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Chapter 3
I. Federalism
A. Political system in which local units of government (territorial, regional,
provincial, state, or municipal) and a national government make a final decision with
consideration to some governmental activities and whose existence is specially protected.
Both local and national forms of government have their own sovereign powers and some
powers overlap making the two share authority.
B. There are three ways to describe relationships between central governments
and local units: 1. A unitary system, 2. A Confederal system, and 3. A federal system.
1. Unitary System - A system in which sovereignty is wholly in the hands
of the
national government, so that the states and localities are dependent on its
will. France, Great Britain, Italy, and Sweden have unitary systems.
2. Confederation or Confederal System - A system in which the states are
sovereign and the national government is allowed to do only that which
the states permit
3. Federal System - System in which sovereignty is shared, so that in some
matters the national government is supreme and in other matters the states
are supreme.The United States, Canada, Australia, India, Germany, and
Switzerland have federal systems.
II. The Controversy of Federalism
A. To some, federalism means allowing states to block action, prevent progress,
upset national plans, protect powerful local interests. and cater to the self interest of hack
politicians. To others, it means developing mechanisms vital to governmental strength,
political flexibility, and individual liberty.
1. Harold Laski, a British observer, described American states as
“parasitic and poisonous.”
2. William H. Riker, an american political scientist, argued that “the main
effect of federalism since the Civil War has been to perpetuate racism.”
3. Daniel J. Elazer, an american political scientist, believes that the “virtue
of the federal system lies in its ability to develop and maintain
mechanisms vital to governmental strength, political flexibility, and
individual liberty , which has been the central concern of American
politics.
4. James Madison believed that since there are so many diverse interests,
only a large government can have the maximum number of sides to be
heard, as opposed to small nations, where not as many interests could be
known and argued. He understood this perfectly and used it to argue, in
Federalist No. 10, that it would be in a large republic, such as the United
States as a whole, that one would find the greatest opportunity for all
relevant interests to be heard.
III. The Founders and Federalism
A. A federation derives its powers from the people, as do the state governments.
As the founders envisioned it, both levels of government, the national and the state,
would have certain powers, however, neither would have supreme authority over the
other.
1. Madison, when writing in Federalist No. 46, said that both the state and
federal governments “are in fact but different agents and trustees of the
people, constituted with different powers.”
2. Hamilton, when writing Federalist No. 28, explained how he thought
the system would work: The people could shift their support between state
and federal levels of government as needed to keep the two in balance.
B. The Constitution does not spell out the powers that the states are suppose to
have, and until the Tenth Amendment was added at the insistence of various states, there
was not even a clause in it saying that “the powers not delegated to the United States by
the Constitution, not prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively,
or to the people.” The founders assumed from the outset that the federal government
would have only those powers given to it by the Constitution; the Tenth Amendment was
an afterthought, added to make that assumption explicit and allay fears that something
else was intended.
IV. Elastic Language of the Constitution
A. The need to reconcile the competing interests of large and small states and of
northern and southern states, especially as they affected the organization of Congress,
was sufficiently difficult without trying to spell out exactly what relationship ought to
exist between national and state systems. Though some clauses are vague, many are
reasonably clear:
1. Restrictions on Powers of the States - States may not make treaties with
foreign nations, coin money, issue paper currency, grant titles of nobility,
pass a bill of attainder or an ex post facto law
2. Guarantees by the Federal Government to the States - The National
government guarantees to every state a “republican form of government”
and protection against foreign invasion and protection against domestic
insurrection.
3. Rules Governing How States Deal with Each Other- The citizens of
each state shall have “privileges and immunities” of the citizens of every
other state.
B. The Founders knew they could not make an exact and exhaustive list of
everything the Federal government was empowered to do. Thus they added the
following elastic language to Article I: Congress shall have the power to “make all
laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing
powers.”
V. Hamilton VS Jefferson
A. The Founders found themselves carried away from Philadelphia different
views of what federalism meant.
