US Government - Federalism

Question 1

What are enumerated powers?

Answer 1

The powers of the federal government listed in the Constitution; the powers of the FG should be limited to these and are granted through the ratification of the Constitution.
They are sometimes known as delegated powers as the original 13 states decided to give the federal central government the powers when they signed the Constitution

Question 2

What are reserved powers?

Answer 2

The powers of the state governments, confirmed by the 10th Amendment in the Bill of Rights (1791)

Question 3

What are concurrent powers?

Answer 3

Powers that belong to both states and the federal government; e.g. taxes

Question 4

What is federalism?

Answer 4

The division of power between state and federal government. It is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, but it creates a federal system.

Question 5

What are the prohibited / denied powers?

Answer 5

The actions of the federal government and states that are not allowed
e.g. preventing the abolishment of Habeas Corpus, imposing direct income taxes and having their own army / navy without the permission of Congress

Question 6

What is established in the Supremacy Clause?

Answer 6

Article 6, Clause 2 of the Constitution states that in case of conflict between federal and state government, federal law has priority or supremacy over state government laws.
e.g. Texas Abortion Bill 2021 case

Question 7

What is the ‘Necessary and Proper Clause’?

Answer 7

Also known as the ‘elastic clause’, it determines the ‘implied’ powers of the federal government. Congress can make all laws that are necessary and proper; the flexibility of this clause due to the all-encompassing vagueness of its wording means it is both interpretive and able to cover all legislative bases.
It accommodates for future changes and allows the carrying out of enumerated powers.
The elasticity of this clause, means that many court cases are defined by constitutional interpretation.

Question 8

How did the case of McCulloch v Maryland demonstrate that the Constitution also ‘implied’ powers?

Answer 8

Centered around a law that required the bank of the US to pay a tax, which they refused. As Mayland could not tax the bank, they took them to the Supreme Court, who ruled the refusal as Constitutional. Because the federal government has the power to tax, it is implied that it also has the power to set up a bank to collect the taxes, and so the bank was constitutional as an implied federal power.
This demonstrated that the powers of the federal government could be stretched with enough justification.

Question 9

What is the ‘Commerce Clause’?

Answer 9

The ability to commerce (trade) with other nations, states and others, implying Congress has the power to set a minimum wage, ban discrimination in the workspace and public facilities as well as regulate banking.
Case study - Ogden v Gibbons (1824);
- Navigation license dispute, fell under commerce clause, where it was decided only navigational licenses granted by the Fed Gov held validity - an implied power

Question 10

How does the ‘Full Faith and Credit Clause’ influence horizontal federalism?

Answer 10

Gives powers to the states, and allows all laws they make to be in public record, and all acts and judicial proceedings are respected by other states. It also ensures that the laws of other states are respected e.g. if you get married in one state, that marriage is legal in all states.
It expands and limits state powers simultaneously - if a law is introduced in one state, but it is not compatible with the laws of other states, it would be overruled and would not apply in all states. If a law is compatible with other states, it becomes federally effective.
Case study example - Pacific Employers Insurance v Industrial Accident (1939)

Question 11

How have the executive departments changed?

Answer 11

There were initially 3 departments -
- State 
- War
- Treasury 
There are now 15 executive departments.

Question 12

What are the powers of the Fed Gov?

Answer 12

• Creating and maintaining armed forces
• Foreign relations and making treaties with other countries
• Declarations of war
• Coining money
• Regulation of foreign and interstate commerce
• Making any ‘necessary and proper’ laws to carry out its constitutional role (elastic clause)

Question 13

What are the concurrent powers?

Answer 13

• Making constitutional amendments
• Charging taxes
• Establishing new courts
• Making and enforcing law
• Chartering / authorising a bank to operate

Question 14

What are the powers of the State gov?

Answer 14

• Establish local councils and schools
• Regulating interstate matters
• Maintain a well-regulated militia - the National Guard
• Any powers not listed in the constitution go to the states as ‘reserved powers’ under the 10th amendment

Question 15

What is the issue with the terminology of the 10th Amendment?

