Primary forms of government prior to the Constitutional Convention: unitary and confederated:
- Unitary: Power resides in central government; state or local governments act as vehicles to implement national laws
- Confederated: States and localities retain sovereign power, yielding only limited authority to the central government
The Framers rejected unitary government as a threat to personal liberty.
Government under the Articles of Confederation, however, was also clearly unacceptable.
The Framers settled on a federalist system, in which power is shared between state and federal governments.
Federalism features four major powers:
- Enumerated powers are specifically granted to the federal government.
- Reserved powers are specifically granted to the states.
- Concurrent powers are shared jointly by federal and state governments.
- Prohibited powers are denied to either or both levels of government.
The supremacy clause (Article VI) declares federal law supreme when national and state laws collide
THE EVOLUTION OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS
1789-1832: Federalists and Antifederalists struggled over the amount of power federal government should exercise.
- Congress asserted federal authority by establishing a national bank over the objections of state banking interests.
- Maryland tried to tax the bank's Baltimore branch to drive it out of business.
- McCulloch v. Maryland: The Supreme Court ruled that federal government has authority to create a national bank and that states cannot tax federal institutions.
- Gibbons v. Ogden: The Supreme Court upheld the federal government's authority to regulate interstate commerce.
1832-1865: Nation-state relations were dominated by a philosophy of dual federalism – state and federal governments acting as distinct and autonomous in their own domains.
- Fear of Northern dominance and support for the doctrine of nullification fueled Southern passions.
- Dred Scott v. Sandford: The Supreme Court rejected the authority of Congress to outlaw slavery in any part of the Union.
- Inflamed Northern abolitionist sentiment
- The 1860 election of Republican Abraham Lincoln as president led to southern secession and civil war.
- Postwar constitutional amendments banned slavery and guaranteed African Americans' basic civil rights, including the vote.
1865-1932: The Supreme Court wrestled with federalism in the age of commerce.
- Reformers eventually pressured national lawmakers to pass progressive legislation that expanded federal power versus the states'.
- By the early twentieth century, the federal government was exerting greater authority over the states.
1932-1937: The Great Depression led to a dramatic growth in federal power.
- President Franklin Roosevelt launched a national program of economic recovery called the New Deal.
- New Deal programs provided public work and established a social safety net of unemployment and old age insurance.
- New Deal regulations affected virtually every industry in America and increased federal participation in all aspects of life.
- The Supreme Court initially struck down key New Deal legislation.
- The Court backed down when Roosevelt threatened to pack it with his own justices.
1937-1950s: Cooperative federalism advocated federal-state partnerships to solve public policy problems.
- The federal government established minimum standards for programs such as Medicare and welfare.
- States have flexibility in enhancing federal benefits and delivering services.
- Cooperative federalism eased power struggles between state and federal government.
- Marble cake federalism: the blending of federal guidelines with state administration and implementation.
1950s-1970s: Creative federalism expanded the rights of historically disadvantaged citizens.
- The Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that separate is inherently unequal; the decision sparked a revolution in citizen rights and federalism.
- The federal government sought to eradicate racial and economic injustice by targeting money at citizen groups and local governments.
- The Supreme Court ruled in favor of nondiscrimination policies in regard to voting and criminal prosecution.
1980-present: New federalism features a devolution of power from federal government to the states.
- Ronald Reagan cut spending on federal programs and regulations; the states have been assuming a greater share of cost of government.
- The federal government continues to impose new standards on states, straining state budgets.
- In the 1990s, Congress limited the national government's authority to impose federal programs or laws on states.
- The federal government uses financial incentives to persuade states to adopt uniform policies.
FEDERAL-STATE RELATIONS
Federal grants-in-aid account for almost 30 percent of all state revenues.
- Categorical grants are reserved for special purposes such as flood assistance or water projects.
- Block grants combine funding purposes of several categorical grants, allowing greater flexibility in how money is spent.
- Program grants have narrow purposes like categorical grants but are limited to specific time periods.
- Formula grants allocate money according to needs calculated in a predetermined manner.
State and local officials prefer block grants because they allow more flexibility in the way such funds can be used.
Congress prefers categorical grants that provide stricter accountability for the use of federal money.
State officials are especially anxious about unfunded mandates – requirements that Congress passes without providing funds to carry them out.
Intergovernmental lobbies have arisen to advance the interests of state and local governments.
Recent Supreme Court rulings have interpreted the Tenth and Eleventh Amendments to limit federal authority over state law.
INTERSTATE RELATIONS
The full faith and credit provision of the Constitution directs states to recognize legal judgments in lawsuits that are valid in another state.
States may not discriminate against nonresidents when it comes to fundamental rights, but they can treat nonresidents differently in other areas.
Article I of the Constitution allows states to enter into interstate compacts to foster economic or political cooperation with neighboring states.
Public policy innovations pioneered by state governments have often sparked widespread political changes.
Wealthier states with politically influential urban populations are most likely to innovate and to adopt new ideas from other states.
