United States Politics

US POLITICS
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U.S. Politics
Federalism has gone through several phases throughout American history, during which power relations between the federal and state governments have varied. During the dual federalism period, both federal and state governments were required to act within their respective jurisdictional domains. The cooperative federalism era saw the federal government assume policy responsibilities previously managed by the states. Conversely, the new federalism period marked the decentralization of policy management. This essay will examine power relationships between the federal and state governments using course readings and external sources. In particular, the paper will seek to answer the question: Who has more power in the American political system: the federal government or the state governments?
The Nixon and Reagan administrations made efforts to overturn the nationalization process by restoring the prominence of state governments in policy areas, a domain that the federal government centrally held. This new form of federalism shifted from the previous cooperative federalism, where federal powers had been broadened to include state policy domains. Cooperative federalism was geared towards tackling countrywide social and political inequality, marketplace inefficiencies, and poverty (Bishop, 2019). The national government played a significant role in society. Several programs, including Medicaid, Medicare, the Clean Air Act, the Higher Education Act, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, the Highway Safety Act, the Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act, gave the federal government leeway to engage in federal legislative activism. Federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, were allowed to investigate civil rights cases from voter registration to police brutality.
For instance, it was only after the intervention of the federal government that the racially segregated University of Mississippi agreed to admit its first African-American student, James Meredith. After Meredith was denied admission to the all-white University of Mississippi in 1962, chaos erupted and caused the deaths of two people, wounding hundreds of protestors and numerous arrests. The Kennedy administration called out various federal forces to enforce order and prevent continued racial discrimination against black college applicants like Meredith. On the whole, cooperative federalism gave more power to the federal government than to state governments, with several positive impacts on American society. However, the ushering of New Federalism saw authority return to state governments in policy areas and revenue sharing. In the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, Reagan consolidated and restructured federal grant programs linked to social welfare to allow state governments greater control of federal funds (Baicker, Clemens and Singhal, 2012). However, the implementation of new federalism was initially inconsistent owing. Reagan's devolution agenda faced stiff opposition from a majority of Democrats, a section of Republicans, and various interest groups and prevented him from allocating more powers to state governments.
For instance, his attempts at completely devolving some Great Society and New Deal programs like the Aid to Families with Dependent Children and food stamps to state governments fell through after Congress rejected the move following fears that state administrations would severely underfund the programs. Interest groups like the National Governors' Association believed that states could not support the proposal. More power was given to the federal government after the 9/11 attacks by creating several security agencies like the Depart of Homeland Security, which was later followed by various extensive federal mandates, including the No Child Left Behind and the Affordable Care Act (Ashbee and Dumbrell, 2018). The previous form of federalism can be compared to the lawyer cake federalism, where federal and state governments' mandates were demarcated. On the other hand, new federalism is typified by the marble cake federalism where power boundaries are unclear with overlapping policy competencies: the current form of federalism entails diverse functions, and both federal and state governments are constantly vying for power. However, certain functions are specific to each side. Under new federalism, the federal government can regulate and institute laws but within the limits of the U.S. constitution.
The U.S. Congress can grant express powers and regulate certain areas such as the military and printing of money. Additional federal powers include declaring war, regulating foreign commerce, determining naturalization laws, and creating inferior courts. In addition to the express powers stipulated within the U.S. constitution, the federal government has the right to institute all laws proper and critical to implementing any of the state powers. This capacity highlights the federal government's implied powers, which must relate to the direct powers granted it. Any matter that does not fall within the direct or implied powers of the federal governments is typically the responsibility of the states to regulate (Grumbach, 2018). The Tenth Amendment states that powers not prohibited to the states or not allocated to the federal government by the constitution are reserved to state governments. However, the federal government's power to i...