Comprehensive Study Guide to Systems of Government, Constitutional Federalism, Supreme Court Jurisprudence, and Intergovernmental Relations
Systems of Government and Foundations of Federalism
Overview of Governmental Systems
Governments allocate power differently depending on their structural framework. In the United States, governmental authority is divided between two primary tiers: the federal government operates at the national level, while state governments operate at the subnational level.
There are three general systems of government recognized in political organization:
Federal system: A system of government in which the national government and state governments share power. The United States operates under a federal system.
Confederation: A type of government in which the national government derives its powers directly from subnational or state governments.
Unitary system: A type of government in which local and state governments derive all of their authority from the national government.
Definition and Structural Characteristics of Federalism
Federalism is defined as an institutional arrangement that creates two relatively autonomous levels of government, each possessing the capacity to act directly on behalf of the people with the authority granted to it by the national constitution.
Five structural characteristics are common to the United States and other federal systems globally:
Two Levels of Government: Establishes two distinct levels of government, with both levels being directly elected by the people and each level assigned different functions. Subnational units correspond to states. This structure necessitates cooperation between the levels of government.
Written Constitution: Features a written constitution that cannot be changed without the substantial consent of subnational governments.
Main Advantage: Constitutional changes cannot occur unless there is broad support within Congress and among the states.
Potential Drawback: Numerous national amendment initiatives have failed because they were unable to garner sufficient support within Congress or among the states. An example is the Equal Rights Amendment, which aims to guarantee equal rights regardless of sex.
Formal Allocation of Authority: Formally allocates legislative, judicial, and executive authority to the two levels of government in a manner that ensures each level retains autonomy from the other.
Judicial Dispute Resolution: National courts commonly resolve disputes between levels and departments of government. Conflicts between states and the federal government are adjudicated by federal courts, with the Supreme Court serving as the final arbiter.
Subnational Representation in National Legislature: Subnational governments are always represented in the upper house of the national legislature (such as the United States Senate), enabling regional interests to influence national lawmaking.
Constitutional Allocation of Powers
National Powers Under the Constitution
Enumerated (Expressed) Powers: Powers specifically stated and listed in the United States Constitution. Examples include:
Coining money
Conducting foreign relations
Providing for an army and navy
Declaring war
Collecting duties and taxes
Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic Clause): Grants Congress the authority to enact all laws "Necessary and Proper" for executing its expressed powers.
Implied Powers: Powers derived directly from the combination of enumerated powers and the Necessary and Proper Clause.
Supremacy Clause: Declares that the United States Constitution and federal laws constitute the "Supreme law of the Land," establishing federal law as superior to state law.
State Powers Under the Constitution
State powers are not explicitly enumerated in the Constitution; most authority is left to the states to regulate.
Tenth Amendment: Reserves powers not delegated to the national government to the states.
Reserved Powers: Refers to the powers preserved by the Tenth Amendment. These form the fundamental basis for state criminal laws, including those establishing the death penalty.
Concurrent Powers Under the Constitution
Certain powers overlap between national and state jurisdictions.
Concurrent Powers: Powers shared simultaneously by both national and state governments. Examples include:
The power to tax
The power to borrow money
The power to establish courts
Powers Denied Under the Constitution
The Constitution places explicit prohibitions on governmental power to prevent arbitrary actions that violate constitutional rights and liberties:
Congress cannot show state favoritism.
No titles of nobility may be granted by the national government.
Bills of Attainder Prohibited: Neither the federal nor state governments may pass a bill of attainder, which is a law declaring an act illegal without providing a judicial trial.
Ex Post Facto Laws Barred: Governments cannot pass ex post facto laws, which make an action punishable as a crime even if the act was legal at the time it was committed.
Writ of Habeas Corpus Restrictions: The writ of habeas corpus, which enables a person in custody to petition a judge to determine whether their detention is legal, cannot be suspended.
Interstate Relations, Financial Distribution, and Local Governance
Constitutional Interstate Relations
Dispute Resolution: The Supreme Court maintains jurisdiction to settle legal disputes between individual states.
Full Faith and Credit Clause: Ensures that judicial decrees and contractual agreements made in one state are legally binding and enforceable in any other state.