Answer 15

The wording ‘to the people’ is too ambiguous
Their will is expressed through voting in the current system, but this could mean that not all powers belong with individual states.

Question 16

What is federalism and how does it compare to the UK?

Answer 16

It is a system of government in which bodies such as states share a national and central government - the UK is traditionally a unitary state, although it has arguably shifted in recent years to becoming quasi-federalist.

Question 17

What views were expressed by Hamilton and Franklin?

Answer 17

Wanted a stronger central government (federalists)

Question 18

Who opposed AH and BF?

Answer 18

Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson - supported more autonomy for individual states; the Constitution does not explicitly reference federalism, but it did state that state law must conform with federal laws and the Constitution.

Question 19

How did the 1861-65 Civil War affect the debate of the political power struggle?

Answer 19

• Was fought over slavery and also involved the issues of state rights and above all the ultimate power (central government) and breaking away from state union
• The North won, the war and so the ultimate expression of state power was suppressed
• This meant that the central government gained more power

Question 20

The post civil war era’s effect on the political power struggle?

Answer 20

In the South, saw the emergence of legalised racial segregation, viewed as permissible under the notion of states rights - successfully challenged and ended by the 1950’s and 1960’s federal government.
During this, states were still required to undertake certain without sufficient federal funds, a Republican idea favoured by democrat Bill Clinton
Federal government had control over policies of the states

Question 21

How did the 16th Amendment (1913) effect the political power struggle?

Answer 21

Allowed for national income tax, only amendment to have expressly extended the power and authority of the central government

Question 22

How did the New Deal (1930’s and 1939-1945) effect the political power struggle?

Answer 22

Huge increases in the power and influence of national government e.g. nationwide social security programme in Depression and national co-ordination of war industry in WW2 - established national control for central, states become delegations

Question 23

Racial Inequality in the 1960’s and 1950’s and its effect on the power struggle

Answer 23

Increased measures to tackle this - laws were passed that required an end to practices that prevented black voting and also introduced medicare as a national healthcare scheme; makes Fed Gov more influential.

Question 24

New Federalism (1970’s and 1980’s) and its effect on the power struggle

Answer 24

Returning some powers to individual states in order to stunt the growth of a ‘big’ central government - Nixon and Reagan.
However, federal budget deficit growth in this period meant that federal programmes were cut back and this created unfunded mandates, which meant that states still had to perform federal rules, and so federal has overarching rule

Question 25

The effect on the power struggle since 2000

Answer 25

George W Bush - major education reform on a national scale in 2002; substantial expansion of Medicare programme to include prescription drugs and the Patriot Act following 9/11 to set up the Department of Homeland Security.

Question 26

Financial Crisis 2007-2008 effect on the power struggle

Answer 26

Government spending increased under Obama with the Affordable Care Act and several measures to help stimulate the economy following the crisis, including the American Jobs Act 2011 which provided $400 billion to repair roads and modernise schools

Question 27

Covid-19 effect on the power struggle

Answer 27

Before - Tax and Jobs Act 2017 was a major stimulus package
In March 2020, Trump signed the largest ever financial aid package worth $2 trillion and previously invoked the Defense Reproduction Act 1980 which gives the President the power to force private industries to create items required for national defence, undertaken primarily to escalate the production of medical ventilators by firms such as General Motors as a response to the pandemic.

Question 28

Overview of federalism

Answer 28

Suggests it has been seriously weakened from the 1930’s onwards - as the world has become more global and complex, people’s expectations of what governments should deliver to their citizens have grown and as a result of military, economic and health crises and so the federal government is doing more and spending more indirectly.

Question 29

What is ‘dual federalism’?

Answer 29

Federalism from the time of the Founding Fathers to the New Deal in the 1930’s, that allowed most of the jurisdiction to lie with the states. Power is divided clearly between the states and the national government, with each having some powers, but overall the states have the most e.g. Oregon has the most power over what happens as what happens in their own state should be decided by them, not the national government.

