Federalism

1. Federalism AP Government & Politics Unit 2

2. Types of Governments 1. Democracy The word "democracy" literally means "rule by the people." In a democracy, the people govern. 2. Republic  A literal democracy is impossible in a political system containing more than a few people. All "democracies" are really republics. In a republic, the people elect representatives to make and enforce laws. 3. Monarchy A monarchy consists of rule by a king or queen. Sometimes a king is called an "emperor," especially if there is a large empire, such as China before 1911. There are no large monarchies today. The United Kingdom, which has a queen, is really a republic because the queen has virtually no political power. 4. Aristocracy An aristocracy is rule by the aristocrats. Aristocrats are typically wealthy, educated people. Many monarchies have really been ruled by aristocrats. Today, typically, the term "aristocracy" is used negatively to accuse a republic of being dominated by rich people, such as saying, "The United States has become an aristocracy.“ 5. Dictatorship A dictatorship consists of rule by one person or a group of people. Very few dictators admit they are dictators; they almost always claim to be leaders of democracies. The dictator may be one person, such as Castro in Cuba or Hitler in Germany, or a group of people, such as the Communist Party in China. 6. Democratic Republic Usually, a "democratic republic" is not democratic and is not a republic. A government that officially calls itself a "democratic republic" is usually a dictatorship. Communist dictatorships have been especially prone to use this term. For example, the official name of North Vietnam was "The Democratic Republic of Vietnam." China uses a variant, "The People's Republic of China."

3. Types of Governments Democracy The word "democracy" literally means "rule by the people." In a democracy, the people govern. Republic  A literal democracy is impossible in a political system containing more than a few people. All "democracies" are really republics. In a republic, the people elect representatives to make and enforce laws.

4. Three Ways Power is Shared Between a National Government and States/Sub-Units • Unitary • One strong national government • Example: Great Britain • Most of the world uses this type • Confederal • Strong states or regions with a weak national government • Example: The Articles of Confederation, the Confederacy • Federal* • A strong central government that shares power with states or regions • Example: The United States

6. Federalism • Federalism is the theory or advocacy of federal political orders, where final authority is divided between sub-units and a center. • Federalism refers to the apportioning of power between the federal government and the states. • In a federal system, the national government holds significant power, but the smaller political subdivisions also hold significant power. The United States, Canada, Australia, and Brazil are examples of federal systems.

8. True or False?? • Most governments in the world have both state and national governments, as in the U.S..

9. True or False?? • The powers of the state and national governments were clearly established in the Constitution.

10. True or False?? • Under federalism, states surrender their power to the national government.

11. True or False?? • The Framers themselves had a hard time agreeing on what was meant by federalism.

12. True or False?? • The nature of federalism has remained consistent throughout U.S. History.

13. True or False?? • The complexity of federalism tends to discourage citizen participation in government.

14. Discuss • What reasons exist for the states to continue exercising independent power?

15. Discuss • The speed limits vary across the nation’s roads and highways. • Could the national government legally intervene to rectify these conflicting state laws ? • Should it?

16. Discuss • Gay marriage is allowed in six states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York) and Washington, D.C. • The Coquille Indian Tribe in Oregon also grants same-sex marriage. • Should the national government legally intervene to rectify the conflicting state laws ? • Should it?

17. Discuss • Certain areas in Nevada permit prostitution. • Could the national government legally intervene to forbid such practices? • Should it?

18. Discuss • Alaska and Colorado have held referendums concerning the private possession of small amounts of marijuana. • Could the national government legally intervene to forbid such practices? • Should it?

19. Discuss • California has laws allowing for the distribution and use concerning the medical marijuana. • Could the national government legally intervene to forbid such practices? • Should it?

20. Discuss • Georgia, Texas, and other states have laws that allow the death penalty. Massachusetts and others have laws forbidding it. • Could the national government legally intervene to rectify these conflicting state laws ? • Should it?