Privileges and Immunities Clause: Guarantees that citizens of each state are entitled to the same rights as citizens in all other states.
Extradition Clause: Requires states to return fleeing criminals to the state where they were convicted or where they are to stand trial.
Interstate Compacts: Legal contracts between states that carry the force of law. Modern compacts are primarily used to address multistate policy concerns. More than interstate compacts currently exist, ranging from agreements signed by only a few states to broad compacts signed by all states (such as the Driver's License Compact).
Intergovernmental Financial Distribution
All levels of government (federal, state, and local) rely on distinct revenue sources to finance annual expenditures.
Shift in Federal Financial Dominance: The allocation of governmental revenue was drastically altered in the early 1900s.
Sixteenth Amendment: Authorized Congress to impose national income taxes without apportioning the revenue among states based on population. This structural change significantly expanded the federal government's ability to raise revenue and spend funds.
Federal Grants: Regulated mechanisms through which money is transferred from federal authority down to state and local levels.
State Variations: Methods for generating revenue vary significantly from state to state.
Federal Budget Expenditure Concentration: Approximately of the entire federal budget is consumed by three specific categories:
Social Security
Health care and insurance programs
Defense
Local Governments Under the Constitution
Local governments possess no direct power or recognition under the United States Constitution.
Dillon's Rule: Establishes that local governments operate entirely under state charters and derive all legal authority from the state government.
Types of Local Government Entities:
Counties
Municipalities
Towns
Special districts
Judicial Federalism and Landmark Marshall Court Decisions
Defining National Power: McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
Factual Background: In 1816, Congress chartered the Second Bank of the United States after the first bank's charter had expired. In 1818, the Maryland state legislature enacted a tax requiring all banks not chartered by Maryland (specifically targeting the Second Bank of the United States) to choose one of three options: buy stamped paper from the state on which bank notes were issued, pay the state , or cease operations. James McCulloch, the head cashier of the Baltimore branch of the Bank of the United States, refused to pay the tax. Maryland sued McCulloch. McCulloch lost in state court but appealed to the United States Supreme Court.
Legal Questions:
Does Congress have the authority to charter a national bank?
If Congress has that authority, can a state tax the federal entity?
Supreme Court Decision: The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of James McCulloch.
Chartering Authority: Yes, Congress has the authority to charter a bank. Because Congress holds explicit powers to levy and collect taxes, issue currency, and borrow funds, chartering a bank is a reasonable execution of those powers.
State Taxing Authority: No, a state cannot tax a federal entity. Powers are granted by the people, not by the states. National law is supreme, and "the power to tax involves the power to destroy." States cannot interfere with the lawful operations of the national government.
Constitutional Significance:
Marks the first major Supreme Court decision defining the structural relationship between national and state governments.
Upheld the supremacy of the national government while denying state authority to tax federal institutions using the Supremacy Clause.
Established the practical application of implied powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause.
Affirming National Power: Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
Factual Background: New York granted Aaron Ogden an exclusive monopoly license to operate steamboats on the Hudson River. Thomas Gibbons began operating steamboats on the same waterway under a federal license. Ogden sought an injunction against Gibbons, and New York state courts ruled in favor of Ogden. Gibbons appealed to the Supreme Court. The dispute highlighted a conflict between New York and New Jersey, both of which sought control over commercial shipping on the lower Hudson River.
Supreme Court Decision: The Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in favor of Thomas Gibbons.
Constitutional Significance:
Resolved disputes regarding Congress's authority under the Commerce Clause.
Ruled that Congress holds exclusive power to regulate interstate commercial activity.
Established that the state of New York lacked constitutional authority to grant a commercial steamboat monopoly that interfered with interstate navigation.
Limiting the Bill of Rights: Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
Factual Background: John Barron owned a profitable commercial docking business along the Baltimore wharf. As the city expanded, municipal construction washed dirt and sand into the harbor off his wharf, causing the water to become shallow and making the harbor unusable for ships. Barron sued the city of Baltimore and was awarded damages in trial court. An appellate court reversed the decision. Barron appealed to the Supreme Court, claiming a violation of the Fifth Amendment right prohibiting the taking of private property for public use without just compensation.
