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Federalism

Federalism
The Constitution of the United States established a federal form of government for this nation. In a federal
form of government, the different levels of government share sovereignty but the national government has
the greatest amount of sovereignty. In the federal form of government in the United States, the
government has three different levels: national, state and local. Local government includes county, city
and special districts.
In our system, each level of government is free to act if a higher level has not acted. Because of this,
Wyoming was able to allow women to vote before ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution
and Georgia allowed 18 year olds to vote before ratification of the 26th Amendment.
There are two different types of federalism established in the Constitution.
Article IV, the Interstate Relations Article, establishes horizontal federalism which defines the relationship
among the states. Under the Constitution, all states are equal and must treat each other as equals.

Article VI, the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, establishes vertical federalism. This federalism
establishes the supremacy of the national government in its relationship with the states.

Types of Powers
There are many different types of powers created by our federal system.
Expressed or delegated powers are those powers specifically granted to the national government. These
powers are primarily in Article I, Section 8, clauses 1 through 17 of the Constitution.
Inherent powers are those powers that the national government gets because of being sovereign.
Inherent powers allow the national government to conduct foreign relations with other nations.
The third type of power of the national government is implied power. Implied powers are those not
specifically listed in Article I but which can be assumed from the delegated powers. The Supreme Court
developed the concept of implied powers in McCulloch v. Maryland using the "necessary and proper
clause" of Article I, Section 8. When the United States charted a national bank, the state of Maryland had
levied a tax on paper money by requiring that the money used in the state be printed on paper provided
by the state of Maryland, When McCulloch, the head cashier for the Baltimore Branch of the national
bank, used paper money provided by the national government, the case went to the United States
Supreme Court and implied powers were developed.
In the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution it says that power not given to the national government nor
withheld from the state governments are reserved for the states. These reserved powers are powers that
only the states have.
The final type of power is power that the national government and the state governments share. Both
levels have the power at the same time or concurrently. These shared powers are concurrent powers.
For a period in our history, the Supreme Court decided that the powers of the national government and
the state governments should be completely separated. They said that the national government could act
in certain areas and the states had no power to act in those areas. They also said that in other areas, the
states alone could act and the national government could not interfere in those areas. This idea in which
the national government and the state governments are supreme in their own area is dual federalism.
Today, we operate under the principle that Congress decides the areas and extent of state power that will
be regulated by the national government.

When the American government was first established in the Constitution it was deemed to be run
under a system of federalism. Federalism, a term that sprouted from the Federalists, is the idea
that the governmental sovereignty is divided between the central governing national authority,
and another political unit, such as states. This is exactly like the American government which has
a national government, and the state government. There are some restrictions on the national
government which are listed in the Constitution in Articles 1, 2, and 3. There are however, no
restrictions on the state governments, and in fact, the Constitution only enables the state
governments and guarantees them rights that are not listed in the Constitution. There are many
different types of federalism including dual federalism, cooperative federalism, creative
federalism, fiscal federalism, and new federalism among others. The three main types of
Federalism are;

Dual Federalism is the idea that the union and the state share power but the Federal Government
holds more than the individual states. This is currently how the U.S. system works. (1)

Cooperative Federalism is the idea that the federal government and the state government share
power equally. It has never been attempted but it seems unlikely that it would work as the state
governments and the federal government would be locked in a stalemate unable to reach
compromises over important legislation. (1)


Fiscal Federalism is the type of Federalism in which the money bag controls everything. This
gives Congress massive amounts of power as it is responsible for the American treasury. It can
therefore limit the budget of any other political department it does not believe is working
towards the best interest of America. There have been several instances in our history however of
times when Congress has given full of the treasury to the President. One example of this would
be the Tonkin Gulf Resolution in 1964 which gave President Johnson the ability to, "expressing
the unity and determination of the United States in supporting freedom and in protecting peace in
Southeast Asia". Which as anyone can see leaves a wide space open for interpretation. To quote
Dr Berry, it was essentially a "blank check". (2)

The definition has changed over time and history has shown us that our own actions have created
a few new forms of Federalism in American's times of crisis.