1. One view was championed by Hamilton. Since the people had created
the national government, since the laws and treaties made pursuant to
the Constitution were “the supreme law of the land” and since the most
pressing needs were the development of a national economy and the
conduct of foreign affairs, Hamilton thought that the national
government was the superior and leading force in political affairs and
that its powers ought to be broadly defined and liberally construed.
2. The other view, championed by Jefferson, was that the federal
government, though important, was the product of an agreement among
the states; and though “the people” were the ultimate sovereigns, the
principal threat to their liberties was likely to come from the national
government.
VI. Three types of Federalism
A. After the Civil War the debate about the meaning of federalism focused on the
interpretation of the commerce clause of the Constitution.
1. Dual Federalism - a doctrine that emphasizes a distinction between
federal and state spheres of government authority. Commonly depicted
as a layer cake, because the state governments and the national
government are viewed as separate entities, like separate layers in a
cake.
2. Cooperative Federalism - the states and the national government
cooperate in solving complex common problems.
➡ Federal Grants-in Aid are a large part of this type of Federalism. Within
this the national government gives back to the states (and local)
governments a significant amount of tax dollars it collects. Federal grants
have taken the form of categorical grants-in-aid, which are grants to state
and local governments designated for very specific programs or projects.
3. New Federalism/ Devolution - the transfer of powers from the federal
government to the states.
➡ Block Grants – one of the major tools of the new federalism – place fewer
restrictions on grants-in-aid given to state and local governments by
grouping a number of categorical grants under one broad purpose.They
grew more slowly than categorical grants because of the different types of
political coalitions supporting each.
➡Categorical grants - provide for specific programs and include requirements.
Highway programs and education grants are Categorical grants
➡Project grants - similar to categorical grants and fund specific projects and
services.
➡Formula grants - allocated based on a decision rule, such as x dollars per
publicoh school pupil. The purpose is to allocate funding based on
quantifiable variables.
➡ Nullification - Doctrine that a state can refuse to recognize or to enforce a
federal law passed by the United States Congress.
VII. The Effects of Federal Money
A. The more important federal money becomes to the states, the more likely they
are to compete among themselves for the largest share of it. The federal government has
great difficulty in figuring out where it ultimately spends what funds for what purposes.
1. For example, a $1 billion defense contract may go to a company with
headquarters in California, but much of the money may actually be spent
in Connecticut or New York, as the prime contractor in California buys
from subcontractors in the other states.
B. These grants are based on distributional formulas. Senators and representatives
now have access to computers that can tell them instantly the effect on their states and
districts of even minor changes in a formula by which federal aid is distributed.
VIII. Federal Control
A. There are two kinds of federal controls on state governmental activities.
1. Conditions of Aid - The traditional control tells the state governments
what it must do if it wants to get some grant money. Some conditions are
specific to particular programs, but most are not.
2. Mandates - The newer form of control tells the state government what it
must do, no questions asked. Most mandates concern civil rights and
environmental protection. States may not discriminate in the operation of
their programs, no matter who pays for them. Major mandate enactments
regulating states and local governments are:
Voting Rights Act Amendments
Social Security Amendments
Clean Air Act Amendments
3. Mandates are not the only way in which the federal government
imposes costs on state and local governments. Certain federal tax and
regulatory policies make it difficult or expensive for state and local
governments to raise revenues, borrow funds, and privatize public
functions.
IX. The Details of Block Grants
A. There are three types of block grants.
1. Operational Grants - for purposes such as running state child-care
programs
2. Capital Grants - for purposes such as building local wastewater
treatment plants
3. Entitlement Grants - for transferring income to families and individuals
B. The federal government’s two biggest grant-in-aid programs, the now nonexistent AFDC, often referred to as welfare which provided cash assistance to the poor,
and Medicaid which finances the majority of medical and long-term care services for
low-income and disabled adults and children, were not created as block grant programs.
1. The devolution revolutionaries of the 104th Congress did not succeed in
turning Medicaid into a block grant program. However, they did succeed
with AFDC. There is early evidence that the devolution of federal welfare
programs has triggered two other devolutions.
