US Constitution And Federalism

Question 1

What is Federalism?

Answer 1

A structure of politics and government in which power is divided between a national government and state governments, both of which have significant control over clearly defined areas of government.

The founding Fathers intended federalism to be a middle ground between a strong central government and protecting the rights and sovereignty of states.

Question 2

How is federalism set out in the constitution?

Answer 2

• federalism isn’t explicitly mentioned in the constitution, however it is implied through how the constitution sets out the powers of the federal government and their limits.

Question 3

How is power divided between the states and federal government?

Federal Government Powers

Answer 3

• declare war
• maintain armed forces
• regulate interstate and foreign trade
• admit new states
• establish post offices
• set standard weights and measures
• coin money
• establish foreign policy
• make all laws necessary for carrying out enumerated powers
• make treaties
• tax imports/exports

Question 4

How is power divided between the states and federal government?

Concurrent (shared) Powers

Answer 4

• maintain law and order
• levy taxes
• borrow money
• charter and regulate banks
• establish courts
• provide for public welfare

Question 5

How is power divided between the states and federal government?

State powers

Answer 5

• establish and maintain schools
• establish local governments
• regulate business within the state
• make marriage laws
• provide for public safety
• conduct elections
• All other powers not delegated to the national government or prohibited to the states

Question 6

Limited government

Answer 6

The idea that the government will only do what is essential. The key goal of limited government is to respect the rights and freedoms of individuals and leave them largely alone.

Question 7

Key phases in the development of federalism:

Dual federalism

Answer 7

1787-1920’s

A clear divide between the areas the states had jurisdiction over and the areas the federal government had jurisdiction over.

State governments exercised the most political power and there was little regulation of the economy by the federal government.

Question 8

Key phases in the development of federalism:

Cooperative federalism

Answer 8

1930’s -1960’s

In response to the Great Depression, the federal government significantly increased its activities and expanded under FDR’s New Deal in the 1930s, which introduced a range of national programmes and regulations in order to bring America out of the economic slump it found itself in.

States were given a lot of federal money to tackle unemployment and a range of other issues. States were therefore responsible for administering many of the national regulations and programmes.

Cooperative federalism was primarily under Democrat Presidents.

Question 9

Key phases in the development of federalism:

New Federalism

Answer 9

1970s-1990s

• Starting with President Nixon, the final three decades of the 20th century saw a shift to New Federalism under mostly Republican Presidents.

This new federalism sought to give more power over how money should be spent back to the states. This was done through block grants; in which the federal government would give states money which they could use how they wished within the remit of a broad policy area.

Much of this attempt to devolve more power back to the states was undermined by the fact that the size of most grants were reduced and there was an increased use of unfunded mandates; using which the federal government would mandate the states to do certain things without providing any funding for it.

Question 10

Key phases in the development of federalism:

Zigzag federalism

Answer 10

Mid 1990s onwards

Where more power and autonomy has been given to states in some areas, but in other areas the federal government has exercised stricter control.

Question 11

The consequences of federalism

Answer 11

• variation in policy, culture and ideology
• states as policy laboratories. Ability of states to experiment with new policies and solutions means that eventual federal government laws are sometimes first tried in states. Affordable Care Act 2010, which was modelled on healthcare reform in Massachusetts in 2006.
• tensions between states and the federal government. One of the consequences of this is that legal challenges against federal laws are often led by the sates. Seen in the overturning of Roe v Wade in 2022.
• complications and shared responsibilities. Shared responsibilities leads to the administration of certain policy areas being complicated. For example the tax system.
• decentralised elections and political parties. Political parties in the United States are decentralised, with 50 Republican parties and 50 Democrats parties. This leads to significant variation and makes it difficult for Presidents and central party leaders to control.

Question 12

Democrats attitudes towards federalism

Answer 12

Democrats have been largely supportive of the extension of federal power, seeing it as necessary to help the whole of society and tackle problems including unemployment and lack of access to healthcare.

Question 13

Republicans attitudes towards federalism

Answer 13

Historically, Republicans have been far more supportive of federalism and protecting state power than Democrats.