Creative Federalism is common in the United States even now, while New Federalism
was dominant type of governmental federalism from 1960 to 1980, and particularly during the
Johnson administration in the 1960's. (1)

The key aspects of Creative Federalism or "picket fence federalism" is that the federal
government determined the needs of the states and provided services for them. In this case, the
federal government works directly for the states, and caters to their needs. This involves
common planning between the federal and state governments to achieve goals that work for the
states. These days, creative federalism seems to have been diminished by cooperative federalism
and the rise of the federal governments power which started during FDR's presidency and
escalated from there.

New Federalism was created in response to the power the state governments lost due to the
enforcement of civil rights and President Roosevelts New Deal in the 1960's. This type of
federalism returned rights to the local and state governments and turned federal government
powers over to the lesser governments. President Nixon prominently enforced this by returning
the provision of block grants and revenue sharing to the state and local governments. (1)

Federal Grants
One aspect of federalism concerns money. A grant is money collected at the national level and sent to
lower levels of government. There are two general types of grants.
Categorical grants are grants for one specific purpose. If all of the categorical grant money is not spent on
the grant project, it must be returned to the national government.
Project or block grants are for a general purpose. The money from a block or project grant can be used
for anything within the general area of the grant. This type of grant gives the lower levels of government
more freedom in spending the money where they believe it is needed.
Grants generally require the receiving state or local government to provide some funds for a project. The
funds that the state or local government provides are matching funds. The government receiving the
funds must set up a separate agency to administer the funds. Personnel chosen to administer the grants
at the lower levels are required to be chosen based on their merit or qualifications.
In the grant program, the federal government has two roles. First, the national government provides most
of the financing for the project. The national government can raise more money than either the state or
local governments. While the state or local government must provide some matching funds, the national
government provides most of the money for the project. Because they provide most of the money, the
national government assumes the right to supervise or oversee the project. By doing this, the national
government can enforce certain minimum standards on projects throughout the nation.
The remainder of the roles in the grant programs belong to the state or local governments. They initiate
the project, develop the plans, hire the contractors and, after completion of the project, use it.
The federal grant program has some positive results. There has been some transfer of wealth from the
richer states to the poorer states. Tax money collected from the larger, wealthier states has improved the
poorer states to some degree. The administrators of the funds at the lower levels have a developed a
greater ability to deal with large, complex projects. This ability may help solve other complex problems at
the state and local levels. Finally, the program enabled state and local governments to solve problems
that might otherwise go unresolved because of a lack of money.
The federal system we have with its various levels and different types of powers is very complex.
However, the system does work and we have begun our third century under it.

Reserved powers are those that have been reserved specifically for the states or are of a traditionally
state scope. These consist mostly of police powers, such as providing fire and police protection,
establishment of health regulations, licensing, and education.


Granted powers, also known as express, enumerated, implied, delegated, and inherent
powers, are those specifically listed in Article 1, Section 8, such as the power to coin money, to raise an
army and navy, to provide for patent and copyright protections, to establish a post office, and to make
treaties and war with other nations. An express, delegated, or enumerated power is one specifically
listed; an implied or inherent power is one that exists to carry out an express or enumerated power. For
example, Congress can raise an army; this implies the ability to specify regulations concerning who can
join the army.


Concurrent powers are those held to some extent by both the federal and state governments. Both, for
example, have taxation power, the ability to construct and maintain roads, and other spending for the
general welfare.

THE CRITIQUE OF FEDERALISM
Complex, slow to change, tolerates uneven development and regional inequality, duplicates
functions and services.
The allocation of responsibilities and resources to two orders of government is difficult.
Thought to be an expensive system of government.
Minorities within minorities problem.
Unstable: A halfway house en route to secession.

IN DEFENCE OF FEDERALISM
Helps to establish peace and security, construct common values, and foster pluralist democracy
Protects and moderates human diversity
Losers at the national level can become winners at the regional level
Increases political participation, with multiple access points; greater choice
Encourages experimentation
Brings government closer to the people, fosters responsive administration

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
No magic bullet. Federalism by itself is not The Answer
Federal government is constitutional government .
For countries in crisis, federalism is often the least bad option better than any of the alternatives that
present themselves. Everyones second choice. Federalism is typically built on hard-won compromise,
where no party is in a position to win absolute victory.

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