Federal Government Ch. 3
Tenth Amendment: State Powers
"Powers not delegated (assigned) to U.S. by Constitution, nor prohibited (banneD), are reserved to the states, or to the people." -Reserved powers that aren't specifically delegated to national government or denied to the states, come from the Tenth Amendment. - The *Anti-Federalists*, who feared a strong national government, *pressed hardest for ratification of the Tenth Amendment.*
Expressed Power: Federalism in Constitution
*Specific powers* in the Constitution granted to *Congress and the president.* There are *17 expressed powers*, found in *Article I, Section 8, and Article II* of the Constitution.
Concurrent Powers: State Powers
• Concurrent powers: authority possessed by both state and national governments, such as the power to levy taxes • In some areas, states share concurrent powers with the national government whereby they retain and share some power to regulate commerce and affect currency (e.g., by being able to charter banks, grant or deny licenses to engage in a business or practice a trade, regulate the conditions of labor, or levy taxes).
Unfunded Mandates: Cooperative Federalism
• Congress dramatically increased unfunded mandates: rules forcing states to spend their own money to comply with federal law. • A backlash in response to federal preemption and unfunded mandates led to calls for *devolution: transferring responsibility from the federal government to state or local governments.* - The idea of devolution has been popular since the 1970s and led to the creation of New Federalism.
Cooperative Federalism
• Cooperative federalism is a model in which the various levels of government work together to solve policy problems, often with the federal government providing some portion of the funding, which is spent by the states or localities. • Cooperative federalism has existed since the New Deal era and is designed to encourage states and localities to pursue nationally defined goals.
Dual Federalism, 1789-1937
• Dual federalism is a constitutional interpretation that gave the *federal government exclusive control over some issues and states exclusive control over others.* • Because it prevailed for much American history, it is referred to as the *"traditional system."*
Federalism in Constitution
• Federalism: A system of government where power is divided between a central government and regional governments. • The U.S. Constitution divides power between the federal government and the state governments. • Nations with diverse ethnic or language groupings, such as Switzerland and Canada, are most likely to have federal arrangements.
Grants in Aid: The New Deal
• For the most part, the new national programs that President Roosevelt developed came about through grants-in-aid. - Grants-in-aid are funds provided by the federal government to a state or local government on the condition that the funds be employed for purposes it has defined. - The New Deal expanded grants-in-aid to include social programs, but after World War II they were further expanded to cover school lunches and highway construction.
Formula Grants: The New Deal
• Formula grants are grants-in-aid in which a formula is used to determine the amount of federal funds a state or local government will receive. • Under formula grants, federal agencies give grants to the proposals they judge to be the best, giving the national government control over which state and local governments receive money, how much money they receive, and how the money is spent.
Same Sex Marriage:Federalism in the Constitution
• In *1996,* the *Defense of Marriage Act* declared that *states would not have to recognize a same-sex marriage from another state.* • In *2013*, the U.S. Supreme Court, in United *States v. Windsor,* struck down the part of the Defense of Marriage Act, *giving same-sex couples a guarantee to equal treatment* under the law on issues relating to taxes, inheritance, and other federal laws.
Same Sex Marriage pt. 2: Federalism in the Constitution
• In *2015*, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a historic ruling in *Obergefell v. Hodges*. - The Court ruled that the *Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed a fundamental right to same-sex marriage.* - This ruling immediately required all 50 states to *offer marriage licenses to same-sex couples* and to recognize same-sex marriages licensed out of state.
Defense of Racial Segregation: States' Rights
• In the 1950s, southern opponents of the civil rights movement brought back the idea of states' rights to defend racial segregation. - The Southern Manifesto declared that southern states were not constitutionally bound by Supreme Court decisions outlawing racial segregation. - The slogan, "States' rights," became tarnished by its association with racial inequality.
Revival in the 1990s: States' Rights
• In the 1990s, there was revival of interest in the Tenth Amendment. - In 1996, Republican presidential nominee Senator Bob Dole carried a copy of the Tenth Amendment in his pocket as he campaigned. - The U.S. Supreme Court also ruled that Congress had exceeded its power in United States v. Lopez (1995) and Printz v. United States (1997).
Article I, Section 8: Early Supreme Court Decisions
• Known as the commerce clause, enumerates the powers of Congress. - Delegates to Congress the *power to regulate commerce with foreign nations.* - Several *early Supreme Court rulings expanded federal power* through its interpretation of the commerce clause.
Local Government and the Constitution
• Local government has no status in the U.S. Constitution. - Subject to control by the states. • However, *most states give their larger cities home rule—a guarantee* of *noninterference* in various *areas of local affairs.*
States and Localities: Federalism since 2000
• Many experts maintain that states and localities should not be in charge of redistributive programs. - These experts argue that states and localities have to compete with one another and, as a result, do not have the incentive to spend their money on needy people, leading to a "race to the bottom."
