Eleanor Finch
Federalism is a key principle of the US Constitution, though the word itself is not mentioned in the document. It involves sharing power between national and state governments, with each level of government exercising unique and concurrent powers. The US Constitution's implementation of federalism was a response to the challenges of maintaining a republic across a large and diverse nation. The relationship between the national and state governments has evolved over time, with the national government gaining powers such as declaring war, making treaties, and regulating interstate trade. The Tenth Amendment of the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment further shaped the dynamic, with the former preserving the powers of state governments and the latter placing new federal constraints on state governments. The interpretation and application of federalism continue to be a subject of debate and judicial review in the United States.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Federalism in the US Constitution | Sharing of power between national and state governments |
| Power dynamics | The federal government has powers such as declaring war, making treaties, and regulating interstate trade |
| The states retained many powers, including the police power to create and enforce laws within their borders | |
| The federal government can monetarily incentivize states to pursue objectives or refuse to provide funding if states do not comply | |
| The Tenth Amendment reserves all powers not granted to the national government to the states and the people | |
| The Fourteenth Amendment places new federal constraints on state governments and grants Congress the power to enforce those constraints | |
| The Commerce Clause empowers Congress to regulate commerce among the states, with varying interpretations over time | |
| The Supreme Court has shown a willingness to rule in favor of states' rights in certain cases | |
| The states existed first, and the Constitution reflects the tensions between national and state governments | |
| The Senate represents state interests, and the Electoral College gives states a voice in presidential elections | |
| Amendments to the Constitution require the participation and approval of state legislatures | |
| Anti-Federalists opposed the Constitution, favoring strong state governments and a weak national government | |
| Federalism allows for a dialogue between national authority and local self-rule, accommodating the diverse interests, needs, and problems of a large nation | |
| Federalism divides power to limit the dangers of tyranny and preserve the liberties of the people |
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What You'll Learn
The Tenth Amendment
Federalism in the United States was first attempted to be codified in the Articles of Confederation of 1781, which failed and was replaced by the Constitution of 1787. The Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified on December 15, 1791, clarifies the federal government's limited powers. It states that any powers not specifically granted to the federal government and not prohibited by it to the states are reserved for the states or the people. The amendment was proposed by Thomas Burke, a supporter of states' rights, to ensure clarity and prevent ambiguity regarding the distribution of power between state and federal governments.
The amendment has been invoked in several Supreme Court decisions to determine if the federal government acted within its authority. For example, in Cooper v. Aaron (1958), the Court ruled that Arkansas could not delay school desegregation as it violated the Constitution, according to the previous ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. In United States v. Alfonso D. Lopez, Jr. (1995), the Court found that federal laws establishing "gun-free zones" on school campuses were unconstitutional as they were not authorized by the Constitution, thus limiting the federal government's authority to enact policies through the Commerce Clause.
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The Commerce Clause
The interpretation of the Commerce Clause is crucial in determining the scope of federal power in influencing various aspects of American life. The term "commerce" has been subject to debate, with some arguing for a narrow interpretation, limiting it to "trade" or "exchange", while others advocate for a broader interpretation, encompassing commercial and social intercourse between citizens of different states. This ambiguity has resulted in the Commerce Clause becoming one of the most controversial aspects of the Constitution.
The Supreme Court has played a pivotal role in interpreting the Commerce Clause. In the 1942 case of United States v. Wrightwood Dairy Co., the Court upheld federal price regulation of intrastate milk commerce, asserting that the power to regulate commerce extends beyond commerce among the states and includes intrastate activities that significantly impact interstate commerce. The Court further expanded Congress's power over interstate commerce in Darby, where Justice Stone ruled that regulations of commerce that do not infringe on constitutional prohibitions fall within the plenary power conferred on Congress by the Commerce Clause.
In Gonzales v. Raich, the Supreme Court upheld a federal law regarding marijuana, even though it was grown and consumed within a single state and never entered interstate commerce. The Court found that Congress could regulate an intrastate economic good as part of a comprehensive scheme to regulate interstate commerce. Similarly, in Wickard v. Filburn, the Court ruled that the Commerce Clause empowered the federal government to regulate wheat grown by a farmer for personal use, as it could indirectly affect interstate commerce.