Question 30

Why is dual federalism also called ‘layer-cake’ federalism?

Answer 30

Because there is clear and strict division between the two types of government - consistent with the tradition of of limited government. They have defined roles and powers (limited communication between states and national gov means that states have more control)

Question 31

When did the traditional role of government begin to change?

Answer 31

With the introduction of the New Deal in the 1930’s to help deal with the Depression, in which the federal government had to take more control with all states struggling with money (less resources to compete for)

Question 32

What is ‘co-operative’ federalism?

Answer 32

The national government encourages states and localities to pursue nationally-defined goals. The government encourages states through money, or grants in aid, which are used as a ‘carrot’ to encourage states to adopt a certain policy, or they withhold money / funding if the state disagrees. Grants in aid are often categorical; either formula or project grants are given e.g. the old way of defining welfare funds was given under the program ‘Aid to families’ where states got a certain amount of money for every person classified as poor.

Question 33

Why is co-operative federalism sometimes known as ‘marble cake’ federalism?

Answer 33

Because the state and national governments are mixed up, with no way to redivide them back into defined layers or roles / powers.

Question 34

What is regulated federalism?

Answer 34

The government sets up regulations and rules that the states must follow - examples of this are mandates, such as EPA regulations or defined civil rights.

Question 35

How has federalism in the 21st century very different from how it was originally envisioned?

Answer 35

Americans live under a system of co-operative federalism with some areas of activity being heavily regulated - stretches from ideas that government should be small and limited and states should have the most power.

Question 36

What was Nixon and Reagan’s ‘New Federalism’ & how was it carried out?

Answer 36

Giving more powers to states through block grants (money), devolution and the 10th amendment
- Have the power to make decisions with the money they are given, so can be argued the power has changed but they have given power back to states.

Question 37

The origins of federalism

Answer 37

• The Framers were dedicated to the concept of limited government. They were convinced that governmental power poses a threat to individual liberty, therefore the exercise of governmental power must be restrained, and that to divide governmental power, as federalism does, is to curb it and so prevent its abuse.
• Federalism reserves some powers exclusively to the federal government, some powers to the state governments, and other powers to both – concurrent powers.

Question 38

Why has Federalism changed?

Answer 38

1. Western expansion - Needed someone to intervene, manage this growth
2. Amendments – 14th allowed fed govt to end segregation, 16th –impose tax
3. Population - 4 million to 300m+, needed a big government to manage
4. Industrialisation - Needed regulation, standardisation, 5. Communication - Improvements brought nation closer, needed regulation, standardisation
5. Great depression - States needed the resources that national government had. New deal central government huge expenditure- increased power of fed government
6. Foreign policy - WW2 and events in wider world gave federal govt wider role
7. Supreme Court cases - interpreted the implied powers of the constitution

Question 39

Federalism under Obama

Answer 39

Key features of federalism under Obama;

• Direct effort to influence state budgets, policies and - administration
• Expanded use of project or competitive grants
• Blurred division of responsibilities
• Executive Influence
• Affordable Care Act was not welcome in all states

Question 40

Consequences of federalism

Answer 40

State laws are often of greater significance to citizens since they influence their daily lives.

Regionalism:
- Very distinct cultures in the different regions in the country. E.g. Bible belt very different to New England.

Legal Consequences
- Laws differ greatly between states, especially on age of marriage, driving regulations, death penalty, drugs, and local taxation. E.g. Oregon has doctor assisted suicide.

Economic Consequences

• Complex tax system as both fed and state govts can raise income tax
• Property and sales tax differ between states

Political Consequences

• Each state has different electoral methods.
• Different candidate selection, different mechanisms for polling, e.g punch cards,/touch screen. Montana had 100% postal ballot.
• Contributed to issues of 2000 election.
• Parties are state based. Virginia Republicans are more liberal than South Carolina Republicans, therefore relative lack of party unity in Congress

Question 41

Advantages of Federalism

Answer 41

• Leads to policy experimentation: States become ‘laboratories of democracy’ e.g. varying laws on marjuana
• Encourages pluralism: Federal systems expand government on national, state, and local levels, giving people more access to leaders and opportunities to get involved in their government.
• Ensures the separation of powers and prevents tyranny: Even if one person or group took control of all three branches of the federal government, federalism ensures that state governments would still function independently. Federalism, therefore, fulfils the framers’ vision of a governmental structure that ensures liberty.

