Transcript Prentice Hall Political ScienceInteractiv

Chapter 3 Special Topic: Evolution of American Federalism
Defining Federalism
Federalism
Constitutional arrangement
whereby power is distributed
between a central
government and
subdivisional governments
called states in the United
States. The national and the
subdivisional government
exercise direct authority
over individuals.
Shea, Green, and Smith, Living Democracy, Second Edition
“Look, the American people don’t want to be
bossed around by federal bureaucrats. They
want to be bossed around by state bureaucrats.”
Copyright 2009 Pearson Longman
Chapter 3 Special Topic: Evolution of American Federalism
Versions of Federalism
Dual Federalism
Cooperative Federalism
Views the Constitution as
giving a limited list of
powers to the national
government, leaving the
rest to sovereign states
Federalism as a cooperative
system of intergovernmental
relations in delivering
goods and services
to the people
Marble Cake
Federalism
Competitive
Federalism
“As the colors are mixed in a
marble cake, so functions
are mixed in the American
federal system.”
Sees the levels of
government as competing
to provide packages of
services and taxes
Shea, Green, and Smith, Living Democracy, Second Edition
Copyright 2009 Pearson Longman
Chapter 3 Special Topic: Evolution of American Federalism
Versions of Federalism
Permissive Federalism
“Our Federalism”
Powers are shared, but state
power rests upon the
permission and
permissiveness of the
national government
Power of the federal
government is limited in
favor of the broad powers
reserved to the states
Shea, Green, and Smith, Living Democracy, Second Edition
Copyright 2009 Pearson Longman
Chapter 3 Special Topic: Evolution of American Federalism
The Great Debate:
Centralists versus Decentralists
Centralism
Decentralism
Supporters: Chief Justice John
Marshall, Presidents Abraham
Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt,
and Franklin Roosevelt, and the
Supreme Court for most of its
history
Supporters: Antifederalists,
Thomas Jefferson, Supreme
Court from 1920s to 1937, and
Presidents Ronald Reagan and
G. W. Bush
Position: The central
government should be denied
authority only when the
Constitution clearly prohibits it
from acting
Position: Views the
Constitution as a compact
among states that gives the
central government very little
authority
Shea, Green, and Smith, Living Democracy, Second Edition
Copyright 2009 Pearson Longman
Chapter 3 Special Topic: Evolution of American Federalism
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
Doctrine of Implied National Powers
“Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the
Constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are
plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consist
with the letter and spirit of the Constitution, are constitutional.”
Doctrine of National Supremacy
“The power to tax involves the power to destroy…If the right of the
States to tax the means employed by the general government be
conceded, the declaration that the Constitution, and the laws made
in pursuance thereof, shall be the supreme law of the land, is empty
and unmeaning declamation.”
Shea, Green, and Smith, Living Democracy, Second Edition
Copyright 2009 Pearson Longman
Chapter 3 Special Topic: Evolution of American Federalism
The Evolution of American Federalism
“Dual Federalism”
1868 to 1913
In this phase, the national government
narrowly interpreted its delegated powers,
and the states continued to decide most
domestic policy issues.
Shea, Green, and Smith, Living Democracy, Second Edition
Copyright 2009 Pearson Longman
Chapter 3 Special Topic: Evolution of American Federalism
The Evolution of American Federalism
Cooperative Federalism
1913 to 1964
The system was likened to a
marble cake in that “as the
colors are mixed in a marble
cake, so functions are mixed in
the American federal system.”
Shea, Green, and Smith, Living Democracy, Second Edition
Copyright 2009 Pearson Longman
Chapter 3 Special Topic: Evolution of American Federalism
Devolution
The Republican
“Contract with America”
called for devolution—
the transfer of political
and economic power to
the states.
Shea, Green, and Smith, Living Democracy, Second Edition
Copyright 2009 Pearson Longman
Chapter 3 Special Topic: Evolution of American Federalism
The Supreme Court and the Role of Congress
Beginning in 1995, justices interested in granting more
deference to state authority gained a slim five-to-four
majority in the Supreme Court.
The Constitutional Counterrevolution
A return to an older version of federalism
not embraced since the constitutional crisis
over the New Deal in the 1930s
Shea, Green, and Smith, Living Democracy, Second Edition
Copyright 2009 Pearson Longman
Chapter 3 Special Topic: Evolution of American Federalism
The Future of Federalism
The persistence of
international terrorism,
the war in Afghanistan
and Iraq, and rising
deficits all ensure a
substantial role for the
national government in the
years to come.
Shea, Green, and Smith, Living Democracy, Second Edition
Copyright 2009 Pearson Longman