Federalism

Question 1

What was the system of federalism that operated between 1789-1937

Answer 1

Duel federalism

Question 2

What is dual federalism

Answer 2

The federal government and state governments operate in very distinct spheres, with the federal government restricted to its “enumerated powers” expressed in the constitution. Everything else soft to the states

Question 3

What idea showed that there still differences between federalists and anti federalists at this time

Answer 3

The idea of “nullification” proposed by anti federalists, argued that, as the creators of the federal government, states should retain the right to limit its’ powers
In 1828, SC declared that a tariff law was “null and void”

Question 4

Generally, what does the conflict Center around

Answer 4

The “supremacy clause” and the “10th amendment”

Question 5

What system of federalism operated 1937-60s

Answer 5

Co-OP federalism

Question 6

What is co-op federalism

Answer 6

A system where there is greater overlap between the roles of the federal and state government

Question 7

What caused this type of federalism to arise

Answer 7

The “Great Depression”

Question 8

How did FDR justify this kind of federalism

Answer 8

FDR said that in order to solve the huge social-economic problems caused by the Great Depression (100,000 businesses closed, 25% of US citizens unemployed by 1933), the federal government needed a lot more power to work alongside the states in solving these issues

Question 9

What amendment allowed this type of federalism to operate

Answer 9

The 16th amendment: allowed congress to collect taxes, with apportionment among the several states. Therefore, could spend vast amounts of money on large welfare projects to improve living standards

Question 10

What demonstrated this new type of federalism

Answer 10

Growth of “grants-in-aid”, whereby federal government gives money to states for projects

Question 11

What’s an example of a “grant in aid”

Answer 11

The “Federal Emergency Relief Administration”, which have $3 billion to states to provide short term help to the poor

Question 12

What type of grants were these “grants in aid”

Answer 12

“Categorical grants”, where the federal government gives funds for a specific purpose and sets the regulations dates must meet in order to qualify for funds

Question 13

What was the main change introduced by this type of federalism

Answer 13

Taxes would now go to the federal government, who, under certain regulations, would give money to state gov. To provide services

Question 14

What type of federalism operated between 1960-1980

Answer 14

“Coercive federalism”

Question 15

What is “coercive federalism”

Answer 15

Another growth in the power of the federal government over the states in relation to the ability of the federal government to override state powers and impose policies on the states.

Question 16

What helped bring this era of federalism about

Answer 16

Supreme Court decisions in cases like “Brown V. Board”, where the SC ruled that states had to get rid of segregated schools since “separate education facilities were inherently unequal”

Question 17

Why did this annoy states’ rights activists

Answer 17

Southern state saw these federal rulings as undermining state sovereignty, and represented the federal government acting beyond the powers given to it in the constitution

Question 18

What made the situation worse for states’ rights activists

Answer 18

In the case “Cooper V. Aaron” (1958), where the SC ruled unanimously that t(r doctrine of nullification (state sopposijg federal law) was invalid

Question 19

How did the SC justify opposing nullification

Answer 19

The supremacy clause of the constitution makes constitutional law supreme over state law

Question 20

What was the main example of this new type of federalism

Answer 20

LBJ’s vision for a “Great society, which sought to do and the role of the federal government to tackle poverty and racial inequality

Question 21

Did federal spending increase under coercive federalism

Answer 21

Yes, there were more new grant programmes introduced in this time than the total number of grant programmes that already existed. Shows the federal government expanding into areas traditionally reserved to states

Question 22

What was controversial about coercive federalism

Answer 22

It was thought that the federal government put too much pressure on the states )through regulations) in order for them to access the grants

Question 23

What type of federalism operated between 1980-2000

Answer 23

“New federalism”

Question 24

Why did this type of federalism come about

Answer 24

The number of categorical grants had increased massively to the extent that their massive cost was becoming controversial. State governments were also critical of the rules/regs they had to follow in order to access grants

Question 25

What Act really annoyed state governments

Answer 25

The “national minimum drinking age act” (1984), that came about because the federal government said that if they didn’t approve of the law, the federal government would hold back 10% of states’ highway funds

Question 26

What president promoted this new type of federalism

Answer 26

Reagan

Question 27

How did Reagan signify this new type of federalism

Answer 27

He replaced “categorical grants” with “block grants” that reduced the number of regulations on how states had to spend federal money

Question 28

Did Clinton continue this type of federalism

Answer 28

Yes, he replaced the 1935 “aid to families with dependent children act”, with the “temporary assistance for needy families Act” that gave block grants to states to help the, deal with poverty. The states were allowed to decide who qualified

Question 29

Who upheld this new type of federalism

Answer 29

The Supreme Court. They went from a body that did not strike down any law for exceeding the commerce clause between 1937-1995, to one that did immediately

In the case “Printz V. US” (1997), that said that that required background checks by local police violated the 10th amendment

Question 30

Did Bush continue this type of federalism

Answer 30

Nope, despite being a republican, he doubled federal grants from $243 billion to $461 billion from 1998

Question 31

Why did bush do this

Answer 31

After 9/11, established the department of homeland security,neither national standards for emergency procedures

The 08 crash forced him to nationalise two struggling mortgage companies who guarantee 1/2 of mortgages in the US

Question 32

Did Obama continue Bush’s version of federalism

Answer 32

Yes, largely because of the crash, Obama passed the “Marciano recovery and reinvestment Act”, which allowed $787 billion to be spent on infrastructure, education, welfare

Question 33

What did Obama hope he could accomplish with this

Answer 33

Like FDR, he hoped that by spending lots on education, welfare, businesses could survive and strengthen the economy. However, unlike FDR, there was greater co-op between fed. Gov and the states

Question 34

What law introduced by Obama really challenged he concept of federalism

Answer 34

“The Affordable Care Act”, which forced states to accept certain healthcare regulations in order to access funds, and it attempted to penalise states for not accepting it

Question 35

How did the SC view the ACA

Answer 35

It upheld the expansion of healthcare, but argued that penalising states for not participating is unconstitutional

Question 36

How did the relationship between state and the federal government change in terms of the passage of laws

Answer 36

Argued that now states operate as “laboratories for democracies”, making use of initiatives to introduce policy in area where congress is divided

Question 37

What was an early example of this

Answer 37

Nov 2012: Colorado and Washington legalised use/sale of marijuana via state referendums

Question 38

Another early example of this

Answer 38

June 214: Seattle city council raised city’s minimum wage to $15 p/h