Title: OConnor
1OConnor Sabato, Chapter 3
- Presentation 3.3 Modern Federalism
2Key Topics
- Modern Federalism (1933-1954)
- Creative Federalism (1954-1979)
- New Federalism the Devolution Revolution
(1980-??) - Policy in Action Setting a National Alcohol
Policy - Federalism and the Supreme Court
3Modern Federalism
- From layer-cake to marble-cake federalism
- Federal government increasingly participates in
activities traditionally viewed as state/local
matters - Fed. govt. reliance on incentives to influence
state/local govts.
41a) The Rise of Federal Grant Programs
- Programs where the federal govt. redistributed
money to the states for specific purposes - Morrill Land Grant Act (1862)
- Gave each state 30,000 acres of public land per
congressional representative - Income from sale of land designated for the
creation of agricultural mechanical arts
colleges
51b) The New Deal
- Accelerated the redistribution of federal funds
to the states - Money (with strings attached)
- National govt. imposed goals attached
conditions - By 1945, federal grant programs were a central
part of national policy - The relationship was largely cooperative until
the early 1960s
61c) Categorical Grants
- Congress appropriates federal tax dollars for a
specific purpose - Allocate funds based on a precise formula
impose detailed conditions for state eligibility - Federal govt. often matches contributions of
states for specific purposes (e.g. highway
construction)
72) Creative Federalism
- The rise of civil rights as a major national
issue - Trumans Fair Deal platform in 1948
- States were often blamed for preserving systems
of discrimination (e.g. Jim Crow laws in the Deep
South) - Federalism was viewed as an avenue to compel the
states to mend their ways
82a) The Carrot and Stick Nature of Creative
Federalism
- The carrot federal funds for state programs
- The stick withholding funds to those states who
do not follow national policy - Significant portions of the revenues for most
state budgets come from the federal govt.
92b) Johnsons Great Society Program (1964-1968)
- War on Poverty was the central program
- Designed to combat discrimination poverty
- Brought the federal govt. into conflict w/ state
local govt.
Lyndon Johnson (1908-1973). Picture courtesy
Encarta
102bi) Great Society cont.
- Johnsons programs often were designed to bypass
conservative state/local govt. that were often
the source of discrimination - Provoked a great deal of anger at Washington,
D.C. programs - Led to further shifting of power to the federal
govt. - Led to the regulatory era of the 1970s
112c) Revenue Sharing
- Originally a Democratic idea
- Designed to channel federal money to states with
no strings attached - Popular with the states but unpopular with natl.
politicians
Richard Nixon (1913-1997). Picture courtesy
Encarta
122d) Fruitcake Federalism
- Between 1965-1980, federal aid to cities and
state tripled - Abandonment of the notion of zones of
sovereignty - Resources distributed to all concerned without
concern for efficiency or for the rising national
debt - Negative reactions quickly followed
133) New Federalism the Devolution Revolution
- Presidents between 1970-1980 opposed big
government but did not reduce spending - Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980 promising to
curb social spending - Clothed his program in states-rights rhetoric
143a) Government is not the Solution
- For the 1st time in 30 yrs, federal aid to
state/local govt. declined - Reagan argued for replacing categorical grants
with block grant programs - Grants for broad activities w/ few strings
attached
Ronald Reagan (1911-?). Picture courtesy Encarta
153ai) The Byproducts of the Reagan Revolution
- Fewer available funds sharpened competition among
state/local govt. - Recession in the 1990s created budget shortfalls
for many states - Governors forced to raise taxes cut social
services and became very unpopular
163aii) The Rise of Intergovernmental Lobbies
- Competition for federal aid caused state/local
govt. to lobby Washington for funds - Hire professional lobbyists to advocate for
federal support - Some lobbies also litigate to insure state/local
interests are represented in the courts
173aiii) The Big SevenPremier Intergovernmental
Lobbies
183b) The Devolution Revolution
- Federalist 17 Hamilton believed it will always
be far more easy for the State govt. to encroach
upon the national authorities than for the
national govt. to encroach upon the State
authorities - How wrong he proved!
- By the early 1990s, many state governors
rebelled at the growing influence of the federal
govt. - Especially preemption unfunded mandates
193bi) Preemption
- Congressional acts that override state/local
actions in certain areas - Basically undermines the 10th Amendment (reserved
powers clause) - Often impose significant cost on state/local
govt. - Relates especially to environmental
anti-discriminatory laws
203bii) Unfunded Mandates
- Laws that direct state/local govt. to comply with
federal rules or regulations - Carry the threat of civil or criminal penalties
- Unfunded mandates require state/local govt. to
absorb the cost of following federal guidelines
213biii) Unfunded Mandates cont.
