relations)
- coining money
State powers:
- all powers that are not delegated to the federal government (spelled
out in the Tenth Amendment)
Concurrent powers:
- levying taxes
- regulating commerce
Essential vocabulary
 federation – federal government
 confederation – confederative
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government
unitary state – unitarna/jedinstvena
država
a grievance – pritužba, nevolja
division of powers – podjela ovlasti
state powers – ovlasti država
(članica fereracije ili konfederacije)
national powers –
nacionalne/federalne ovlasti
concurrent powers – paralelne
ovlasti
to grant powers – davati ovlasti
to delegate powers – prenijeti
ovlasti; delegation of powers –
prijenos ovlasti
to allocate a power – dodijeliti
ovlast; allocation of powers –
dodjela/raspodjela ovlasti
 equal representation – jednaka
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zastupljenost
proportional representation –
razmjerna zastupljenost
legislative veto – zakonodavni veto
judicial veto – sudbeni veto
a treaty – međunarodni ugovor
‘conduct of foreign affairs –
vođenje vanjskih poslova
to con’duct foreign affairs – voditi
vanjske poslove
ellectoral college – izborno
tijelo/kolegij
revenue – državni prihodi, financije
commerce - trgovina
supremacy - nadređenost
legal segregation – zakonska
odijeljenost/segregacija
to levy taxes – ubirati poreze
commerce – trgovina
to coin money – kovati novac
Vocabulary practice
Supply the text with appropriate terms:
treaties - division - veto - consent nation - independently - authority
The key to the constitution was the distribution of political
____________ – separation of powers among the executive, legislative,
and judicial branches of the nationa government, and ____________of
powers between states and _____________. The branches were balanced
against one another, their powers deliberately entwined to prevent them
from acting ______________. The president was given a
______________over congressional legislation, but his ____________ and
major appointments required the ____________ of the Senate.
Vocabulary practice - Key
The key to the constitution was the distribution of
political authority – separation of powers among the
executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the
nationa government, and division of powers between
states and nation. The branches were balanced against
one another, their powers deliberately entwined to
prevent them from acting independently. The
president was given a veto over congressional
legislation, but his treaties and major appointments
required the consent of the Senate.