➡ Second-order Devolution - A flow of power and responsibility from
the states to local government.
➡ Third-order Devolution - The increased role of nonprofit
organizations and private groups in policy implementation.
C. The drive for devolution has complex roots, but three forces stand out: the
beliefs of devolution’s proponents, the realities of deficit politics and the views of
most citizens.
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Chapter 3: Federalism
Notes:
A. Issues/Debates/Questions concerning “National Interest vs. States’ Rights”
1. Slavery during the Civil War
A. Southern states condoned slavery while northern states denounced it
B. States were given territorial power to address the issue as they desired
2. Regulation of businesses? (Capitalism or mercantilism?)
3. Welfare programs? (Social security? Medicare? Obamacare?)
4. Does the Constitution give the federal government the authority to do these
things?
5. Though these debates have ended with a decision favorable to the national
government, an effort is underway to scale back the power of the national
government.
A. 105th Congress (Republican Congress) took measures to accelerate this
B. How does Federalism work? Is it good or Bad?
1. Though the national government has come to have vast powers, it exercises
many of those powers through the national government.
A. Federal aid provides funds to build interstate highways, devise the
welfare system, supply jobs to the unemployed, implement clean water
practices, and improve cities.
B. national government does not govern so much as it seeks, by regulation
grant, plan, and debate, to get the states to govern in accordance with
national defined goals.
2. Harold Laski, a British observer, described the American states as “parasitic
and poisonous.”
A. Federalism means allowing states to block action, prevent progress, and
protect (selfish) local interests.
3. Daniel J. Elazar, a political scientist, views federalism as a political system
whose strength lies in its ability to maintain political flexibility and government
strength alongside individual liberty.
4. Whether you love or hate federalism really depends in part on whether you like
the fact that your state government, independent of the federal government,
passed legislation favorable to your state.
A. California residents would like cut property taxes, strictly controlled
coastal land use, heavily regulated electric utilities, and increased welfare
rolls.
B. New Yorkers would prefer lower toll hikes, lower taxes (for middleclassmen), gay marriage, and strict regulation of businesses.
C. The establishment of a federal system in the United States
1. The Founding Fathers saw federalism as a device whereby personal liberty was
protected—something they felt strongly about after being stripped of them under
British occupation.
A. Feared placing final authority in any one set of hands, even in the hands
of popularly elected people because self-interest would overshadow
national interest.
2. The Articles of Confederation (1776-1787)
A. Eager to rid themselves of a strong central authority, the Founding
Fathers first devised a constitution that placed central authority in the
hands of independent states that in turn operate a national government
(confederal system).
B. Each state was dominated by politicians who wanted to fulfill their own
local interest.
C. National unity did not exist.
1. States were not able to implement a national tax to pay off war
debts.
2. Non-uniform currency meant the value of currency fluctuated
b/w states
A. inflation was rampant
3. Riots and insurrections were widespread.
3. Federal Republic
A. The founders believed that a federation derives it power directly from
the people, as do states governments.
1. Both the national and state governments would have power, but
neither would have supreme authority.
2. Madison (Federalist No. 46): “[the state and national
governments] are in fact but different trustees of the people,
constituted with different power.”
3. Hamilton (Federalist No. 28): stated that people could shift their
support between the state and national government (if their rights
are invaded) to maintain balance.
B. Philadelphia Convention
1. The Founding Fathers gathered to revise the Articles of
Confederation; however, they ended up writing an entirely new
constitution.
2. Nobody came with a clear idea of what they wanted to alter in
the pre-existing constitution.
3. There was not much discussion on how Federalism would go
into practice.
4. The Founding Fathers assumed that federal government would
operate within the given guidelines of the constitution.
A. The 10th Amendment was added to divert fears of a
strong central government, and had no practical
significance.
1. The Supreme Court tried to interpret the
amendment as putting certain state activities beyond
the reach of the federal government, but invariably
the Court has later changed its mind and allowed
Washington to regulate matters such as the hours
that employees of city-owned mass transit system
may work.
A. However, the Court would later give new
life to the 10th Amendment.