- Meeting unfunded mandates often account for as
much as 30 of a local govt. operating budget - Example of Columbus, OH (pop. slightly larger
than Tulsa, OK) - Unfunded provisions attached to existing
grant-in-aid programs - Faced a 1 billion bill to comply with the
federal Clean Water Act the Safe Drinking Water
Act - Estimated cost of 685 per household
223biv) The Growth of Regulatory Federalism
233bv) The Problem with Unfunded Mandates
- Most states have constitutional provisions that
require balanced budgets - Mandates means higher taxes which makes
state/local legislatures very unpopular
243bvi) Good Times, Bad Times
- The Clinton years were good for state govt.
- Total state budget surpluses in 1998 exceeded 30
billion - Some state increased social spending
- Some cut taxes
- By 2001, stock market declines, economic
recession, increasing health care costs hurt
the states badly - CA facing a 30 billion deficit
253c) The Contract with America
- Republicans campaigned in the midterm elections
of 1994 promising to return money, power, and
responsibility to the state - A crucial element of the Contract was a promise
to end unfunded mandates
John Kasich (1952-??) Ohio Republican and
co-architect of the Contract w/ America Picture
courtesy New Century Project.
263ci) The Gingrich Revolution
- GA Republican who orchestrated the GOP takeover
of Congress in 1994 - Promised a continuation of the Reagan Revolution
by cutting social welfare spending - Speaker of the House 1994-1998
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker principal
architect of the Contract with America. Picture
courtesy Newt.org.
274) Policy in ActionSetting a National Alcohol
Policy
- The sharp decline of fatal crashes involving
drivers aged 18-21. Why? - The effectiveness of grass roots lobbying by MADD
related groups
Wendy Hamilton, current Pres. of MADD. Picture
courtesy MADD website
284a) Policy in Action cont.
- MADD lobbied Congress to amend the Surface
Transportation Act (1982) to impose a national
drinking age (21) - Congress passed the provision using the
carrot-and-stick nature of federalism - Made states conform to anational ideal in order
to receive federal funds - Now MADD is lobbying for Congress to impose
national standards for drunkenness (.08)
295) Federalism and the Supreme Court
- The Supreme Court is the ultimate arbiter of the
meaning of the Constitution - Therefore, the SC decides on the nature of
federalism - The Courts interpretation of federalism kept the
national govt. out of state politics until well
into the 20th century
305a) Federalism the Supreme Court
- From the New Deal forward, the Court has
increasingly accepted the national govt. playing
a role in encouraging state/local govt. to act
in certain areas - Especially in education, the electoral process,
the commerce clause
315ai) The Supreme Court Education
- Education is traditionally a local matter
- Brown v. Board of Education (1954) ended the
tradition of local control - Ruled unconstitutional segregated state
educational systems
325aii) The Courts Elections
- States generally control voter qualifications
- However, since 1964 the courts have begun to
involve itself in the electoral - The Court has invalidated poll taxes
- The courts have also involved themselves in the
redistricting process
335aiii) The Courts and the Commerce Clause
- Congress commerce clause has been broadly
construed to justify virtually any national
intrusion into state matters - Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit
Authority (1985) - Fed. govt. can compel states to pay all employees
at least minimum wage - The Supreme Court has essentially declared the
10th Amendment meaningless!
345b) The Devolution Revolution and the Court
- Republican presidents appointment of conservative
judges has revived the federalism argument - The Rehnquist Court has generally supported
states rights against those of the national
govt. - However, recent progressive decisions have upheld
affirmative action struck down laws
criminalizing homosexual sodomy
355c) Politics NowMarriage in the Federal System
- Vermont became the 1st state to sanction same sex
civil unions - The relationship between the state and the
institution of marriage - The state is viewed as having an interest in
promoting marriage - Marriage as predominating viewed as a
relationship b/n a man and a woman
365ci) Politics Now cont.
- The implications of the equal protection clause
of the 14th Amendment - If heterosexual relationships are protected
promoted by the state, why not gay relationships? - Hawaiis attempt to ban homosexual marriages
the U.S. Defense of Marriage Act - The idea of a Federal Marriage Amendment
- Why is gay marriage such a controversial issue?