Question of Sovereignty, A: Changing Expectations of the Federal Government
The national outlook towards government and what we expect from it has changed. Many areas once assumed to be the purview of state or local governments, like pollution control, now have federal and international dimensions. In tight budget situation...
Question of Sovereignty, A: Perspectives on Federalism
Federalism, quips Jack Rakove, is the one topic in the history of political science that is the toughest to make sense of. Other noted political scientists add their perspectives on the federalist system, talking about the efficiencies and inefficie...
Question of Sovereignty, A: Competition between Levels of Government
While the responsibilities of government have increased overall, states have retained most of their traditional authority. The fact that city and state politics generally has more to do with individual lives than the national government confirms for...
Question of Sovereignty, A: Contrast in Nixon's and Reagan's Approach to Federalism
Richard Nixon tried to "rationalize" the system by sorting out the functions of government at each level. He developed a program of general revenue sharing which gave federal grants without strings to state and local governments. Reagan viewed this ...
Question of Sovereignty, A: Cooperative Federalism Abandoned in Fight Against Segregation
Each new administration renegotiates the tightrope between national and state jurisdiction. Many of the important programs of the New Deal were intergovernmental in nature, what is often called cooperative federalism The federal government provided ...
Question of Sovereignty, A: Court Tightens Congressional Latitude in Use of the Commerce Clause
In recent years, the freedom Congress once had in using the commerce clause to justify federal action has again come under the Supreme Court's scrutiny. During the era of the Rehnquist Court, for example, the court overturned the Gun-Free School Zon...
Question of Sovereignty, A: Constitutional Basis of Federalism
Unlike many other decisions made at the Constitutional Convention, federalism was not based on established political theory. It was a solution to a problem. The national government formed under the Articles of Confederation was dependent on the stat...
Question of Sovereignty, A: Federalism: Shifting Winds
Federalism is not a fixed principle. It changes as the country's political needs change. During times of national crisis the balance of power tends to shift toward the nation's capital as we saw in the aftermath of 9/11. But it didn't take long for ...
Federalism
Historian and author Bernard Bailyn talks about the tension inherent in the relationship between the United States federal government and the states. "American federalism is the emergence out of the origins of the country," Professor Bailyn explains...
Living Constitution, The: Dividing Sovereign Powers Between State and Federal Governments
Power was divided not only among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government, but between federal and state governments. Federalism is a kind of political competition where the national government and the states vie to attract th...