Chapter 3- federalism and local government
Federalism and local government
Tension between local, state and the federal government can exist in a federalist
democracy.
How they handle crises often reveals difficulties within federalism.
Government officials at the local, state, and federal level often clashed with the handling of the
covid-19 pandemic.
In late April tensions between the state government and localities began.
Most of the issues within Texas surrounding covid-19 was one of local vs state
government as well as urban vs rural
The public health crisis created by covid shows the difficulty public official at all
3 levels have to navigate.
The constitutional basis for federalism
Federalism-
Is a way of organizing a country so that two or more levels of
government have formal authority over the same area and people.
Is it a system of shared powers and juridictions between different unites
of government.
On a global level federalism is rare, only 25 countries out of 195 have a
federalist system.
Federalism is usually practiced in countries that are geographically large,
with large populations.
Sovereignty-
The authority of a state (country) to govern itself.
Articles of confederation-
First government of the US where each state retained its sovereignty the
authority of a state to govern itself.
It did not grant the central government with enough power to carry out
its responsibilities.
Congress had the power to declare war, but it did not hive it power to raise revenue
through taxation.
The articles of confederation were a failure.
Throughout the constitutional convention the division of power between the
federal power and state governments would be discussed.
Equal representation of the states in the senate.
Elections-
States were given the authority to determine who could participate in elections, states were
responsible for overseeing both state and national elections.
Continuation of each state-
Protection of states-
The national government was responsible for the protection of states against violence
and invasion
Some states were still hesitant to join were convinced with the bill of rights.
Dual federalism-
Allows for each level of government to be supreme within its own
sphere of jurisdiction
During the early parts of the US history the federal govnt in Washington
mostly kept to policies surrounding national defense, raising revenue
and tade.
Federal expansion of power
in McCulloch vs. Maryland (1819) court ruled the necessary and
propwer clause of consitiution which gives congress the power to make
“all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into
execution” its other responsibilities
the state does not have the authority to tax the national government.
Gibbons V. Ogden also expanded the federal government’s power to
regulate almost all commercial activity.
After the civil war, the power of the federal government expanded.
Each member of the confederate states of America, including Texas, was
required to rewrite its state constitution before reentering the union.
The constitution had to recognize the supremecy of the national government, abolish
slavery and extend voting rights to black men
Supreme court cases
Plessy v Ferguson
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Supreme court in favor of separate but equal facilities, ruled in favor
of segregation
Brown v board of education
Supreme court ruled that schools were not equal and thus ruled for
segregation to end all public places
Brown v board of education 2
Authorized federal court to issue orders desregating local school
districts and send federal marshals to oversee the process if
necessary.
Swann v charlotte-Mecklenburg board of education
The court ruled that the federal courts could issue bussing orders to
integrate
in 1964 congress used the authority granted to them under the commerce
clause to end Jim crow policies in all aspects of commercial activity as well as
education with the passage of the civil rights acts.
The voting rights act of 1965, prohibited policies that restricted voter rights
based on race
The federal government used the power given to them under the
elections
States obligations to each other
Full faith and credit clause
Means that if a couple is married in California and then
moved to Texas, Texas must recognize the marriage.
The only exception was defense of marriage acr of 1996,
meant federal government would not recognize same sex
marriages and that states would not have to recognize same
sex marriages that happened in another state.
Supreme court ruled that DOMA was unconstitutional, and
that the federal government had to recognize same sex
marriages that had taken place in a state that was legal. But
states were still permitted to deny recognition of it.
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Overgfell v hodges (2015) ruled same sex marrage a federal
right
The constitution also contains the extradition clause and a privileges and
immunities clause
The extradition clause says that if you commit a crime in Texas and
move to another state, than the other state must return you to
Texas after receiving a request from Texas.
Current model of federalism
Dual federalism-where each level of government has a distinct and
separate level of authority and jurisdiction.
Cooperative federalism- when authority and programs mix across
the various levels at the federal, state, and local level of
government.
Policies are passed at the national level and federal government relies on
state and local governments to implement these policies.
Giving the federal government a less directive role is known as devolution
Devolution- the transfer or delegation of power to a lower level of
government.
This began in the 1980’s and continues to this day, more and more
national policies are left to the states implementations resulting in
considerable differences in the benefits received in each state.
Geographic policy spread
Vertical policy diffusion- when a policy is adopted at one level of
government and then transferred to another level of government.
Federal
State
local
Vertical policy diffustion
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It can move in either direction and can be voluntary or compulsory.
The voting rights was compulsory and was imposed by the
Horizontal policy diffusion
When a policy is adopted at one level of government and is
transferred to an equal level of government.
Texas Any other state
Thus kind of policy diffusion occurs not only between states, but
also between cities and countries.
A few times Texas has been successful in their lawsuit is when they could
demonstrate the law or executive order was unconstitutional
in 2020 texas filled a lawsuit in the supreme court challenging that
year’s presidential election outcomes in Pennsylvania, Georgia,
Wisconsin, Michigan, in hopes of overturning the 2020 election.
Policy tools of federal government
The federal government has several policy tools to compel syaye and
local governments to comply with federal programs and policies.
Preemption and mandates
preemption- precents a state or local government from adopting its
owne policies in a selected policy area because under the
supremacy clause, action taken by the federal government takes
precedence over state action.
Mandate- requires state and local governments to adapt to policies
