Federalism

This is Unit Two of American Government: federalism. The arrangement is unusual and worth stating precisely. Two levels of government operate at once, each drawing authority from the constitution rather than from the other. Neither level created the other and neither can dissolve the other, which is what makes it a different thing from the alternatives. The capstone calls it a standing negotiation, and that is the unit's frame. A written division of powers meets two centuries of national expansion, and the argument is conducted through courts, through money, and through the language people use. Three error entries here, and one of them is about a word — the word "federal" names the whole two-level system, states included, and using it to mean only the national government describes the arrangement wrongly. By the end you will be able to do five things. One: say what the word names, and place the three system types by where final authority sits. Two: say why a state cannot nullify a federal law, and what the routes are. Three: tell the two grant forms apart, and say why the flexible one erodes. Four: say why the strongest argument for this system and the strongest against it describe the same mechanism. Five: classify a power by asking the constitutional questions in order.

Four entries fixing what the arrangement is. The definition, then an error about the vocabulary, then the two alternatives — and all three system types are distinguished by a single question, which is where final authority actually rests.

The arrangement.

Gov 056 Federalism

Two relatively autonomous levels, each holding authority granted by the constitution itself. Neither one made the other and neither can abolish the other — that mutual independence is the defining feature.

The vocabulary error.

Gov 057 ERROR: "'Federal' Means Only the National Government"

The word does not mean the national government. It names the entire two-level arrangement, states included. This course says "national government" for the level and keeps the other word for the system.

The first alternative.

Gov 058 Unitary System

Authority concentrated at the centre, which may hand power downward and take it back again. Delegated power is borrowed power, and that is the mark of this type.

The second.

Gov 059 Confederation

Authority concentrated in the subnational governments, leaving the centre reliant on them. The three types differ by where final authority sits — not by how large the country is.

Four categories of power. A list, a clause preventing the list from being closed, a rule covering everything unlisted, and the ones both levels hold — which is where conflicts come from.

The list.

Gov 060 Enumerated Powers

The national government's powers, written out in the Constitution. The list names policy areas; the means of carrying them out come from a separate clause.

The clause that stretches.

Gov 061 The Elastic Clause

Authority to make laws necessary and proper for carrying out the listed powers. Read generously it extends national authority well past the list itself, which is where the name comes from.

Everything unlisted.

Gov 062 Reserved Powers

Powers not given to the national government are kept by the states or the people. It works as a residue rule — what was not handed over remains held.

And the shared ones.

Gov 063 Concurrent Powers

Powers exercised by both levels at once. Sharing invites collision, so the arrangement needs a rule for what happens when the two disagree.

The rule for conflicts, and then an error entry about a claim that resurfaces in American politics roughly every generation — that a state may decide for itself which federal laws apply to it.

The rule.

Gov 064 The Supremacy Clause

The Constitution and the federal law made under it are the supreme law of the land. The clause binds the country to a single body of law — subordinating the states was the mechanism rather than the aim.

And the claim it rules out.

Gov 065 ERROR: "States Can Nullify Federal Law"

A state cannot void a federal law it judges unconstitutional. Disagreement travels through the courts, through elections, and through amendment — those are the routes, and refusal is not among them.

One more clause and the two early cases that interpreted it and its neighbour. These two decisions are why national authority reaches as far as it does — the text did not change, the reading of it did.

The clause.

Gov 066 The Commerce Clause

Congress empowered to regulate commerce between the states. Read broadly, the boundary between commerce crossing state lines and commerce inside one becomes very hard to draw.

The first case.

Gov 067 McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Congress may charter a national bank under the stretching clause, and a state may not tax it. The decision reads the stretching clause and the supremacy rule together, which is what gives it its reach.

The second.

Gov 068 Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

A broad reading of the commerce power, giving the national government authority over commerce between states. That reading is the opening through which a great deal of later national regulation arrived.

One entry on a relationship the unit otherwise passes over. The Constitution does not only govern how the levels deal with each other — it also governs how the states deal among themselves.

The clause.

Gov 069 Full Faith and Credit

Each state must honour the public acts, records and court rulings of the others. It is a reminder that the document structures state-to-state relations, not only the vertical ones.

