US Politics
Federalism
Federalism: Overview
• Forms of Government
• Federalism and
Freedom
• Evolution of Federalism
– Dual
– Cooperative
– Creative
– “New”
Forms of Government:
Unitary Government
Sovereign
Government
Forms of Government:
Confederations
States
C
B
D
A
Forms of Government:
Confederations
SG SG
SG
SG
SG = Sovereign
Government
Forms of Government:
Confederations
SG SG
National
Government
SG
SG
National Government is not Sovereign
Forms of Government:
Confederations
SG SG
National
Government
SG
SG
Voluntary union of independent states
Forms of Government:
Federalism
National
Government
State
Government
Forms of Government:
Federalism
National Enumerated Powers: Powers
Government specifically granted to national
government (Art. I, Section 8 mostly)
State
Government
Forms of Government:
Federalism
National Implied Powers: Powers not directly
Government expressed but held to derive from
enumerated powers
State
Government
Forms of Government:
Federalism
National Inherent Powers: Powers based in
Government international law and the basic
definition of a sovereign nation
State
Government
Forms of Government:
Federalism
National •Specific (Enumerated) Powers
Government •Implied Powers
•Inherent Powers
State •Reserved Powers
Government
Forms of Government:
Federalism
National •Specific (Enumerated) Powers
Government •Implied Powers
•Inherent Powers
State •Reserved Powers:
Government Derived from 10th
Amendment
Forms of Government:
C Federalism
O
N National •Specific (Enumerated) Powers
C Government •Implied Powers
U •Inherent Powers
R •Reserved Powers
State
R Government
E
N
T
Forms of Government:
C Federalism
O
N National •Specific (Enumerated) Powers
C Government •Implied Powers
U •Inherent Powers
R •Reserved Powers
State
R Government
E
N
Powers shared by both levels of Government
T
Federalism
• In addition to “vertical” federalism, or the
relation between national government
and states, we also have “horizontal”
federalism, or the relation among the
states
Federalism
• Article IV, section 1, of the Constitution
guarantees “Full Faith and Credit shall
be given each State to the public Acts,
Records, and judicial proceedings of
every other State.”
Federalism
• Article 4, Section 2,
guarantees that
“The Citizens of each
State shall be entitled to
all Privileges and
Immunities of Citizens
in the Several States”
Federalism
One consequence of this form of government
is a huge proliferation of governments in the U.S.
Federalism
National Government 1
State Governments 50
Local Governments 87,849
Counties 3,034
Municipalities 19,431
Townships 16,506
Special Districts 35,356
School Districts 13,522
How is all this compatible with freedom?
Federalism and Freedom
• Federalism was a new idea for organizing a
state that has different ethnic or national
components
• Conventional wisdom was that democracy
only possible on a small scale
• During ratification debates, supporters of the
Constitution had to show that their system of
government -- federalism -- was compatible
with liberty
Federalism and Freedom
• Federalist Papers
were a collection of
essays published
during the New York
state ratification
debates by “Publius”
Federalism and Freedom
James Madison
John Jay
“Publius” was the
pseudonym used by
3 different authors
Alexander Hamilton
Federalism and Freedom
In Federalist #10
Publius (Madison)
argues that historically,
democracies have
collapsed because they
have been riven by
factional strife where a
faction is:
Federalism and Freedom
“a number of citizens, whether
amounting to a majority of the whole,
who are united and actuated by some
common impulse of passion, or of
interest, adverse to the rights of other
citizens, or to the permanent and
aggregate interests of the community.”
Federalism and Freedom
• In other words, democracies
collapse when the public good
is given over to
groups who
use public
resources for
private gain
• The question then becomes:
Can we cure the evil of factions?
Federalism and Freedom
• How do we insulate ourselves from
factional strife?
• Either remove the causes of faction or
control the effects of faction
Federalism and Freedom
Factions
Causes Effects
Federalism and Freedom
Factions
Causes Effects
Liberty Inequality
Federalism and Freedom
Sources of faction
1. Freedom/Liberty
Factions form if we allow people to freely
associate, to think freely, to worship freely
“Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment
without which it constantly expires...
Cure? -- Eliminate Liberty?
Federalism and Freedom
“It could not be a less
folly to abolish liberty,
which is essential to
political life, because it
nourishes faction than
it would be to wish the
annihilation of air, which
is essential to animal
life, because it imparts
to fire its destructive
agency.”