D. Ambiguity of the Constitution
1. The Framers could not spells out word-for-word the relationship that ought to
exist between the states and Congress and at the same time reconcile the needs of
large and small states and of northern and southern states.
A. Congress was given the power to regulate interstate commerce
1. Spelling out where state boundaries began and ended would
have taken forever.
2. The “Elastic Clause” (a.k.a the “necessary and proper clause”
A. Found in Article I, the elastic clause states that Congress can
implement all laws “necessary and proper for carrying into execution the
foregoing powers.”
E. National Supremacy
1. The Supremacy Clause states that the federal laws and treaties are the supreme
law of the land. (Article VI)
2. Alexander Hamilton thought that the national government was the superior and
leading force in political affairs and that its powers ought to be broadly defined
and liberally construed.
3. Thomas Jefferson believed that the federal government, though important, was
the product of an agreement among the states and its people.
A. Jefferson believed that the people were the ultimate sovereigns and that
their principal threat was tyranny originating from the national
government.
B. James Madison in Federalist No. 45 wrote “the powers delegated by the
proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined.
Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and
indefinite.”
4. Restriction on powers of the States (Article 1 Section 10)
A. States may not make treaties with foreign nations, coin money, and
issue paper currency, grant titles of nobility, pass a bill of attainder or an
ex post facto law, or, without the consent of Congress, levy any taxes on
imports or exports, quarter troops, or enter into an agreement with foreign
powers.
5. Laws governing interstate interactions
A. Article 4 Section 1: “Full Faith and Credit Clause” states that one state
will respect the laws and decisions of another state.
B. Article 4 Section 2: All citizens of one state have the “privileges and
immunities” of the citizens of every other states.
6. Nullification Crisis
A. John Adams ordered censorship during the XYZ Affair
B. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson argued that states had the right to
“nullify” laws that they believe violated the Constitution.
1. The resolutions were a source of Controversy in the Antebellum
Era.
A. John C. Calhoun used the resolutions to threaten
Congress that Southern states would “nullify” laws that
made slavery illegal.
7. Dual Federalism
A. the idea that the national government was supreme in its sphere, and
that the states were equally supreme in there is, and that these two spheres
of action should and could be kept separate.
1. Believed that there was something like interstate and intrastate
commerce.
A. Business across state borders was subject to federal law
B. Business within state borders was under state
jurisdiction
C. The issue was how do we draw boundaries b/w interstate
and intrastate commerce (where does one began, and the
other end?)
D. Now, the federal government controls just about every
aspect of business b/c businesses derive influence from
enterprises and homes across the country.
F. The Supreme Court and Federalism
A. The Marshall Court
1. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
A. When the state of Maryland levied a tax on the Second Bank of
America, the Supreme Court ruled that federal laws and treaties
were the
supreme law of the land and that the states had no right to tax a
federal institution.
1. The federal government was established by the people,
not the states; hence, the federal government is immune
from state rulings.
B. Marshall used the “necessary and proper” clause as the reason
Congress had the power to establish the National Bank.
1. Congress “needed” the bank to carry out its enumerated
powers of collecting taxes, issuing currency, and borrowing
funds.
B. States v. Lopez (1995)
1. The Court ruled that Congress had exceeded its commerce clause power
by prohibiting guns in school.
C. United States v. Morrison
1. The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 allowed women who were
the victims of crime of violence motivated by gender to sue the guilty
party in federal court.
A. The Court ruled that such a law had nothing to do with
Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce.
D. Printz v. United States (1997)
A. The Court invalidated a federal law that required local police to
conduct background checks on all gun purchasers because it violated the
10th Amendment.
B. The federal government cannot order states or state official to address
particular problems.
G. Federal-State Relations
1. Though constitutionally the federal government is supreme, it must take into
account that its representatives must answer to the constituencies of the states they
represent.
2. Grants-in-Aid
A. When the nation was first established, the federal government gave
states land grants to finance education and also to support the building of
wagon roads, canals, and railroads.