Question 42

Disadvantages of Federalism

Answer 42

• Prevents the creation of a national policy: The United States does not have a single policy on issues; instead, it has fifty-one policies, which often leads to confusion.
• Leads to uncertain accountability: The overlap of the boundaries among national and state governments makes it tricky to assign blame for failed policies.
• Different standards across states; different laws on things such as marriage, marijuana or taxes and create resentment / opportunities

Question 43

The Tea Party - Aims

Answer 43

To protest taxation without representation; they want to gain fiscal responsibility (taxes), have limited governments and gain a free market.
They wish to influence exiting parties, being interested in principes over policy.

Question 44

The Tea Party - Policies

Answer 44

• Limited government / supports small government principles
• Unapologetic US sovereignty
• Constitutional Originalism - theory of interpreting legal texts to give them their original meaning back
• Opposes government sponsored healthcare
• Naturally align with Republicans
• De-centralised
• Low taxes and reduction of US debt

Question 45

The Tea Party - Tactics

Answer 45

• Have meetings and appeal to voters
• Localised groups that have individual priorities and identities, making the movement hard to pin down - having a single hierarchical structure makes them easy to target politically
• Do not discuss polarising issues
• Use of social media and categorisation as a cause to their benefit
• Appeal to politicians through promising funding for campaigns or votes

Question 46

The Tea Party - Successes and Failures

Answer 46

• Successfully instated candidates and have had victories in Republican primaries in 2010; strictly conservative establishment
• However, they failed to win seats and instead propelled Democratic candidates into the Senate by splitting Republican votes; opposite ideology gained power

Question 47

What is the Tea Party?

Answer 47

2009 - protests in the US inspired by the Boston Tea Party who were against over taxation from the British in their protest in 1773. They are a group of anti-federalists who support what the founding fathers originally wanted, which was state power over federal power, or dual federalism.

Question 48

Creative Federalism

Answer 48

• The advance of federal government into matters traditionally seen as the responsibility of the states

The relationship between the state and national government changed in the 1960’s with the launch of LBJ (Lyndon B Johnson’s) ‘Great Society’ Programme which aimed to put an end to the poverty epidemic in the US
He believed that the states had never made an effort to tackle the concentrated pockets of poverty in cities such as LA.
His programme therefore bypassed state laws and government and worked directly with city or local authorities to implement anti-poverty projects.

Question 49

Cooperative Federalism

Answer 49

• Cooperative federalism is the flexible relationship between the state governments and the federal government.
• The relationship between the states and federal government was altered in the Great Depression during the 1930s.
• During this time the states did not possess the resources to help those who lost their homes and jobs but the federal government did and they used them in the New Deal which helped to stimulate the economy thus helping those who were suffering.
• Federal government gets involved in matters that would have previously been under the state.

Question 50

New Federalism

Answer 50

• President Nixon (Republican 1969-74) started a programme entitled General Revenue Sharing, this gave the states freedom to choose how they wish to spend a large amount of their federal grants.
• President Carter (Democrat 1977-81) continued the Revenue sharing, however he also cut the amount of federal grants available for spending for each state.
• President Reagan (Republican 1981-89) made sharp cuts to funds available to the states, instead he offered ‘swaps’ which mean that states would take full responsibility for some welfare programmes and the federal government would take over others entirely.
• President Clinton (Democrat 1993-2001) oversaw an economic boom that led to states building up surplus funds.
• President George W Bush (Republican 2001-2009) increased government security after 9/11, and when the economy deteriorated sharply in 2008 he introduced an economic stimulus plan.
• President Obama (Democrat 2009-2016) created a stimulus plan even greater than that of Bush to solve the economic crisis.