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FEDERALISM

FEDERALISM. National and State Sovereignty. CASE STUDY: NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND. National legislation enacted in 2003; requires states to test their students as a condition of federal aid Supporters argue NCLB helps improve schools and hold them accountable for student performance

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FEDERALISM

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  1. FEDERALISM National and State Sovereignty

  2. CASE STUDY: NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND • National legislation enacted in 2003; requires states to test their students as a condition of federal aid • Supporters argue NCLB helps improve schools and hold them accountable for student performance • Opponents claim it undermines the mission of schools by forcing teachers to teach to the test • As some parts of NCLB are thinly funded, states like Utah have refused to carry out parts of the law that increase the financial burden on the states • Do you believe NCLB creates too much intrusion in the field of public education, which has traditionally been overseen by the state and local governments?

  3. BACK TO PHILADELPHIA . . . • Some delegates to the Constitutional Convention were vehemently opposed to creating a stronger national government • Patrick Henry “smelled a rat” and wondered “Who authorized them to speak the language of We, the People, instead of We, the States?” • Under the Articles of Confederation – • There was a weak national government with no power to force the states to comply with national laws • A government of the people would compel them to obey national laws for fear of consequences. • The Framers wanted to strengthen the national government but still preserve the states

  4. NEED FOR CHANGE • Contemporary governments has been unitary systems • National government holds all the power (sovereignty) • The Articles of Confederation had created a confederacy • State governments are sovereign and grants authority to the national government. • LET’S TRY SOMETHING COMPLETELY NEW . . . FEDERALISM • Division of power between the national and state government • Each level of government has sovereign power • Allows the states to have the power to address local issues (i.e. public education) • Allows the national government the power to decide matters of a national scope (i.e. national defense)

  5. ARGUMENT FOR FEDERALISM: PROTECTING LIBERTY • People could shift their loyalties back and forth between the national and state governments in order to keep each under control • “If the people’s rights are invaded by either they can make use of the other as the instrument of redress.” • Alexander Hamilton; Federalist #28

  6. ARGUMENT FOR FEDERALISM: MODERATING THE POWER OF GOVERNMENT • Anti-Federalists argued a national government could not protect the interests of the people as well as the states. • Cited Montesquieu’s support of small republics over large ones. • Madison contended in Federalist #10 that a government with dominant states would give rise to factions that would use their strength to advance its interests. • “Extend the sphere and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens.” James Madison

  7. ARGUMENT FOR FEDERALISM:STRENGTHENING THE UNION • Under the Articles of Confederation the national government had neither the power to tax nor the power to regulate commerce • FATAL FLAWS • Congress was expected to maintain national defense but could not compel the states to pay taxes. • Congress also could not interfere with the states’ commerce policies.

  8. FEDERALISM & THE FOUNDING • Federalism and separation of powers would allow for the greatest protection of personal liberty • Too much power concentrated in one set of hands could lead to tyranny • Too many hands with too much power could lead to chaos • In the “federal republic” the national and state governments would have certain powers, but neither would have supreme authority over the other

  9. HAMILTONIAN VIEW OF FEDERALISM • Alexander Hamilton believed that the national government should be superior to the states • Hamilton believed that developing a national economy and conducting foreign policy were paramount issues at the time

  10. JEFFERSONIAN VIEW OF FEDERALISM • Thomas Jefferson believed the national government was a product of an agreement among the states and therefore the states should be supreme • Greatest threat to personal freedom would come from the national government

  11. POWERS OF THE NATION • Enumerated powers – seventeen powers granted to the national government under Article I, Section 8 • Includes power to create a national currency, regulate interstate commerce • Implied powers – constitutional authority to take action that is not expressly authorized by the Constitution • Necessary & proper (or elastic) clause(Article 1, Section 8; clause 18) • Allows Congress to expand its powers to meet the needs of the nation

  12. THE STATES & THE CONSTITUTION • Restrictions on States’ Powers (Article 1, Section 10) • States cannot wage war, print money, enter into treaties with other nations, etc. • Supremacy Clause – national law is supreme over state law when the national government is acting within its limits (Article 6) • Tenth Amendment • Powers not delegated to the national government nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States. • Established reserved powers as state powers

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