The Federal System

1. 3 The Federal System Lewis W Hine/Getty Images

2. 3.1 Roots of the Federal System • Unitary – power highly centralized • Federal – National and state governments share power • Confederation – power highly decentralized

3. 3.1 National Powers Under the Constitution • Enumerated powers; Article 1 sec 8 • Coin money • Conduct foreign relations • Provide for army and navy • Declare war • Collect duties and taxes • Implied Powers • Necessary and Proper clause (elastic) • Enact laws for exercising enumerated powers • Supremacy clause

4. 3.1 State & Concurrent Powers Under the Constitution • State powers not enumerated • Tenth Amendment • Reserved powers • Concurrent powers • Power to tax • Borrow money • Establish courts • Charter banks • Spend money for general welfare

5. 3.1 Interstate Relations Under the Constitution • Supreme Court settles disputes • Full faith and credit clause – Article IV ensures that judicial decrees and contracts made in one state will be binging and enforceable in another • Privileges and immunities clause – Article IV guarantees that citizens of each state have the same rights as citizens of all other states • Extradition clause – Article IV requires one state returns criminals to state where crime took place to stand trial • Interstate compacts – Article 1, sec 10, clause 3 sets legal foundation for interstate cooperation

6. 3.1 Local Governments Under the Constitution • No power under Constitution • Dillon's Rule, 1868 – states that local governments, towns, villages, cities, counties or some other form, do not have any inherent sovereignty and must be authorized by state governments which can create or abolish them. • Counties – broad responsibilities used by states for welfare and envorinmental programs, courts, registration of land, births and deaths.

7. 3.1 Local Governments Under the Constitution • Municipalities • Towns • Special districts • Most numerous form of government – exist for services such as libraries, sewage, water, and parks. • School districts are the most common form of special district.

8. 3.1 FIGURE 3.3 How many governments exist in the United States?

9. 3.2 Defining National Power: McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) • First Court decision to define national and state government relationship • Questions before the court: 1 Did Congress have the authority to charter a bank? 2 If it did, could a state tax it? • Ruling: 1 Marshall found it was reasonable to imply Congress had the power to charter a bank under the Necessary and Proper clause to issue currency, tax, borrow funds (enumerated). 2 State tax violated the supremacy clause (Article 6).

10. 3.2 Affirming National Power: Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) • NY granted Fulton rights to the Hudson and Congress licensed a ship on same waters. • Question before the court: What was the scope of Congress’s authority under the Commerce Clause? • Ruling: • Congress power to regulate interstate commerce included the power to regulate commercial activity as well. • New York had no authority to grant monopoly

11. 3.2 Limiting the Bill of Rights: Barron v. Baltimore (1833) • Question before the court: Does the Due process clause of the 5th Amendment apply to actions of the state? • Barron owned a docking business, city was expanding and deposited dirt on his wharf making it unusable for ships. • Ruling: • Action by state, not federal, government caused damages • Federal government not at fault for state actions

12. 3.3 The Dred Scott Decision & States Rights • Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) • Scott was born into slaver and original family sold him to a Missouri family. He tried to buy his freedom. • Abolitionists believed his prior residence living with a family in free states and Wisconsin territory made him free and raised money for this “test case”. • Ruling: • Slaves were property, not citizens. • Congress lacked authority to ban slavery in new territories. • Narrowed scope of national power & enhanced states' power

13. 3.3 Reconstruction and the Transformation of Dual Federalism • Nullification – the right of a state to declare a law void…and • Dual federalism – equally powerful national and state governments destroyed by Civil War • Reconstruction Constitutions which gave power to blacks and disenfranchised white Confederates were rewritten after less than 10 years.

14. 3.3 Amending the National-State Relationship • Sixteenth Amendment • Gave Congress power to levy and collect taxes on incomes without apportioning them among the states. • Removed constraints on federal government by giving it access to almost unlimited revenues. • Seventeenth Amendment (1913) • Terminated state legislatures’ election of senators and placed it in the hands of the people.

15. 3.4 Need for National Action Arises: The New Deal • Great Depression – From Layer Cake to Marble Cake • New Deal programs increased federal authority • States could not solve these problems on their own. • Local government involvement • Constitutional challenges

16. 3.5 Grants & Mandates • Grants serve 3 purposes • Provide funds • Address national problems like clean air • Redistribute funds between rich and poor states • Categorical grants are for a specific purpose • Block grants less restrictive • New Federalism? A return of power to states (Reagan) • Give states more discretion in spending funds • Temp Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) shifted admin powers for welfare programs to states (Clinton) • No Child Left Behind (2001) • Part of Elem & Sec Edu Act of 1965 • Cost of mandates (class size & accountability) passed to states.

17. 3.6 The Rehnquist Court • Appointed by Reagan • Committed to states' rights • Rolled back federal authority • U.S. v. Lopez (1995) • With federal government, has made decisions about: • Immigration • Health care reform • Gay rights The Roberts Court