However, in United States v. Morrison, the Court ruled that the federal Violence Against Women Act's civil remedy for victims of gender-motivated violence exceeded congressional power under the Commerce Clause. The Court reiterated this in NFIB v. Sebelius, stating that while the federal government can regulate interstate commerce, it cannot compel it.
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The Civil War and slavery
The American Civil War tested the federal system, with the Union in the North pitted against the Confederacy in the South. The war was fought primarily over the issue of slavery, and the question of whether individual states had the right to secede from the Union. The Southern states, with their strong plantation economies, wanted to preserve slavery, while the North, with its industrial economy, was largely opposed to it. Confederate vice president Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia noted that slavery was the ideological "corner-stone" of the Confederate government. Slave labour was also a crucial physical cornerstone of the Confederate war effort, with civilian and military employers in Virginia hiring slaves in increasing numbers.
During the war, the market for buying and selling enslaved people continued, and the price of enslaved workers rose and fell with the prospects for Confederate victory. As the war progressed, many slave owners recognised the increasing likelihood that slavery would be abolished and attempted to sell their slaves. The actions of slaves themselves, and their desire for freedom, also played a significant role in pushing emancipation into the forefront of the Union's war efforts. Organisations such as the American Missionary Association and the National Freedman's Relief Association sent missionaries into Union-occupied areas, where they formed religious congregations and led revivals. The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) established a large presence among enslaved people and freedmen in and around Union-held areas.
The passage of the Thirteenth Amendment in January 1865 officially abolished slavery in the Union and ensured that slaves in the South would be freed. However, even after the war, many Black people in the South remained and worked for their former masters, and racial tensions grew during the Reconstruction era. White supremacy gained momentum, with the growth of the Ku Klux Klan and the belief in the Lost Cause of the Confederacy movement.
The Civil War demonstrated the resilience of federalism in the US Constitution, as it survived the conflict and emerged as the basic organising principle of American government. The war also highlighted the complex dynamics between states' rights and federal power, with the Thirteenth Amendment representing a significant expansion of federal authority over states' laws regarding slavery.
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The Federalist Party
Hamilton proposed to fund the national and state debts, and Madison and John J. Beckley began organizing a party to oppose it. This ""Anti-Administration" faction became what is now called the Democratic-Republican Party, led by Madison and Thomas Jefferson. This party attracted many Anti-Federalists who were wary of a centralized government. By the early 1790s, newspapers started calling Hamilton supporters "Federalists" and their opponents "Republicans", "Jeffersonians", or "Democratic-Republicans". Jefferson's supporters usually called themselves "Republicans" and their party the "Republican Party".
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The New Deal
The first New Deal (1933-1935) witnessed the adoption of a flexible approach to economic reform, with the enactment of numerous emergency measures in areas such as banking, agriculture, industry, investment, labour, and conservation. Roosevelt assembled a "brain trust" of influential advisers, primarily university professors, to aid in this process.
The Progressive movement, which laid the foundation for New Deal thought, had two main objectives: to dissolve concentrations of wealth and to empower the masses politically. This led to "trustbusting", the creation of new rights to protect individuals in the marketplace, and a series of direct democracy reforms.
In conclusion, the New Deal policies of President Roosevelt represented a significant departure from traditional federalism in the United States, with a centralisation of power in the federal government and a broad expansion of its authority.
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Frequently asked questions
Federalism is the principle of having different levels of government—national, state, and local—each with constitutionally defined powers.
The US Constitution does not contain the word federalism, but it is one of its most important and innovative concepts. The Constitution strengthened the national government with powers such as declaring war, making treaties, and regulating interstate trade. However, the Framers also ensured that the states retained many of their powers, including the police power to create and enforce laws within their borders.
America’s first attempt to codify federalism was the Articles of Confederation of 1781, which failed and were replaced by the Constitution of 1787. The relationship between the national and state governments has changed greatly over US history, with the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments fundamentally altering their relationship by banning slavery within states, defining national citizenship, preventing states from violating rights, and protecting the right to vote for Black males.
One example is the use of block grants by Reagan's administration, which gave state governments more discretion over how to spend federal money. Another is the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, where the federal government issued guidelines but states were responsible for implementing their own laws and regulations to deal with the pandemic.