Early Supreme Court Decisions
• McCulloch v. Maryland (1819): The Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Congress had, through its implied powers, the* legal right to charter a national bank.* • Gibbons v. Ogden (1824): The Supreme Court established the *supremacy of the national government in all matters affecting interstate commerce.*
The Cake Analogy: Cooperative Federalism
• Morton Grodzins's cake analogy - Dual federalism as a layer cake: in layer-cake federalism, the responsibilities of the national government and state governments are clearly separated. - Cooperative federalism as a marble cake: in marble-cake federalism, national policies, state policies, and local policies overlap in many areas.
New Federalism
• New Federalism included efforts by presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan to devolve many policies back to the states. - Block grants: federal grants-in-aid that allow states considerable discretion in how the funds are spent - General revenue sharing: process by which one unit of government yields a portion of its tax income to another unit of government, according to an established formula
States Governing: Dual Federalism
• Overall, states performed the majority of governing over citizens' day-to-day lives. • Economic regulation and property law • Civil law (marriage, divorce, adoption) • Criminal law • Dual federalism allowed slavery (and all associated regulations, commerce, criminal, and otherwise) to exist in some states but not others.
Preemption: Cooperative Federalism
• Preemption is the principle that *allows the national government to override state and local actions* in certain policy areas. - The national government imposes preemption when state or local actions do not agree with national requirements.
Regulated Federalism: Cooperative Federalism
• Regulated federalism is a form of federalism in which Congress imposes legislation on states and localities, requiring them to meet national standards. - With increased funding, the federal government has demanded higher standards and stricter uses for the funds.
Laboratories of Democracy: Federalism since 2000
• Supporters of greater state and local control counter that states can act as "laboratories of democracy." - These supporters argue that greater state and local control allows the state government to experiment with different approaches to find those that best meet the needs of its citizens.
Article IV Section 2: Federalism in the Constitution
• The *privileges and immunities clause* guarantees that all citizens from outside a given state enjoy the "privileges and immunities" granted to all citizens of that state. - This has come to mean that a state cannot discriminate against someone from another state or give special privileges to its own residents.
The New Deal
• The Great Depression of the 1930s helped bring about increased federal action. - State and local governments struggled to handle the needs of the jobless and the poor. + In 1932, 25% of the workforce was unemployed. - Upon taking office in 1933, president Franklin Roosevelt pledged he would head a more activist federal government to address these problems.
Federalism Since 2000
• The balance between the federal government and the states is constantly evolving, and it can be controversial when it comes to redistributive programs. - Redistributive programs: economic policies designed to control the economy through taxing and spending, with the goal of benefiting the poor
States' Rights
• The end of dual federalism was a blow to advocates of states' rights. - States' rights is the principle that a state does not have to submit to national laws in cases where it contends that the national government exceeded its authority. - Prior to the Civil War, former vice president John Calhoun argued for the doctrine of "nullification," which proposed that states were not bound by federal laws that they considered to be unconstitutional.
Supreme Law of Land: Federalism in Constitution
• The powers granted to the national government in *Article VI* state that the laws of Congress shall be "the supreme Law of the Land." - Known as the *supremacy clause*, this means that if there is a conflict b/t federal and state law, federal law prevails.
New Deal: End of Dual Federalism
• The role of the federal government increased with president Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. - In 1937, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a series of decisions that expanded the federal government's power under the commerce clause to protect the rights of workers, extend low-interest credit to farmers and small businesses, and restrict the activities of corporations in their dealings in the stock market.
Differences from Unitary System
• The system of federalism differs from a unitary system. - A unitary system is one dominated by the central or national government, in which lower levels of government have little independent power. - In a unitary system, lower levels of government implement decisions made by the central government.
Dual Federalism, 1789-1937, Part 2
• Under the *traditional system, the federal government* was small and *dealt primarily with foreign affairs and commerce.* - Internal improvements, like roads, bridges, and canals - Tariffs (taxes on imports), patents, currency
Police Powers: State Powers
• power reserved to the state government to regulate the health, safety, and morals of its citizens - A given state has the ability to develop and enforce criminal codes, administer health and safety rules, and regulate marriage and divorce laws. - States also regulate individual livelihoods (through licenses to practice medicine, law, and various other professions) and define and enforce laws concerning private property.
Article I Section 10: Federalism in the Constitution
• "No State shall, without the Consent of Congress . . . enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State." • Compacts are a way for two or more states to reach a legally binding agreement about how to solve a problem that crosses state lines. • Examples can involve environmental concerns and transportation systems.
Types: Grants in Aid
• Categorical grants are congressional grants given to states and localities on the condition that expenditures be limited to a problem or group specified by law. • Many categorical grants from the 1960s were project grants: grant programs in which state and local governments submit proposals to federal agencies and for which funding is provided on a competitive basis.
Implied Powers: Federalism in Constitution
Are found at the *end of Article 1, Section 8,* which *grants Congress the right "to make all Laws which shall be necessary* and proper" to execute its expressed powers.
Article IV, Section 1: Federalism in the Constitution
• *Full faith and credit clause:* Article IV, Section 1 - It requires that states give "full faith and credit" to each other's "public acts, records, and judicial proceedings." - Put another way, states are normally expected to honor the public acts and judicial decisions that take place in another state. - However, if a practice in one state is against the "strong public policy" of another state, then the state that's against the practice doesn't have to recognize it.
