Federalism

1. Federalism Wilson Chapter 3 Klein Oak High School

2. Definition • local units • national unit • both make final decisions • both protected in existence

3. Protection of Subnationals • constitutional • habits, preferences, dispositions of citizens • distribution of political power

4. Mechanism of Control • largely subnational • national government gets states to act • keeping with national policy

5. Good or Bad? • Laski – states are “parasitic and poisonous” • Riker: federalism facilitated the perpetuation of racism • Elazar: federalism contributes to governmental strength, political flexibility, and fosters individual liberty

6. Good and Bad Effects • Different political groups with different political purposes come to power in different places • Federalist No. 10: small political units are more likely to be dominated by single political faction

7. Increased Political Activity • Most obvious effect of federalism: it facilitates political mobilization • Federalism decentralizes authority, lowering the cost of political organization at the local level

8. The Founding • bold, new plan to protect personal liberty • Founders believed that neither national nor state government would have authority over the other since power comes from people who shift support to keep them in balance • New plan had no historical precedent

9. 10th Amendment • an afterthought to clarify the limits of the national government’s power • Tenth Amendment has recently been used by the Supreme Court, giving new life to state sovereignty

10. Elastic Clause • Precise definitions of powers are politically impossible due to competing interests, e.g., commerce • Hamilton’s view: national supremacy since the Constitution was the supreme law of the land • Jefferson’s view: states’ rights with the people as ultimate sovereign; the national government was likely to be the principal threat to individuals’ liberties

11. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) • Hamiltonian position espoused by Chief Justice John Marshall • Could Congress charter a national bank? yes, even though this power is not explcitly in the Constitution because of the “necessary and proper” clause • Could states tax such a federal bank? no, because national powers were supreme and therefore immune to state challenge

12. Nullification • Idea that states have the right to declare null and void a federal law that they believe violated the Constitution • Question settled by the civil war: the federal union was indissoluble and states cannot nullify federal law

13. Dual Federalism • Idea that both national and state governments are supreme in their own spheres, which should be kept separate

14. Example of Dual Federalism • interstate vs. intrastate commerce • Early product-based distinctions were unsatisfactory • Still, the Supreme Court does seek some distinction between what is national and what is local, though it is not entirely consistent in its support

15. State Sovereignty • Supreme Court has strengthened states’ rights in several recent cases • U.S. v. Lopez (1995), guns in schools • Printz v. U.S. (1997), background checks on gun purchasers • State can do what is not prohibited by the Constitution or preempted by federal policy, and that is consistent with its own constitution

16. Direct Democracy • States constitutions may provide for direct democracy • Initiative • Referendum • Recall

17. State Protection in the Constitution • No state can be divided without its consent • Two Senators for every state • Every state assured of a republican form of government • Powers not granted to Congress are reserved to the states

18. Grants in Aid • Grants show how political realities modify legal authority • Began before Constitution with land and cash grants to states • Dramatically increased in scope in twentieth century • Prevailing constitutional interpretation until late 1930s was that the federal government could not spend money for purposes not authorized by the Constitution – grants were a way around this

19. Grants Attractive to State Officials • Federal budget surpluses (19th and early 20th centuries) • Federal income tax increased revenues • Federal control of money supply • Appeared as free money for state officials, who did not have to be responsible for federal taxation

20. 1960s Shift in Grants-in-aid • From what states demanded . . . • . . . To what federal officials considered important as national needs • Meanwhile, state and local governments had become dependent on federal funds

21. Intergovernmental Lobby • Hundreds of state, local officials lobby in Washington • Purpose: to get more federal money with fewer strings • By 1980, however, federal funds had stopped growing

22. Categorical Grants vs. Revenue Sharing • Categorical grants are for specific purposes defined by federal law; they often require local matching funds • Block grants (special revenue sharing or broad-based aid) • general purposes • few restrictions • states preferred block to categorical grants

23. Revenue Sharing • sometimes called general revenue sharing • requires no matching funds • could be spent on almost any governmental purpose • Distributed by statistical formula • Ended in 1986, after fourteen years

24. Goals Met? • Neither block grants nor revenue sharing achieved the goal of giving the states more freedom in spending • Did not grow as fast as categorical grants • Number of strings increased, even on these programs

25. Slow Growth • Block grants grew more slowly than categorical grants because of their political coalitions • Federal officials, liberal interest groups, organized labor tend to distrust state government; categorical grants give the national government more power

26. Life and Death • No single interest group has a vital stake in multipurpose block grants, revenue sharing • Categorical grants are matters of life or death for various state agencies • Revenue sharing was so widely distributed that it did not reach those with greater need in sufficient amounts

27. Rivalry Among the States • Increased competition for federal dollars a result of increased dependency • Snowbelt (Frostbelt) versus Sunbelt states due to population changes • Actual difficulty telling where funds spent and their effect on population changes • With numerous grants distributed on the basis of population, the census takes on monumental importance

28. Mandates • federal rules that states or localities must obey, not necessarily linked to funding • Civil rights • Environmental protection • Unfunded mandates with more attention since 1995 • Controversial mandates may result from court decisions

29. Conditions of Aid • Attached to grants • range from specific to general • Failed presidential attempts to reverse trend and consider local needs • Nixon – block grants • Reagan – consolidate categorical grants

30. Devolution • The 104th Congress (1995–1996) • Devolution initiatives returned program management to the states • Block grants for entitlements • AFDC

31. What’s Driving Devolution? • House Republican did not trust federal government • states more responsive & less wasteful • Deficit politics • Supported by public opinion