Two descriptions of how the levels have actually related, an error entry about which of them describes today, and the movement that tried to push back. The two styles have a food metaphor attached that does real explanatory work.

The first style.

Gov 070 Dual Federalism

Each level exercising exclusive authority in its own distinct area. This names a phase in the country's history rather than the permanent design.

The second.

Gov 071 Cooperative Federalism

The levels working jointly in areas the states once handled alone. The layer cake gave way to the marble cake — functions swirl across levels rather than stacking.

The error.

Gov 072 ERROR: "Federal and State Spheres Stay Separate Today"

The levels do not operate in separate spheres today. Shared and overlapping powers define the current arrangement — one metaphor describes an era, the other describes now.

The pushback.

Gov 073 New Federalism

A movement from the nineteen-seventies to return policy management to the states. Note what moved and what did not — decentralising the administration is not repealing the national goals, and the money still travels with conditions.

Four entries on how the national government actually gets its way in areas it does not directly control. Two forms of grant, a drift from one toward the other, and a fourth instrument that is not an inducement at all.

The narrow form.

Gov 074 Categorical Grants

Money for a tightly defined purpose with detailed conditions attached. It induces rather than commands — states can decline, at the price of the money.

The broad form.

Gov 075 Block Grants

Money for a wide policy area with the details left to the state. Discretion is the whole purpose of the form — and it does not stay put.

The drift.

Gov 076 Creeping Categorization

New administrative requirements attached to broad grants over time, or broad grants replaced by narrow ones. The flexibility a state starts with is a starting condition rather than a guarantee.

And the instrument that is not a grant.

Gov 077 Unfunded Mandates

Obligations imposed on state and local governments without paying for them. This is command rather than inducement — the counterpart to the carrot.

Two entries, and they are the same fact stated twice. The most common argument in favour of this system and the most common objection to it describe one mechanism — the entries make that explicit, which is unusually honest.

The argument for.

Gov 078 States as Laboratories

States can try policies, so what works can spread and what fails stays contained. And it runs both directions — a state can pioneer a protection, or pioneer removing one.

The objection.

Gov 079 Unequal Policy Across States

Policy differing by state means rights, benefits and burdens can depend on residence. Variation is the same mechanism as experimentation — one fact, praised under one name and criticised under the other.

Three entries about the level below. Every American lives under two constitutions, state governments look like the national one by their own choice — and the third level in the system is not a partner in it at all.

Two constitutions each.

Gov 083 State Constitutions

Every state has its own constitution, supreme inside that state so far as it does not conflict with the national one. Two documents govern every American.

Why they look alike.

Gov 084 The Mirrored Design of State Governments

Elected legislature, a governor, and courts — the national pattern repeated. The mirroring is a choice each state made, not a requirement imposed on it.

And the level below that.

Gov 085 Local Governments Are Creatures of Their States

Local governments hold only the powers their state gives them, and the state can narrow or withdraw those powers. The contrast is the point — states are constitutional partners in the arrangement, and localities are not.

One procedure, and its instruction is strict: the questions are answered from the constitutional text rather than from how things currently work — which will sometimes produce an answer that does not match practice.

Watch a power get classified.

Gov 086 Classifying a Power

Ask in order whether the text grants the power nationally, denies it to anyone, or leaves it unassigned. Follow the text rather than current practice — a power reserved on paper and exercised in fact is still reserved on paper.

The unit closes on the frame the opening used, with everything behind it — and it ends by declining to say where the balance ought to sit, which is the correct thing for a course to do with a live political question.

The capstone. A negotiation, ongoing.

Gov 087 The Federal Bargain

A written division of powers meeting two centuries of national expansion, argued through courts, through money, and through language. Where the balance should sit is contested — the course maps the argument rather than joining it.

Five things you can now do. You can say what the word names — the whole two-level arrangement, states included — and place the three system types by where final authority sits. You can say why a state cannot void a federal law, and name the routes that are available: the courts, elections, and amendment. You can tell a narrow grant from a broad one, and say why the flexibility erodes — conditions get added, and broad grants get replaced by narrow ones. You can say why the argument for this system and the objection to it describe one mechanism, praised under one name and criticised under the other. And you can classify a power by working through the constitutional questions in order, from the text rather than from current practice.