Federalism - Weeblyspencesapgopo.weebly.com/.../chapter_3_-_federalism.pdf · 2019. 9. 24. ·...
Transcript of Federalism - Weeblyspencesapgopo.weebly.com/.../chapter_3_-_federalism.pdf · 2019. 9. 24. ·...
Federalism
Constitutional Basis
• Federalism – political system where the national
(federal) government shares power with local
(state, regional, municipal) governments
• The US, Canada, Australia, India and Germany
are federal systems.
• France, GB, Italy, and Sweden are unitary
systems
• Their local gov’ts can be altered or abolished by
national gov’t
• Devolution – process of giving the states more
power over welfare, health care, and job training
• Congressmen vote to give states block grants –
money from Congress that states can use at
their discretion within broad guidelines
• Woodrow Wilson believed federalism is an idea that changes with each generation.
• The question today - Are we in the process of devolution?
• Must first understand concepts and history of federalism to answer that question
• We think our federal government ishuge and
self-serving
• We forget they give much of their money and
enforce much of the laws on local governments
• These are the things they regulate in states:
– Large part of welfare system
– Interstate highways system
– Programs to improve cities
– Much of the effort to provide jobs to unemployed
– All of cleaning up the water
– Most of the military manpower
• Things that fall to the states:
– Policing
– Education
– Local land-use
Federalism: Good or Bad?
• To some, federalism means allowing states to block
action, prevent progress, upset national plans, and
cater to self-interested politicians.
• To others, federalism means the ability to develop
and maintain things that are vital to our unique
nation, political flexibility and individual liberty
• Opportunity to exercise political control in 50
states and about 3000 counties
– These places and people will do things for different
purposes
• In some places people will use this to maintain
segregation, protect interests and facilitate
corruption
– The opposite is also true
• The smaller the political unit,
the more likely it is to be
dominated by a single political
faction
• Madison (Federalist #10)
said that only in a large
republic would there be a
place for all interests to be
heard
Increased Political Activity
• The most obvious
effect has been to get
more people involved
in politics
• Also, decentralization
of political authority
lowers the cost of
government
• Founders weren’t really clear on how the federal
system was to work
• We have had to work that out since then,
sometimes bitterly
A Bold New Plan
• Our federal republic gets its power from the
people – as do state and local gov’ts
• Founders wanted to make sure neither the state
gov’ts nor federal gov’t had supreme power over
the other
• Federalist 46 (Madison) said both gov’ts are
different and given different powers
• Founders believed the federal gov’t would only
have the powers the Constitution gave it.
• Constitution doesn’t spell out the rights of states
• 10th amendment says that powers not
delegated to the US, nor prohibited by it to the
states, are given to the states, or people
Elastic Language
• Article I gives Congress the
power to “make all laws
which shall be necessary
and proper for carrying into
execution the forgoing
powers”
• Framers knew they couldn’t
make a list of everything the
federal government was
allowed to do
– So they included the “elastic
clause”
– For example: Congress given the power to regulate
commerce “among the several states”
– Didn’t say where commerce among the states ended
and commerce within a state began
– Supreme Court tried to figure that out for 100 years
before giving up
• Alexander Hamilton
believed in a “loose
interpretation” of the
Constitution
• Jefferson and Madison
believed in a “strict
interpretation”
• Madison Federalist 45 –
powers given to gov’t are
“few and defined” – those
to the states are
“numerous and indefinite”
Debate on the Meaning of Federalism
• Civil War fought partly
over states’ rights
• Settled with the national
government as supreme
• Supreme Court tried to
settle issue during
formative years
• Led by Chief Justice
John Marshall
• He and court powerfully
defended the “national
supremacy” view
• McCulloch v. Maryland – case over national
bank being taxed by a state
• 1st question – did Congress have the right to set
up a bank or any corporation?
• Congress given power to manage money so it
was “necessary and proper”
• 2nd question – could a federal bank be lawfully
taxes by a state?