B. Beginning in 1808, cash grants were given to states to pay for local
militias.
C. Growth of grants
1. In 1915, less than $6 million was spent in grants-in-aid
2. In 1925, over $114 million was spent
3. By 1917, the figure was $300 million
4. 1985: over $100 billion
5. By 2001: over $30 billion annually
D. Why were federal grants so attractive to states?
1. The money was there so why not use it.
2. In the early half of the twentieth century, the federal gov’t was
taking in more money than it was spending.
3. The debt remained constant, so the federal government could
just print more money.
4. It was “free money” given to renovate and improve states.
A. the federal government would be pressed with needs to
help farmers, build highways, and support vocational
education.
5. Eventually, the government began supplying grants directly to
federal officials to aid the urban poor, combat crime, reduce
pollution, etc.
A. Governors became worried b/c states are so dependent
on
federal aid!
1. Federal aid amounts to more than 17.7 percent of
the national budget.
2. Intergovernmental lobby made up of mayors, of
governors, superintendents of schools, state
directors, etc. opened up in Washington to push for
more federal aid.
E. Categorical Grants
1. Aid given to states for a given task (e.g. build an airport or
highway) that usually requires state to match funds.
2. State officials complain that categorical grants
3. The federal government supported them for their specificity.
A. distrust for state governments
B. grew quickly over the years.
4. A matter of life and death for many agencies—state departments
of welfare, of highways, and of health.
F. Block Grants
1. Aid given to states for a general area of reform.
A. Community Development Block Grants
B. Law Enforcement Assistance Act
C. Comprehensive Employment and Training
2. Supposed to give states and cities considerable freedom in
deciding how to spend the money while helping to relieve their tax
burdens.
3. Grew slowly (and even halted)
A. Because they covered such a broad range of activities,
no single group had a vital stake in pressing for their
enlargement.
G. Rivalry among the states
1. Concentration of federal aid has shifted from sporting industry
in the Northeast to the South, Southwest, and Far West.
A. raised debate over whether or not the federal
government is intentionally supporting certain regions of
the country.
B. Federal formula takes into consideration factors such as
a county’s or city’s population, personal income in the area,
and housing quality.
1. Slight shifts (with statistics taken by the Census)
can shift millions of dollars of federal aid from a
state.
3. Federal Control (Manipulation?)
A. States are so dependent on federal aid that state officials fear that the
federal government is well on its way to expand its power.
1. “Strings” attached to federal aid force states to do something to
receive federal grants.
B. Mandates: order states to do a certain task for aid
1. Most mandates concern civil rights and environmental
protection.
A. States may not discriminate on the basis of race, sex,
age, and health conditions.
B. Pollution laws require states to comply with federal
standards for clean air, pure drinking water, and sewage
treatment.
C. Conditions of Aid: strings attached to grants without which states
cannot receive aid.
1. Basic idea: “If you don’t want to accept the terms, don’t take the
money.”
A. Conditions may require states to conduct an
environmental study before beginning a construction
project or paying workers a prevailing wage.
1. State officials consider this federal coercion
because they have to pay for these conditions.
2. Members of Congress and federal officials feel
they have an obligation to develop uniform national
policies with respect to important matters and to
prevent states and cities from misspending tax
dollars.
H. A Devolution Revolution?
1. With the election of Republican majorities in 1994, a renewed effort was
underway by Congress to shift important functions back to the states.
(Devolution)
A. looking to scale back the size and activities of the national government.
2. Block Grants under Republicans
A. Types of Block Grants
1. Operational grants: for running state child-care programs
2. Capital grants: for building local wastewater treatment plants
3. Entitlement grants: for transferring income to families and
individuals
B. All of the block grants that existed before the 104th Congress convened
were operation or capital only, and thus, the 104th Congress enacted a
large number of entitlement grants.
1. Welfare (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) and
Medicaid were not created as block grants, though they account for
half of all federal grant-in-aid spending.
2. However, the 104th Congress tried to turn these two in block
grant programs.
