Chapter 3

Federalism

Three Systems of Government

• Unitary System – centralized government in which local governments exercise only those powers given to them by the central government

• Confederal System – consists of a league of independent states, each having essentially sovereign power

• Federal System – power is divided by a written constitution between a central government and regional governments

Figure 3-1: The Flow of Power in Three Systems of Government

Why Federalism?

• A Practical Solution – to the dispute between advocates of a strong central government and states’ rights advocates

• Geography and population make it impractical to locate all political authority in one place

• Brings government closer to the people• State governments train future national leaders• State governments can be testing grounds for policy

initiatives• Federalism allows for many political subcultures

Constitutional Basis of Powers of the National Government

• Enumerated Powers – First 17 clauses of Article I, Section 8, examples include coining money, setting standards of weights and measures, declaring war

• Elastic Clause – the clause in Article I, Section 8, that grants Congress the power to do whatever is necessary to execute its specifically delegated power

• Inherent Powers – powers derive from the fact that the United States is a sovereign power among nations

The American Federal System – The Division of Powers between the National Government and the State

GovernmentsSelected Constitutional Powers

National GovernmentNational and

State Governments

State Governments

EXPRESSED

• To coin money

• To conduct foreign relations

• To regulate interstate commerce

• To levy and collect taxes

• To declare war

• To raise and support the military

• To establish post offices

• To establish courts inferior to the Supreme Court

• To admit new states

IMPLIED

“To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.” (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18)

CONCURRENT

• To levy and collect taxes

• To borrow money

• To make and enforce laws

• To establish courts

• To provide for the general welfare

• To charter banks and corporations

RESERVED TO THE STATES

• To regulate intrastate commerce

• To conduct elections

• To provide for public health, safety, and morals

• To establish local governments

• To ratify amendments to the federal constitution

• To establish a state militia

The American Federal System – The Division of Powers between the National Government and

the State Governments

Selected Powers Denied by the Constitution

National GovernmentNational and State

GovernmentsState Governments

• To tax articles exported from any state

• To violate the Bill of Rights

• To change state boundaries

• To suspend the right of habeas corpus

• To make ex post facto laws

• To subject officeholders to a religious test

• To grant titles of nobility

• To permit slavery

• To deny citizens the right to vote because of race, color, or previous servitude

• To deny citizens the right to vote because of gender

• To tax imports or exports

• To coin money

• To enter into treaties

• To impair obligations of contracts

• To abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens or deny due process and equal protection of the laws

The Growth of the National Government

• McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)- established the implied powers of the national government and the idea of national supremacy– (from the necessary and proper clause)– (from the supremacy clause)

• Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) – established that the power to regulate interstate commerce was an exclusive national power– (from the commerce clause)

The Shift Back to States’ Rights in the Jacksonian Era

• Nullification – the idea that states could declare a national law null and void

• Secession – the withdrawal of a state from a union

War and the Growth of the National Government

• The defeat of the South ended the idea that states could secede from the Union.

• The defeat of the South also resulted in an expansion of the powers of the national government (the opposite of what te South was fighting for)   New governments employees were hired to conduct the

war effort, and Reconstruction   A billion dollar budget was passed   A temporary income tax was imposed on citizens   Civil liberties were curtailed because of the war effort

and the national’s government’s role expanded to include providing pensions to veterans and widows

The Continuing Dispute over the Division of Power

• Dual Federalism – the national and state governments as equal sovereign powers

• Cooperative Federalism – the idea that states and the national government should cooperate to solve problems

Federal Preemption from 1900 to the Present

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

1900-1909

1910-1919

1920-1929

1930-1939

1940-1949

1950-1959

1960-1969

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-2003

Environment, Health, Safety

Commerce, Energy, Labor, Transportation

Banking, Money

Fish, Natural Resources, Wildlife

Taxation

Civil Rights

Other

Source: U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, plus author’s update.

Federalism, the Supreme Court and the Commerce Clause

• United States v. Lopez – court rules Congress exceeded its authority under the commerce clause in passing the Gun Free School Zone Act of 1990

• United States v. Morrison - court rules Congress exceeded its authority under the commerce clause in passing the Violence Against Women Act of 1994

Federalism,the Supreme Court and the Eleventh Amendment

• Decisions bolstered the authority of state governments:– Alden v. Maine (1999) – state employees can’t sue state

for violating federal overtime pay law– Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents (2000) – state

university employees can’t sue state for violating federal age discrimination law

– However, in Nevada v. Holmes (2003) – the court ruled that state employers must abide by the federal Family Medical Leave Act, which seeks to outlaw gender bias

Hot Links to Selected Internet Resources:

• Book’s Companion Site: http://politicalscience.wadsworth.com/schmidtbrief2004

• Wadsworth’s Political Science Site: http://politicalscience.wadsworth.com

• Emory University’s Federal Law Site:• http://www.law.emory.edu/FEDERAL• Unity and Federalism:

http://www.constitution.org/cs_feder.htm• Project Vote Smart:

http://www.vote-smart.org/issues/FEDERALISM_STATES_RIGHTS