Federalism and Freedom
Factions
Causes Effects
Liberty Inequality
Federalism and Freedom
• Sources of faction
1. Freedom/Liberty
2. Inequality
1. People have different thoughts, beliefs, skills
Cure? Make sure everyone is completely
equal
Federalism and Freedom
“It is in vain to say that
enlightened statesmen
will be able to adjust
these clashing interests
and render them all
subservient to the public
good. Enlightened
statesmen will not
always be at the helm...”
Federalism and Freedom
“The inference to which we are
brought is that the causes of faction
cannot be removed and that relief is
only to be sought in the means of
controlling its effects.”
Federalism and Freedom
Factions
Causes Effects
Liberty Inequality
Federalism and Freedom
• But controlling the causes of factions
depends on the type of faction we must
confront
• Madison argues there are 2 types of faction,
based on the size of the interest:
– Minority
– Majority
Federalism and Freedom
Faction
Minority Majority
These are electoral minorities; that is, they
are defined by how many people/votes they
can deliver
How do we control each type?
Federalism and Freedom
Faction
Minority Majority
Democracy
(since,as electoral
minorities, these
factions will lose
every voting
contest
Federalism and Freedom
Faction
Minority Majority
Democracy As electoral
As electoral majority, democracy
minorities by itself can’t control
they lose these factions
every voting
contest
Federalism and Freedom
Faction
Minority Majority
Democracy Need to establish
As electoral institutional and
minorities procedural ways to
they lose control this faction
every voting
contest
Federalism and Freedom
Faction
Minority Majority
Democracy •Separation of Powers
As electoral •Checks & Balances
minorities •Federalism
they lose
every voting
contest
Federalism and Freedom
C
O
N National •Specific (Enumerated) Powers
C Government •Implied Powers
U •Inherent Powers
R •Reserved Powers
State
R Government
E
N each level checks the other, and protects
T our freedom
Evolution of Federalism
• Early Years: Defining the Power of
Each Level
– McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
– Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
• Expanded federal power over states
• States Rights renewed
• Civil War
Evolution of Federalism
• Civil War Amendments
(13th, 14th, 15th)
– Expansion of
federal power
• End of Reconstruction
– Scale back federal
government to include
only the Enumerated
Powers
– Re-Establishment of
“Dual Federalism”
Dual Federalism
• The idea that the federal and state
governments should be restricted solely to
their exclusive spheres of power as outlined
in the constitution
• Federal and State governments are co-equal
sovereign partners
• Dominant from end of Reconstruction through
Great Depression (1877 - 1932)
Dual Federalism
National
Government
State
Government
Cooperative Federalism
• Developed as response
to problems of the
Great Depression,
particularly the fiscal
crisis in the states
• In response to these
problems, states and
the national government
should cooperate in
solving these problems
Cooperative Federalism
• Primary tools were financial
– Grants in Aid
• Huge expansion of federal programs and
expenditures
• Federal government These
now involved in what subsidize a
were state government wide variety of
activities state policies
Creative Federalism
• Beginning with
President Lyndon
Johnson’s “Great
Society” Programs
• Opened federal
government programs
to application by local
officials and non
governmental groups
• Categorical Grants
– e.g., Head Start
• Unfunded Mandates
New Federalism
• “New Federalism” refers to the
idea of shifting responsibility for
various programs from federal
government to the states
• Two primary financial tools:
– “general revenue sharing”
(ends in 1986)
– block grants
• Unfunded mandates
Federalism Today
• Overall direction of federalism has been
an increase in federal governmental
power
• Much of this power is connected to the
financial dependencies of the states
Federalism Today
• The National Minimum Drinking Age Act
of 1984 required all states to raise their
minimum purchase and public
possession of alcohol age to 21.
• States that did not comply faced a
reduction in highway funds under the
Federal Highway Aid Act.
Federalism Today
VS.
Cash for Highways Drunken teenagers?
New Jersey Division of Alcohol Control
Federalism Today
• Elementary and
Secondary Education
Act (No Child Left
Behind) (2001)
• States must require
school to meet federally
mandated test targets
or risk losing federal
money for schools
Federalism Today
• Attempt to transfer more government
authority and responsibility back to state
governments
• Federal money, federal mandates
(funded or not), but state control plus
some flexibility on use of those monies
Federalism Today
• Welfare Reform Act (1996)
– Replaces federal Aid for Families with
Dependent Children (AFDC) with state-run
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF)
Federalism Today
• Ongoing effort to work out power
relations between national government
and the states
• Issues: environmental legislation,
education, abortion, national identity
cards, “unfunded mandates”