Supreme Court Decision: The Supreme Court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction.
Constitutional Significance:
Established that the Bill of Rights (specifically the Due Process clause of the Fifth Amendment) applied exclusively to actions of the national government, not to state or local actions.
Ruled that because local state action caused the damages, the federal government held no fault or liability.
The Bill of Rights remained inapplicable to state governments until the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868.
Historical Evolution of Federalism: Dual to Cooperative Federalism
Dual Federalism, States' Rights, and the Civil War Era
Nullification Doctrine: Asserted the supposed legal right of individual states to declare federal laws null and void.
Southern states utilized nullification doctrines primarily to resist federal anti-slavery legislation.
Vice President John C. Calhoun (serving under Andrew Jackson) argued that if a nullifying state refused to be bound by a federal provision, that state retained the constitutional right to secede from the Union.
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857):
Ruled that enslaved individuals were legal property rather than United States citizens.
Declared that Congress lacked legal authority to prohibit slavery in newly acquired federal territories.
Significantly expanded state power relative to federal authority.
Civil War and Reconstruction:
The outcome of the Civil War permanently dismantled both the doctrine of nullification and traditional dual federalism.
Reconstruction forced the adoption of new state constitutions.
The Supreme Court subsequently placed limits on state power, such as outlawing state-sanctioned economic monopolies.
Constitutional Amendments Altering the Federal-State Balance
Sixteenth Amendment: Authorized Congress to collect a direct national income tax.
Seventeenth Amendment (1913): Changed the selection process of United States Senators from state legislature appointment to direct popular vote by the citizens of each state.
Cooperative Federalism and the New Deal
Cooperative Federalism: Characterized by an intertwined relationship between national, state, and local governments. This model originated during the New Deal era and is commonly referred to as "marble-cake federalism."
Emergence During the New Deal: The economic widespread damage of the Great Depression generated an imperative for national intervention. Because individual states could not resolve systemic economic failures independently, New Deal legislative programs expanded federal regulatory authority significantly.
Intergovernmental Grant Mechanisms and Policy Control
Grants have served as financial instruments to influence state behavior since the era of the Articles of Confederation.
Categorical Grants: Federal transfers of funds that strictly limit state discretion in usage and subject recipients to detailed administrative criteria.
Block Grants: Transfers of federal funds that come with less stringent administrative conditions, providing subnational governments greater flexibility in deciding how to allocate funds.
Creeping Categorization: The administrative process wherein the national government incrementally attaches new regulatory requirements to existing block grants, or gradually replaces block grants with new categorical grants.
Unfunded Mandates: Federal legislation and regulatory rules that impose legal obligations on state and local governments without providing adequate financial compensation to cover the costs of compliance.
Contemporary Models and Reform Approaches to Federalism
Judicial Federalism
The judicial system constantly acts as an umpire within the federal system, determining whether federal or state law maintains legal supremacy in specific disputes.
Balancing National and State Power: Policy Preemption
Preemption: A legal doctrine permitting the national government to override state or local government regulatory actions within specific policy domains.
Policy Categorization Under Preemption:
Redistributive Policies: Policies where the government collects funds through taxation to directly provide public services, such as health care, to citizens. These policies are better managed at the national government level.
Developmental Policies: Policies intended to strengthen a jurisdiction's local economic standing, such as constructing roads and public infrastructure. These programs are best left to state governments.
Alternative Federalism Models
New Federalism: A structural style of federalism premised on the principle that decentralizing policy authority back to the states enhances administrative efficiency, reduces public expenditure, and produces better overall outcomes.
Immigration Federalism: The gradual movement of state governments into the domain of immigration enforcement and policymaking—an area traditionally managed exclusively by the federal government.
Progressive Federalism: A pragmatic model viewing interactions between national and state governments as simultaneously coercive and cooperative.
Pragmatic Dynamics: Leverages coercion (force/pressure) alongside cooperation, contingent upon the political climate at each governmental level.
"Free-for-All" Federalism: Represents a drawback of progressive federalism, where dealing with distinct state regulatory standards proves exceptionally costly and difficult for multi-state operations.