21. Federalism Terms to Know • Dual Federalism • Cooperative Federalism • AKA Creative Federalism • New Federalism

22. Dual Federalism Federal Gov't Federal State State Gov't Models of Federal Governments Cooperative Federalism

23. Dual Federalism Federal State Dual Federalism • Dual Federalism, holds that the federal government and the state governments are co-equals, and each are sovereign. • In this theory, parts of the Constitution are interpreted very narrowly. • In this case, there is a very large group of powers belonging to the states, and the federal government is limited to only those powers explicitly listed in the Constitution. • In this narrow interpretation, the federal government has jurisdiction only if the Constitution clearly grants such. • Examples: 10th Amendment, the Supremacy Clause, the Necessary and Proper Clause, and the Commerce Clause.

25. AKA…“Layer Cake Federalism"

26. Dual Federalism Federal State Examples of Dual Federalism • Laissez faire or hands off business • Gilded Age • The Dred Scott decision • States can decide about slave laws • Jim Crow laws • States can decide about segregation/integration • Plessey v Ferguson

27. Dual Federalism Federal Gov't Federal State State Gov't The Switch from Dual to Cooperative Federalism • The shift from Dual to Cooperative Federalism was a slow one, but it was steady from the New Deal to the late 20th century. • Dual federalism is not completely dead, but for the most part, the United States' branches of government operate under the presumption of a cooperative federalism.

28. Federal Gov't State Gov't Cooperative Federalism • This theory asserts that the national government is supreme over the states, and the 10th Amendment, the Supremacy Clause, the Necessary and Proper Clause, and the Commerce Clause have entirely different meaning than in the Dual Federalism theory. • A good illustration of the broad interpretation of this part of the Constitution is exemplified by the Necessary and Proper Clause's other common name: the Elastic Clause.

29. Federal Gov't State Gov't AKA…“Marble Cake Federalism"

30. Federal Gov't State Gov't Examples of Cooperative Federalism • The New Deal • Government programs to end the Great Depression • The Great Society • Government programs to end discrimination AND to provide for those less fortunate • NCLB and Race to the top • Federal government regulation and grants concerning K-12 education

31. Federal Gov't State Gov't Cooperative Federalism & Grants • “Cooperative Federalism" included an explosion of grants that reached beyond the states to establish intergovernmental links at all levels, often bypassing states entirely. • AKA as “picket fence federalism" • AKA as Creative Federalism • Started with the Morrill Land Grant of 1862 • federal government gave each state 30,000 of public land for each representative in Congress • the money from the sale of the lands was to establish and support agricultural and mechanical arts colleges (UGA, Texas A & M, Michigan State…)

33. New Federalism • New Federalism is the arrangement of administrative reforms with a devolutionary objective. • This idea began during modern presidential administrations starting with Richard Nixon. • Ronald Reagan’s campaigns centered around devolution • It included decentralization of national programs to regions, streamlining of federal services, and the redirection of funds towards other levels of government. • It also included efforts to reduce national control over the grants-in-aid programs and revise the character of federal involvement in general welfare spending. 

34. Federal Mandates (the stick) • Federal laws that direct state and local governments to comply with federal standards, rules, or regulations • Federal Clean Air Act • Sometimes the federal government will impose a mandate on state or local governments to implement a costly policy in return for funds that may not make up the full costs of the program. • This is called anUnfunded Mandate • Example: Endangered Species Act • Passed by Congress in 1973, which imposes federal mandates on states to protect animal species that are deemed in danger of becoming extinct. • States have NO CHOICE but to follow this Act whether or not money is supplied by the feds

35. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 • Prevented Congress from passing costly federal programs along to the states with at least a debate on how to fund them • With its origins in the ‘Devolution Revolution’ (Republican- Contract with America), UMRA was designed to make it more difficult for the federal government to make state and local governments pay for programs and projects that it refuses to pay for itself. • Unfortunately, UMRA largely has proven to be a case of promises unfulfilled

36. Federal Grants (the carrot) • The federal government transfers payments or shares its revenues with lower levels of government via federal grants. • It’s all about the money!!!! • Who has it (the national government) • Who wants it (the states) • And who gets it (the states who jump through the right hoops) • Federal governments use this power to enforce national rules and standards by opening and closing its “purse strings” for the states