3. Welfare did turn into a block program, but Medicaid did not.
3. What’s the source of devolution?
A. People distrust the federal gov’t and feel that governments closer to the
people can serve the people better than distant federal governments.
B. In order for the fed gov’t to decrease spending on, say, Medicaid, state
governors must receive certain powers in exchange for going along with
certain caps in grants-in-aid.
C. Most citizens also feel that devolution is a good thing, at least in
principle.
J. Congress and Federalism
1. The devolution movement may gain steam or fizzle out, but in the end, the U.S.
will not remain a wholly centralized nation.
2. Still, Congressmen sometimes pass laws that impede upon progress because of
their different backgrounds and because of how they expect their constituents
would act on certain subjects.
A. Organizations that once linked members of Congress to local groups
have eroded.
B. Party groups are becoming more and more varied, and a city or state
may not have a single authority that can represent it.
3. The best deciders of policies are no longer the politicians, but the occupation
holders like the teachers and doctors of a city.
4. People also differ on how they feel local and federal governments benefit them
(depending on financial state, gender, race, and/or religion).
5. On the other hand, it is this diversity that keeps federalism alive and prevents
the United States from falling into a unitary system.
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Chapter 3: Federalism
A. The United States is one nation with many governments
1. Power is shared between national and state governments
2. Each government can act as an independent body
3. Many governments allow citizens to take part in political activity
B. Federalism is controversial
1. Founding Fathers disagreed as to what the meaning of Federalism is
2. The Constitution grants specific powers to national government
3. 10th Amendment: All powers not delegated to national government, reserved
to states
4. Some states believed they had the right to declare acts of Congress
unconstitutional
a. Congress passed laws to punish newspaper editors who criticized the
gov’t
b. National government established as sovereign through Civil War
5. McCulloch v Maryland Justice Marshall 1819
a. “Necessary and proper” clause establishes national government as
sovereign
b. Government has implied powers (not in the Constitution: making a bank)
6. Court cases throughout history have changed the balance of power
C. Dual Federalism
1. National and state governments are supreme within their own spheres
I. Constitution: Commerce clause
a. Interstate commerce regulated by Congress
b. Intrastate commerce regulated by States
2. Courts tried to find clear principles to distinguish one form the other
a. Undertaking abandoned – too complex
b. Began to permit the federal gov’t to regulate almost anything
3. Courts rule against federal government
I. United States v. Lopez (1995)
a. Congress tried to prohibit guns in school
b. Court ruled Congress overstepped its commerce clause power
II. United States v. Morrison
a. Violence Against Women Act (2000)
b. Law allowed victim women of a crime motivated by gender to sue guilty
party
c. Court ruled against since attacks against women do not substantially affect
interstate trade
d. Justice William Rehnquist: “the Constitution requires a distinction
between what is truly national and what is truly local”
D. State Sovereignty
1. States have powers within their own sphere
a. Police power
2. Direct Democracy
a. Initiative
b. Referendum
c. Recall
E. State Dependency on federal gov’t
1. Grants-in-aid
a. Beginning of America: land grants
a1. Land given to states to build schools, roads, etc.
