US and comparative questions Flashcards
EQ: ‘Federalism and devolution weaken central governments too much’
PARA 1: Reserved powers
PARA 2: Legislative variation/challenges to central/ federal government priorities
PARA 3: growth in US federal government - NCLB Act, Covid relief vs. UK governments with large majorities - Brexit, spending power
PARA 4: complement rather than weaken?
PARA 5: ‘too much’?
EQ: ‘Federalism functions better in the US than devolution has in the UK’
PARA 1: Legislative output
PARA 2: strengthening national unity/dampening enthusiasm for secession/independence
PARA 3: Less gridlock/legislative efficiancy
PARA 4: symmetrical vs. asymmetrical
PARA 5: breath of parties/variety of electoral systems
“Federalism and devolution operate in very similar ways in the UK and USA. Analyse and evaluate this statement.”
PARA 1: legislation - UK is more like US culturally with regions
PARA 2: similarity: electoral systems - structural
PARA 3: similarity: influence of leader
PARA 4: legal structure: difference
PARA 5: different origins and development
What could you say about devolution and federalism similarities?
-operate in v similar ways, much more than the past, given the two systems are moving closer together in recent times.-UK has increased the powers of its devolved assemblies, with many critics even claiming that we have a ‘quasi-federal system’
- while constitutionally, on paper, dev and fed are drastically different, they act in similar ways
Examples of the growing legislative divergence across the different parts of the UK
- e.g., scotland top earners pay more income tax, which has 5 income tax bands, whereas, university students pay higher tuition fees in England
No of cancer treatments available in Scotland and not in England - differences in policies.
What is your although point in similarities….
US expanding the power of federal gov, recent decades have been major initiatives in healthcare+ education, such as nation-wide COVID vaccine rollout, undoubtedly reduce the autonomy of individual states
UK power in devolved assemblies have become more uniform, moving towards US, Wales gained primary legislative powers, following the referendum in 2011.
different states in the US have power to initiate their own legislation through state congress eg. Alabama 2020 introduced Heart Beat Bill which banned abortion after 10 weeks. Whereas in NY, abortion is legal in state leg up to 24 weeks
how did the Affordable Care Act demonstrate that states have power?
Florida and 12 other states brought actions seeking a declaration that it was unconstitutional.
What are differing electoral systems dependent on in each country
regional desire
What kind of electoral system does NY use in their presidential national convention?
primaries
What kind of system does Iowa use in their presidential national convention?
caucuses
How does Washington dc choose their presidential elections?
winner gets all the votes
How do Maine and Nebraska run their presidential elections?
proportional system
US, states can decide the electoral system they use. E.g. NY uses primaries, whereas Iowa uses caucuses during the presidential national convention.-as well as choosing voting system within state election, they can choose presidential elections; Washington DC, winner gets all the votes, whereas Maine and Nebraska asking their electors using proportional system
UK - greater use of different electoral system and increasing responsibility for electoral laws in devolved regions, such as STV in NI, and reduction of voting age to 16 in Wales and Scotland
WHY are there different types of electoral systems across both nations?
because there is a different democratic demand - both nations have adapted
Why is the level of fed and dev greatly determined by political leaders?
USA federalism entrenched constitutional, the UK is publicly entrenched by public democratic pressure
What is Reagans famous 1981 quote on state power?
‘the federal government did not create the states. The states created the federal government’.
Biden EO first week
22
Example of Obama’s federalism
increase in medicare and medicaid and transgender bathroom policy 2016
what did transgender bathroom policy imply?
This guidance, which contained implicit threat of cuts in federal funding if it was not followed, shows that the gap in the dispersal power between the US and UK may not be as severe as previously thought.
what did the International Federation of Independent business vs. Sebelius (2012) do?
harm state power - defending Obamacare and right of federal gov to inforce healthcare rules onto unwilling states
what does the UK have which means that dev is dependent on the leader?
Parliamentary sovereignty
David Cameron and New Labour push for devolution
Boris disinterested? devolution had been a “disaster” in Scotland.
Mr Johnson also reportedly described it as predecessor Tony Blair’s “biggest mistake”.
What does the fact that devolution is adopted into parliamentary statute mean?
leg is only sustained by parliamentary laws, therefore, in theory it could be reversed, as no parliament can bind its successor