1.3 - federalism Flashcards
What is dual federalism?
- “layer cake federalism”
- keeps state and national governments separate
Explain the Supreme Court case, Dredd Scott vs Sandford.
- ruled that African Americans were not citizens and, therefore, did not have constitutional protections
- established that the federal government has no power to regulate slavery in territories acquired after the creation of the US
What did the 14th Amendment say? how did it change the relationship between the states and federal government?
- every person born in the US is a citizen and therefore subject to constitutional protections
- prevents local or state governments from depriving an individual of life, liberty or property
- allowed the supreme court to strike down many state laws relating to racial discrimination
what grants characterised new federalism? how was this in part undermined?
block grants: money given to states to spend how they wished
- these were often smaller in size than the catagorical grants under cooperative federalims
- increased use of unfunded mandates- fed would demand states to take certain actions without providing funding
by how much did spending increase under bush?
- in his first term, spending increased by 33%
how did the case US vs Lopez show a shift to new federalism?
- it struck down the 1990 gun-free school zones act, based on it being outside Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce
How did Obama try to expand the federal government’s role in health care?
the 2010 Affordable care act
- expansion of Medicaid, threatened to withhold Medicaid funding if states did not accept the expansion
- 27 states filed law suites in response
give an example of the Supreme Court protecting the power of the states.
- NFIB vs Sebelius 2012 the Supreme Court ruled that Congress could not coerce states to expand Medicaid
- shelby county vs holder- VRA
What was the North Carolina ‘bathroom bill’, and how does it show an expansion of the federal government’s power?
- introduced by the governor of California
- said that individuals could only use the bathroom that corresponded to their assigned sex at birth
- Obama threatened to withdraw education funding if the bill was not repealed or amended
how did bush intervene in education?
- the 2002 ‘No Child Left Behind” act
- mandated anual testing for students
- significantly increased the federal government’s role in holding schools accountable
what changes did bush make to health care?
- expansion of medicare
- including a new perscription drug benefit
give an example of the Supreme Court having a broad interpretation of the necessary and proper clause.
1819 McCulloch v Maryland ruled that the federal government had the right to establish a national bank.
give an example of the Supreme Court taking a broad interpretation of the commerce clause.
2005 Gonzales v Raich ruled that Congress had the power to criminalize the production and use of homegrown cannabis even if the state has legalised it for medical purposes
give a recent example of when federal legislation left significant gaps that needed to be filled by states.
During COVID, Donald Trump was very reluctant to implement regulation
give an example of the differences between state policies over covid?
- california ended its mask mandate mid 2022, texas ended its mask mandate mid 2021