b. Cash grants
b1. Normally small in price
b2. Cash grants have skyrocketed since 1915
3. Washington pays the bills, states run programs
4. 4 Attractive reasons for federal money
A. Money is there
B. Federal income tax automatically brought more $ as economic activity
grew
C. Fed gov’t can print money whenever it needs to
D. “Free” money
d1. States benefit from other state taxes
F. Federal gov’t limits grants
1. Limit block grants and revenue sharing by attaching “strings”
a. Conditions of aid
(Voluntary but more like mandatory if you want the dough)
b. Mandates (federal grants do not have to be involved)
2. Categorical grants are more abundant than other two
3. Congress seldom gives block grants and revenue sharing
a. Reason: Want to make sure states are using the money wisely
b. States dislike this because they may have other plans
c. States dislike this because of ambiguous mandates
d. States dislike this because mandates may be costly
e. States also dislike this because it creates rivalry among states
C1. Snowbelt and Sunbelt
4. Courts help execute mandates through interpretation of Constitution
a. School desegregation
b. Process of hiring firefighters
c. Change prison systems
5. Reagan era block grants
a. Congress consolidated 57 categorical grants to nine block grants which
had many restrictions
b. Study found that despite budget cuts, there were higher service levels
c. Budget cuts forced states to come up with ways to spend money
effectively
G. Devolution Revolution
1. Republican effort to scale down the size and activities of national
government
a. Clinton 1996: “Era of big national government is over”
b. Turned welfare such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children over
to states
c. States run programs through block grants
d. States must enforce rules Congress sets as well
2. Devolution revolution has triggered
a. Second-order devolution
b. Third-order devolution
3. Support base for devolution
a. R. Kent Weaver Republican who spearheaded devolution
b. Mistrust of the federal government
c. Governments closer to people know what is best
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Federalism
I. Governmental Structure
A. Countries who have federalism
i. Examples of countries under this system
a. United States
b. Canada
c. Australia
d. India
e. Germany
f. Switzerland
B. Countries who don’t follow federalism
i. Examples of countries not under this system
a. France
b. Great Britain
c. Italy
d. Sweden
C. The intent of federalism
i. Protection of the nation from
a. The Constitution
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b. People’s habits
c. People’s preferences
d. People’s dispositions
e. The distribution of political power
ii. Give equal power to the federal and state governments
a. Creates separate centers of power
b. Political power is locally acquired
D. Opinions about federalism
i. Harold Laski, “ parasitic and poisonous”
ii. William H. Riker- main effect was to perpetuate racism
iii. Daniel J. Elazer- it’s the combination of governmental strength,
political flexibility, and individual liberty
E. Is federalism good or bad?
i. Benefits:
a. Increase in political activity
b. People are more willing to participate if there is an actual
chance for change
ii. Disadvantages:
a. Factions
b. Federalist paper No. 10, James Madison writes about the
affects of factions in a large populated country
II. The Founding
A. The founders had a goal
i. To protect personal liberty
a. The separation of powers
B. They came up with a new plan
i. The Articles of Confederation didn’t work
a. Shay’s Rebellion
ii. Federalism
a. The states powers weren’t listed in the Constitution
b. The tenth amendment was added- powers no given to
national government and not prohibited go to the states
C. Elastic language of the Constitution
i. Founders were unable to specify the exact line between state and
federal governments
a. Commerce
ii. Article 1
a. Congress has the power to make all laws that they
consider to be necessary and proper
D. States vs. Central governments
i. Founders viewed federalism differently
a. Hamilton believed that the national government was
superior
b. Jefferson thought that the national government was the
product of the states and the people had the most control
III. The Debate on the Meaning of Federalism
A. The Supreme Court
i. The job of interpreting the laws
a. Chief Justice John Marshall- believed in the superiority
of the national government
b. McCulloch vs. Maryland- cashier refused to pay taxes
laid on by the state government
c. Decision- federal government has the right to make laws
that are necessary and proper
d. The states were unable to tax a federal instrument
e. Proved the idea that the federal government was more
powerful than the states
B. States have power to override federal laws
i. Virginia and Kentucky resolutions
a. Madison and Jefferson declared that states had the right
to nullify (to declare null and void)
ii. Nullification
a. Doctrine was revived by John C. Calhoun
b. If federal government banned slavery then states can
declare that unconstitutional
C. Commerce
i. Dual federalism
a. The national government is supreme in its sphere
b. The state governments are supreme in their sphere
c. The two sphere’s should be kept separate
ii. Interstate vs. intrastate
a. Federal government was in charge of the interstate
commerce
