case studies of federalism in practice Flashcards
covid 19
The impact of federalism can be seen in the US response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in which there was significant variation between states and the federal government’s ability to dictate policy was limited.
○ Democrat-led states imposed far more stringent policies, including mask mandates and lockdowns, than Republican-led states, particularly after the first year of the outbreak.
California’s mask mandate ended in March 2022, compared to Texas’ which ended a year earlier in March 2021.
● There was some effective federal government policy in response to the pandemic, however, such as the CARES Act 2020, which included $300 billion in one-time cash payments to individuals and families.
● Once he became President, Biden tried to develop a more effective and thought-out strategy for tackling COVID-19 than Trump had, but struggled with the lack of federal power.
○ Biden couldn’t impose lockdowns or a nationwide mask mandate and was limited to actions such as imposing a mask mandate in federal government buildings and on public transport.
● The lack of effective federal policy and significant variation between states could be seen as a key reason for the US’ relatively high COVID-19 deaths per capita.
the legalisation of cannabis
The use and possession of cannabis is still technically illegal under federal law, due to the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, which should trump state laws legalising cannabis due to the Supremacy Clause in the Constitution.
○ Despite this, many states have legalised cannabis because the Obama administration stated they would allow it and wouldn’t fund federal government application of the law.
○ The Obama administration thought the states would be a useful laboratory to test the effectiveness of the policy.
● Today, 38 states have legalised the medical use of cannabis, whilst 23 states have legalised the recreational use of cannabis.
○ California has legalised the recreational and medical use of cannabis, Florida has legalised just the medical use of cannabis and Texas has legalised neither.
sanctuary cities
Sanctuary cities are cities that prohibit local law enforcement from helping federal immigration officials to identify illegal immigrants, unless those immigrants had been charged with a serious crime.
○ There are today over 600 sanctuary cities, including California being a whole sanctuary state.
○ Sanctuary cities represent the power of states to resist federal power.
● In January 2017, President Trump signed an executive order that withheld federal grants
from sanctuary cities, however it was declared unconstitutional and its implementation was stopped in November 2017.
○ This shows how the 10th amendment of the constitution protected state power, as judges interpreted it as preventing the federal government from commandeering state governments to do something.
the affordable care act
The legal developments in relation to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) after it was passed in 2010 can be used to show both the resilience of state power and the extension of federal power.
○ On the one hand, the Supreme Court struck down one of the ACA’s provisions as unconstitutional in a 2012 ruling, after attorney generals in 27 states filed lawsuits.
■ The ACA’s requirement that states expand Medicaid or lose their existing federal funding for Medicaid programs was declared to be an “unconstitutional overreach of federal power” and was struck down. As a result states could still not expand Medicaid and keep their existing Medicaid funding.
○ On the other hand, they upheld the majority of the ACA. Including in 2015 when they judged that in states that refused to run Health Insurance Exchanges, the federal governmen was allowed to step in and do so. This represented support for significant federal power over state power.