37. Revenue Sharing • The transfer of tax revenue to the states • Congress gave an annual amount of federal tax revenue to the states and their cities, counties and townships. • Revenue sharing was extremely popular with state officials, but it lost federal support during the Reagan Administration. • In 1987, revenue sharing was replaced with block grants in smaller amounts to reduce the federal deficit

38. Two Types of Grants-in Aid • Block grants • Grants provided to the states from the federal government with few strings attached • For example, a grant for transportation but the state can decide which roads will be built or where they will be located Categorical grants • Categorical grants • Grants provided to the states from the federal government with many strings attached • For example, a grant for roads but the federal government decides where the road will go or which road can be widened can decide which road

39. Welfare Act of 1996 • AKA…The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act • Was signed in to law on August 22, 1996, by President Bill Clinton. • It was a bipartisan effort with the Republican Congress • It dramatically changed the nation's welfare system into one that required work in exchange for time-limited assistance. • The law contained • strong work requirements • a performance bonus to reward states for moving welfare recipients into jobs • state maintenance of effort requirements • comprehensive child support enforcement • and supports for families moving from welfare to work -- including increased funding for child care and guaranteed medical coverage."

40. Important Supreme Court Cases Concerning Federalism • South Dakota v Dole • U.S. v Lopez • Printz v U.S. • District of Columbia v. Heller • MacDonald v Chicago • Boumediene v. Bush • Bush v Gore

41. South Dakota vs. Dole (1987) • The withholding of federal highway funds followed a study of teenage driving and alcohol-related accidents • The federal government required states to raise their drinking age to 21 in order to receive highway funds • South Dakota claimed that the law is unconstitutional because the 21st amendment gave power to the states for regulating alcoholic beverages. • The state filed suit against Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole • Can Congress withhold federal funding in order to force a state to pass legislation it deems useful?

42. Decision and Importance • Decision: “Yes!” • Why important? The provision was designed to serve the general welfare AND it was held that even if Congress lacks the power to impose a national minimum drinking age directly,the “non-requirement” aspect of the regulation was a valid exercise of Congress' spending power and upheld states rights

43. United States vs. Lopez (1995) • Was the first modern Supreme Court case to set limits to Congress's lawmaking power. • Alfonso Lopez, Jr. carried a handgun and bullets into his high school. • He was charged with violating Section 922(q) of the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990. • The government believed that the possession of a firearm at a school falls under jurisdiction of the Commerce Clause.

44. Decision and Importance • The Court said, “NO!” to Commerce Clause in Lopez • Too much of a stretch to connect guns in school to commerce • Federal government had overstretched it’s boundaries • Forced states to create the gun laws themselves. • Why important? Interstate commerce, gun-free school zones can not be federally mandated (states rights) • Was this a change in the direction of the Court?

45. Printz vs. United States (1997) • Reagan’s press secretary, James Brady was seriously injured during the assassination attempt • He later lobbied for stricter gun controls and background checks - these passed and became known as the “Brady Bill” • Printz was a sheriff who challenged the Brady Bill charging that it violated the 10th Amendment • Did the federal mandated law take it too far??

46. Importance • The Court said “YES!’ • The Court ruled in favor of Printz, ruling that Congress may not require the States to administer a federal regulatory program and that the Act violated the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution • The decision overturned requirements for local enforcement of the background checks • Why important? The states are no longer subordinates in all power disputes involving unfunded mandates

47. Amendment II • A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. • What exactly does that mean??? Huh????

48. Amendment II • A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, (or should it be a semi-colon ??)the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

49. District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) • For the first time in seventy years, the Court heard a case regarding the central meaning of the Second Amendment and its relation to gun control laws. • After the District of Columbia passed legislation barring the registration of handguns, requiring licenses for all pistols, and mandating that all legal firearms must be kept unloaded and disassembled or trigger locked, a group of private gun-owners brought suit claiming the laws violated their Second Amendment right to bear arms. • Do local government have the right to impose such strict laws concerning guns?

50. District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) • Decision • No! • In a 5-4 decision, the Court held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that firearm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.