b. State governments were in charge of the intrastate
commerce
iii. Supreme Court
a. They had the power to decide what was considered
interstate and intrastate commerce
b. First distinctions were made based on products but that
failed
c. Now the process is very complicated
D. State sovereignty
i. Court supports the states
a. United States vs. Lopez (1995) - Congress cannot ban
guns from schools
b. United States vs. Morrison- Congress cannot pass a law
about attacks against women, that is the states job
c. Printz vs. United States (1997) – Congress cannot require
policemen to make a background check on all gun owners
d. Alden vs. Maine (1999) – States are protected against
lawsuits from citizens of other states or countries
ii. Court still grants the federal government power
a. Court required states to pay citizens welfare even after
they move out of the state
iii. State powers
a. Police power
b. Initiative
c. Referendum
d. Recall
IV. Federal-State Relations
A. Grants-in-Aid
i. How much money the federal government gave away
a. In 1808, Congress gave $200,000
b. In 1915, less than $6 million was spent
c. In 1925, over $114 million was spent
d. In 1937, $300 million was spent
e. In 1985, $100 billion was spent
f. In 2001, $300 billion was spent
ii. What the money was spent on
a. Medicaid
b. On projects such as bridges and dams
c. Taxes
iii. Reasons the states wanted this money
a. The government had extra money that it had no use for
b. The federal income tax
c. The federal government, unlike the states, could print
money whenever they needed it
d. The states considered the money there were given to be
“free money”
B. Federal government taking control of grants
i. The intergovernmental lobby
a. The government started giving grants based on what they
considered important and not on what the states asked
b. States established offices in Washington
c. States employ people in order to look after their interests
and receive grants with no strings attached
ii. Block grants or revenue sharing
a. Block grants were very general and allowed states to use
as they pleased
b. Revenue sharing was even more permissive
c. These grants were appealing to states because they
allowed freedom
iii. Categorical grants
a. They were made for a specific purpose
b. Had many restrictions
c. Made it harder for states to use the money for local
purposes
d. They had string attached
C. State rivalry
i. Reasons
a. They argue over who gets more aid from the government
b. They argue over the way the aid gets determined
(population)
ii. Uncertainties
a. It is unknown whether these aids help states with
employment and financially or help them prosper
b. It is unknown whether population is increased by these
aids
c. Whether the money given to one state affects another
through business transactions
iii. Formulas
a. There are formulas which determine how much money
each state receives
b. If the formula changes slightly, that can be a difference
of millions of dollars
V. Federal Aid and Federal Control
A. The federal government forces states to do certain things
i. Mandates
a. States must do whatever the government says
ii. Conditions of aid
a. Things states must do if they want to receive money from
the government
B. Mandates
i. The requirements are increasing
a. In 1980, there were 36 mandates
b. Between 1981 and 1986 there were 140 regulations
c. These regulations imposed 6,000 new requirements on
state and local governments
d. Between 1982 and 1991, Congress passed 27 new
mandates
ii. Examples of mandates
a. 1982- Voting rights act amendments
b. 1984- Child abuse amendments
c. 1986- Handicapped children’s protection act
d. 1988- Ocean dumping ban act
e. 1990- Clean air act amendments
f. 1991- Social security fiscal budget reconciliation act
iii. Supreme Court agrees with federal government because there is
no protection against mandates in the 10th amendment
a. Require changes on prison construction and management
b. School desegregation plans
c. Change the way firefighters are hired in Massachusetts
d. New procedures of how policemen handle complaints
C. Conditions of aid
i. How it works
a. If the states want federal money they must first abide by
the requirements that Congress sets
ii. Examples
a. To get money to build something there are first
requirements
b. The state must conduct an environmental impact study
c. Make sure that the contractors have nondiscriminatory
hiring policies
iii. Disagreements between the states and the federal government
a. Congress feels obligated to set requirements to make sure
that federal money isn’t being misused
b. States feel that Congress doesn’t take into consideration
the diverse locations.
VI. The Devolution Revolution
A. Reasons for the success of devolution
i. To take away power from the federal government and give it to
the states
a. People favor devolution
ii. Congress is leading it, rather than the President
a. Congress usually liked voting for categorical grants in
order to take credit for state projects
b. Congress became mainly Republican and therefore,
conservative
c. When Clinton went into office he said that the era of big
government was over
B. What inspired devolution
i. Reasons devolution started
a. The benefits of devolution’s proponents
b. The realities of deficit politics
c. The views of most citizens
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