federalism increasingly under threat Flashcards
50 laboratories of democracy
-50 states routinely experiment with new policies and ideas
-red states tend to adopt a conservative attitude to social issues e.g. texas heartbeat act
-blue states in contrast e.g. california’s legalisation of cannabis
-the 50 laboratories ensured more representative and responsive government
laboratories evaluation
Although there are many high-profile examples of diametrically opposed policies in the states, the federal government has expanded its reach over many areas of policy. In an age of ‘marble-cake federalism’, the Congress uses grants to influence the political culture of all states towards bigger government For example, all 50 states have signed up the Medicare. 39 states have accepted President Biden’s expansion of Medicaid. And 46 out of 50 states signed up to the Congress’ ‘Common Core’ education standards. This indicates that healthcare and education policies are increasingly controlled from the centre rather than by the states.
federal grants
-grants have been given to deal with economic and social issues
-LBJ introduced medicare and medicaid, and Obama introduced the affordable care act
-although states can reject grants and can tailor block grants, there has been significant centralisation, even conservative states sign up (all 50 states have medicare)
grants evaluation
States are free to reject federal government grants and the strings that come attached to them. For example, 11 conservative states rejected Joe Biden’s expansion of the Medicaid program, preferring to maintain their own jurisdiction over healthcare coverage for the poor. The
other point is that financial stimulus is often handed to the states to spend as they see fit. For example, the state of Georgia used a part of its funds from Biden’s $1.9tn economic stimulus – the American Rescue Plan Act 2021 – to build new prisons.
constitution protects federalism
-tenth amendment ensures non-enumerated powers are reserved to the states
-states control their own education, drug and abortion laws
-the state institutions reflect their political culture e.g. DeSantis’ don’t say gay bill in florida
constitution evaluation
The federal government has gradually expanded its definition of what the enumerated powers in Article 1, Section 8 allow for. To illustrate, Congress legislated in 2010 to pass the Affordable Health Care Act that introduced federal regulations on healthcare that the states must adhere to. This is suggestive of a Constitution that cannot adequately protect the states’ sovereignty over ‘reserved’ matters.
growth of federal agencies
-federal bureaucracy has 430 agencies and 2.5 million employees, and has been handed powers to govern virtually ‘imperially’
-according to schlesinger it has undermined federalism and created an ‘imperial presidency’, executive orders can create rules for states to follow e.g. EPA clashed over coal mining with west virginia
federal agencies evaluation
Federal agencies do not always undermine state power, but occasionally enhance it. It depends on who the president is. For example, Trump ordered the EPA to cut environmental regulations, thus empowering the states.