Question 14

Arguments that the USA does remain federal today

Answer 14

• 10th amendment ensures that the power of states is protected from federal overreach. In 2017 Trump’s executive order withholding federal grants from sanctuary cities was struck down by the courts.
• there is significant variation in policy, culture and ideology between states and states can act as policy laboratories to improve federal government policy.
• the very difficult amendment process ensures that the constitution cant be changed to infringe upon state power.
• states are able to take a different direction to the federal government when they disagree with it.
• US v Lopez 1995 marked a shift away from the expansive interpretation of federal power and implied powers that the Supreme Court followed in most of the 20th century.
• the vast majority of money spent by states is raised through state and local taxes.

Question 15

Arguments that the USA doesn’t remain federal today

Answer 15

• it can be argued that due to the expansion of federal power in the 20th century, the US is no longer federal today.
• implied powers, particularly the Commerce Clause and Elastic/ Necessary and Proper Clause have justified the growth of federal power through the 20th century.
• constitutional amendments including the 16th amendment introducing federal income tax have expanded federal power.
• states are reliant on the federal government for around a quarter of their income. This allows the federal government to control state policy somewhat, particularly through categorical grants which specifies how money should be spent.

Question 16

Arguments that the US Constitution is Democratic

Answer 16

• the amendment process ensures that states and the population are protected against changes they don’t support, unless there is major support for them.
• federalism and the 10th amendment in particular also ensure that states are largely protected from the federal government imposing policies which they oppose.
• the Bill of Rights ensures that rights are well protected in the US. Codification and the amendment process ensure this is unlikely to be changed.
• The Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances ensure that democracy isn’t threatened by one branch/ individual gaining too much power.
• Elections are very regular and controlled by the states. This ensures that the electorate is able to regularly vote out politicians they deem to have failed to represent them effectively.

Question 17

Other strengths of the constitution

Answer 17

• the vagueness of the constitution and use of implied powers has allowed the constitution to modernise in the 20th century without the need for the formal amendment process, which is very difficult to use.
• the fact that the constitution is very difficult to amend ensures that its key principles are well protected and that ill-thought-out, reactionary amendments fail to be passed.
• the fact that key rules of the US political system are codified in one relatively short document ensures both that they are easily followed and that the US population is well informed about their political system and their rights.
• judicial review enables the constitution to be flexible and evolve with a changing society and in response to political circumstances, even if the formal amendment process allows for little change.

Question 18

Arguments that the US constitution is undemocratic

Answer 18

• it can be argued that the very difficult amendment process is undemocratic because many proposed amendments cant be implemented even when they have majority support from the population, due to a small minority blocking them.
• the power of the federal government have increased significantly over the past century, leading many to suggest that state power is now no longer adequately protected rights.
• the separation of powers and system of Checks and Balances lead to gridlock under divided government and neither votes from the Democrat nor Republican Party getting what they want.
• whilst elections are frequent, the Electoral College is undemocratic, as is states with smaller populations having equal representation to states with larger populations in the senate.

Question 19

Other weakness of the constitution

Answer 19

• the use of implied powers allows the constitution to develop and change significantly without the consent of the population, which the formal amendment process would guarantee.
• the codified and entrenched constitution gives the unelected Supreme Court an excessive amount of power.
• the fact that the constitution is entrenched and the amendment process is extremely difficult leads to failing to modernise and it being very outdated.

Question 20

How the constitution shapes US politics today

Answer 20

• the ability of the Supreme Court to make interpretative amendments through changing how the constitution is interpreted is highly significant in US politics today, where there has been a shift to a conservative dominated court in the past decade.
• federalism and the protection of state rights is a highly relevant part of US politics. States often lead the charge against federal government laws they don’t like through lawsuits.
• the Electoral College allowed Trump to win in 2016 despite losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton.
• the Bill of Rights and the constitution in general are highly relevant aspects of US politics, as can be seen in the politically charged nature of the 2nd Amendment.
• the separation of powers and system of checks and balances lead to significant contestation within Washington. They lead to gridlock and the need to compromise.