Federalism

1
Federalism

• Where is sovereignty located in the American
  political system?

2
The Past

• As we have already learned, the Federalists were
  in favor of a strong CENTRAL (national)
  government.
• A group known as the Antifederalists were in
  favor of strong state governments and a weaker
  central government.

3
Federalists

• To help increase their chances of a strong
  central government, Federalists were in favor of
  a balance and thus supported concepts like the
  separation of powers (3 branches of government)
  and federalism (balance between national and
  state rights).
• Important Federalists included James Madison,
  John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton. They wrote
  papers called the Federalist Papers to
  encourage their states to ratify the
  Constitution.
• The Federalist has become the single most
  important piece of American political philosophy
  ever produced because it helps explain
  Constitutional ideas.

4
Antifederalists

• Basic belief Liberty could be secure only in a
  small republic in which the rulers were
  physically close to (and checked by) the ruled.
  In summary, a strong national government would be
  too distant from the people! (Federalist James
  Madison argues against this philosophy in his
  famous Federalist No. 10 and No. 51.)
• They wanted more restrictions on the Constitution
  (like narrowing the jurisdiction of the Supreme
  Court, leaving military affairs to the state
  militias, and adding a Bill of Rights).

5
The Present

• In the present, it appears that there is a desire
  to scale back the national government. This
  attempt to give the states some of the national
  governments functions is called devolution. An
  example of this is the number of block grants
  () that have been given to the states to use
  for programs at their discretion.

6
Government Structure

• Three types
• Federalist System Sovereignty (political
  authority) is shared between national and state
  governments. In some issues the national
  government as supreme authority in other areas,
  the individual states have supreme authority. The
  United States, Canada, Australia, India, Germany,
  and Switzerland are Federalist systems.

7
Government Structure

• Three types
• Unitary System The National government has
  supreme authority. France, Great Britain, Italy,
  and Sweden are examples of Unitary Systems.
• Confederal (Confederation) System The states
  have the supreme authority and the national
  government is only able to do what the states
  permit it to do. Before the U.S. wrote and
  ratified the Constitution, we were a confederal
  system under the Articles of Confederation.

8
NEW IDEA

• When the Founders developed this system of
  Federal government, they had no idea how it would
  work or how it should look.

9
Constitutional Powers

• The Constitution does not spell out the powers
  that the states have in either the Articles or
  the Amendments. The 10th Amendment was added
  though to the Bill of Rights. It states that the
  powers not delegated the United States by the
  Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states,
  are reserved to the states respectively, or to
  the people.
• We have not used the 10th Amendment very much
  however.

10
McCulloch vs. Maryland

• Expanded the powers of Congress and confirmed the
  supremacy of the national government.
• First question Did Congress have the right to
  set up a bank (or any other corporation) since it
  is not explicitly stated in the Constitution?
• Yes. From Marshalls decision we get the
  necessary and proper clause.
• Second question Could the federal bank be taxed
  by the state?
• No. Marshall noted that the power of the state to
  tax to the federal government may involve the
  power to destroy. McCulloch won and the Maryland
  law was considered unconstitutional.

11
More Constitutional Issues for the Supreme Court

• Nullification Whether or not a state can declare
  a federal law as unconstitutional, and therefore
  nullify (declare it null and void) has been
  discussed.
• As a result of the Norths victory in the Civil
  War, the answer is no. The states cannot declare
  an act of Congress as unconstitutional.

12
More issues for the Courts

• Dual Federalism The attempt to keep the national
  government, supreme in some things, and the state
  governments, supreme in other areas, as separate.
  For example, commerce was divided into two
  different areas interstate (more than one state
  involved) and intrastate (one state). Under dual
  federalism, the national government cannot
  regulate intrastate commerce. However, this
  became very confusing and the Court has started
  to allow the federal government to be involved in
  most commerce.

13
More Issues for the Court

• State Sovereignty Just because the Court has
  allowed the Federal government a lot of power in
  commerce, does not mean it always rules in favor
  of the federal government. States are still
  afforded their rights. (Look at page 58-59 for
  court cases that show how the Court has ruled in
  favor of the states.)

14
Ways the Federal Government Supports the States

• The Federal government provides grants-in-aid
  to the states to help support education. This was
  done by giving both land grants and cash
  grants. They also provide categorical grants
  ( given to the state for a specific purpose)
  and block grants ( given to the state for an
  unspecified purpose).
• This causes states to lobby (a group that tries
  to influence decisions in the government) for
  more money and it causes state rivalry. States
  must compete for Federal money.