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 Governments
Selected Constitutional Powers
National Government
National 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 Government National and State Governments State 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 the 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
E n vi r on m e n t,H e al t h,S af e t y
C om m e r c e,E n e r gy,L ab or,T r an s p or t at i on
B an k i n g,M on e y
F i s h,N at u r al R e s ou r c e s,W i l d l i f e
T axat i on
C i vi l R i gh t s
O t h e r
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/schmidtbrie
f2004
? 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_RIGH
TS
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 Governments
Selected Constitutional Powers
National Government
National 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 Government National and State Governments State 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 the 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
E n vi r on m e n t,H e al t h,S af e t y
C om m e r c e,E n e r gy,L ab or,T r an s p or t at i on
B an k i n g,M on e y
F i s h,N at u r al R e s ou r c e s,W i l d l i f e
T axat i on
C i vi l R i gh t s
O t h e r
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/schmidtbrie
f2004
? 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_RIGH
TS