• Marshall argued that the only way for national
power to be supreme was for them to be
immune from state challenges and protected
Nullification
• Congress passed laws in 1798 to punish
newspaper editors who wrote critical stories
about the government
• VA & KY Resolutions – suggested that states
should have right to nullify federal laws they think
violate the Constitution
• Law expired before issue could be settled in court
• John C. Calhoun brought
up nullification again in the
1830’s because of the tariff,
then efforts to restrict
slavery
• This issue was settled by
war
• Northern victory determined
once and for all that the
union could not be
dissolved
• Nor could states declare
acts of Congress
unconstitutional
Dual Federalism
• After war, the debate on meaning of federalism
focused on the commerce clause
• Thus dual federalism developed
• Although the national gov’t was supreme in its
sphere, states were equally supreme in theirs
• Also, that the two spheres of action should be
kept separate
• Interstate shipments of lottery tickets, prostitute,
liquor, harmful foods and drug upheld by court
as regulated by federal gov’t
• Intrastate commerce like manufacturing,
insurance, and farming were regulated by state
gov’ts
• Product based decisions proved hard to sustain
• Question – when shipping goods from state to
state, how long is it interstate commerce (federal
law) and when does it become intrastate
commerce (state law)
• Debated several times by the courts
• Finally, they decided that pretty much everything
– farming and manufacturing was interstate
commerce and regulated by federal gov’t
State Sovereignty
• States down but not out
• US v. Lopez (1995) – SC said Congress had
exceeded its commerce clause power by
prohibiting guns in school
• Reaffirmed that view with
US v. Morrison (5-4)
– Overturned Violence
Against Women Act (1994)
– Law allowed women to sue
attacker motivated by
gender
– SC said attacks against
women are not and do not
affect interstate commerce
and so Congress cannot
pass the law (states can)
• 11th amendment
• Alden v. Maine (1999) – helped protect states
against lawsuits by people who said that state
regulations created unfair economic competition
– SC said state employees could not sue to force state
compliance with federal fair labor laws
• Federal Maritime Commission v. South
Carolina Ports Authority (2002)
– Court further expanded states’ sovereign immunity
from private lawsuits
– However, federal gov’t can still make laws on
anything, but can’t go “too far” in “commandeering”
state resources or hurting states’ rights
• One accepted state power is “police power”
– States make and enforce criminal codes
– Make kids go to school
– Make people be vaccinated
– Restrict access to pornographic materials
– Restrictions on driving and roads
• Most states allow more direct democracy:
– Initiative – lets voters put measures on the ballot
– Referendum – lets voters reject a measure adopted
by the legislature
– Recall (20 states) – voters can remove an elected
official from office.
• Existence of states guaranteed by Constitution
• Cannot be divided without its consent
• Counties, towns and cities exist because of the
states – can be abolished
Grants-in-Aid
• First came before the constitution
• Land grants given to the states to fund education
– State universities were built with this money
– Land grants also made to build roads, canals, RR and
flood control
• By 2001, $300 billion a year went to states for grants
• Four reasons grants are so popular with state
officials
– 1. the US government had plenty of money
– 2. the federal income tax
– 3. the US government could make more money
– 4. politics
• If the federal government
wants to send money to
one state, they must send
money to all states
– Example: 1966 – Lyndon
B. Johnson wanted to give
money to cities with
problems “Model Cities”
– Senator from Maine
wouldn’t vote for it until his
cities got money also
Intergovernmental Lobby
• Some states actually “lobby” Congress for money
for their states
• More than 31 states and dozens of counties have
offices in Washington, DC in order to do this
• They want more money with fewer strings
• Categorical grants go towards a specific
purpose like a college, or hospital
– Many times states are required to “match” funds
– Most states don’t like the regulations put on them
• Revenue sharing – a
“no string attached”
form of aid to state
and local governments
• Can be used for most
any project but never
to exceed more than
two percent of
revenues
• Mandates – requirements that are imposed by
the national gov’t on the state and local gov’ts
– Example: Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)
• Mandates that all public buildings be accessible to
people
• All mandates are not
created equal
• Federal courts have
helped the growth of
mandates
• 10th amendment does
not provide any
protection for states
against mandates
• Most well known
mandates are for
school desegregation
• SC decided in 1980 (that a law passed in 1870)
allowed citizens to sue local officials if they were
deprived of anything they were entitled to under
federal law
Conditions of Aid
• Most important federal restriction on state action are
the strings attached to the grants
– If states need it for their budget, they have to accept it
• Some conditions are specific to particular programs
– Building – study of environmental impact – prevailing wage
– contractors have nondiscriminatory hiring practices, etc.
• These rules are to prevent states from
misspending federal tax money
• State officials say rules don’t take into account
the diverse local conditions
• “free” money isn’t quite so “free”
Entitlements
• Entitlements - A government program that
guarantees and provides benefits to a particular
group
– Example: Medicaid & AFDC
– Each state gets money based on amount it paid to
poor families and people
• Possibly federal welfare programs have triggered:
– Second-order devolution – flow of power and
responsibility from states to local gov’ts.
– Third-order devolution – increased role of nonprofit
organizations and private groups in policy implementation
Congress and Federalism
• Unclear whether the devolution movement will
gain strength, stall, or reverse
• Whatever, the US will not become a wholly
centralized country
• There is more political and policy diversity in
American than any other nation