week 11 assignment
What is "federalism?"
Federalism refers to a system of government and the main issue regards the distribution of political power. There are two systems that we can examine:
Unitary system of government: this is a type of government in which political power is centralized and concentrated in one unit or entity. This one government makes ALL the decisions. There might be smaller forms of government, like local governments, but their power comes from the central government.
Federal system of government: this is a type of government in which there are multiple layers/levels of government. Typically, these governments have a national government, but also smaller state and/or local governments. In this type of government, power is more distributed and separated. We will only be examining the federal system of governments.
A quick note: in this class we have used the term "federal government." This is a term used to refer to the national government, the government bodies we have in Washington, D.C. Now, we are going to examine the term "federalism." This means a system of government in which there is a federal government that has some power, but not total power because state governments also have power.
So, federalism refers to the spreading out of political power among different layers of government. Usually, the three main layers of government are:
· the federal/national government
· state governments
· local/city governments
An important thing to know about these layers of government is that they EACH get to make certain decisions and they EACH have some degree of political power. Later in the module we will see what each layer of government gets to do.
10th Amendment
Here is the exact wording of the 10th amendment:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
The 10th amendment is not one that is often talked about, but it is extremely important. This amendment talks about states' rights; meaning, where states get the power to make their own laws from.
Basically, the 10th amendment is saying that if the Constitution does not give a particular power to the federal government, then that power goes to state governments. For example, some would argue, that since the Constitution does not discuss marijuana, drugs, or the legalization of drugs, then that means states have the right to decide whether marijuana will be legal in their state or not. Another example: states typically have the right to grant licenses, such as driver's licenses, because the Constitution does not give that power to the federal government.
This is an important amendment because remember the goal of the Bill of Rights is to limit the power of the federal government. The amendments we have examined in this module are all different ways to limit the power of the federal government. For example, the federal government, or any government official, cannot imprison you for saying something they don't like. Government officials cannot seize your car for no reason. Government officials cannot subject you to torture. The 10th amendment is another limit to the federal government's power because it is saying that state governments have the right to do things on their own and if the Constitution doesn't give the federal government the right to do something then it gives the states the right to do that thing.
However, due to the vagueness and ambiguity in our Constitution, it is not always clear what exactly is in the Constitution and there is not always agreement on what the Constitution means.
Responsibilities of the Federal Government
The US Constitution does specifically give the federal government some powers/responsibilities. These are things that ONLY the federal government can do. Some of the powers of the federal government are:
· Coining money: making and distributing money
· Declaring war: if the country is going to go to war, ONLY the federal government can make that decision (usually, it is Congress that makes that decision although presidents have a lot of power in this area as well)
· Making treaties with foreign governments: treaties are agreements between our government and other governments to do something. Individual states cannot make their own treaties with other governments
· Regulate foreign commerce and commerce between the states: this means when it comes to things like trading between countries, or even trading between states, the federal government gets to decide those laws and regulations
· Rules of naturalization: meaning, the federal government gets to decide the process by which people can become citizens of the US. The state of California cannot decide their own naturalization process, they must adhere to whatever the federal government has decided
· Maintain armed forces: which means to oversee the military and make sure the military has the necessary resources it needs
Responsibilities of State Governments
Because of the 10th amendment, there are certain things that the state governments are in charge of. These are things the federal government does NOT have the power to do, because the Constitution does not specifically give these powers to the federal government. The things below are examples of things states have the right to do:
· Establish local governments: state governments are able to decide on how many counties will exist in a state, what those counties look like in terms of size, and the state government can also design city governments and school districts
· Conduct elections: states MUST conduct elections, but the exact procedures for them vary from state to state. For example, we previously studied that some states have voter ID laws and others do not. Some states used to have literacy tests, and others did not. The reason for these differences is that states have the right to decide how elections will work within their state
· Regulate commerce WITHIN their state: the state government has the power to regulate business or trading that is done within the borders of the state
· Ratifying Constitutional amendments: as we studied, Constitutional amendments must be approved by state governments. This means, the legislature in each state gets to vote on whether to approve the proposed Constitutional amendments or not (38 states must approve of an amendment).
· Granting licenses: for example, driver's licenses are approved by the state. Each state has different requirements for getting a driver's license and your license has the name of the state that approved you. Also, if you want to practice law in California, you need to pass the Bar Exam of California. If you do, you receive your Bar Card which enables you to practice law in California. Marriage licenses are also something you have to go to a state government office to receive. Additionally, gun laws vary from state to state because states are able to decide what is needed to obtain a gun license.
· Oversee hospitals: hospitals tend to be managed and supervised by the state government.
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Although we will not be studying California's government, it is good to note that our state has three branches of government just like the federal government. There is the Executive Branch: led by the Governor (Gavin Newsom); the Legislative Branch: the two parts are called the Senate and the Assembly; the Judicial Branch: the highest court being the Supreme Court of California
State governments are allowed to create smaller, local governments. Local governments can refer to city governments, county governments, and even school boards. For example, the Peralta Community College District has a Board of Trustees. These are elected individuals whose job it is to oversee the schools within the district and to deal with issues related to the district's budget. This is a type of local government, and they have a great deal of power in deciding how things are done within our school district. Here is a link to their webpage (Links to an external site.). They hold regular meetings that are open to the public and their meetings are publicly available on YouTube (Links to an external site.). If you ever want to know what they are up to, feel free to attend a meeting or watch one on YouTube!
Local governments have some of their own powers and responsibilities, although the powers of local governments can vary from state. State governments often have some oversight over the things that local governments do, but local governments can still do certain things. For example:
· Manage and distribute utilities: electricity, natural gas, and water often fall under local government's jurisdiction
· Maintain sanitation services
· Maintain city roads and repair roads
· Provide emergency services, such as 9-1-1 resources
· Overseeing and maintaining things like parks, libraries, recreation centers often fall under the power of local governments
· School district: as mentioned above, school boards are types of local governments. Policies, procedures, and curriculum can vary from district to district
Here in Oakland, we have a rather large local government. The mayor is Libby Shaaf and we have Council-members that represent different parts of the city. There are a number of local government agencies and programs that deal with different problems in Oakland. Here is the city of Oakland's local government website (Links to an external site.).
As a side note, the TV show Parks and Recreation is an excellent representation of local government. If you ever have the chance to see reruns, or watch it on Netflix, you definitely should and you would learn a lot about how local governments work. Below is a collection of scenes from Parks and Recreation featuring town hall meetings. And yes, sometimes town/city hall meetings really can be this absurd (you don't have to actually watch the video).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng_-HgRfGBY
Advantages of Federalism
Our federal system of government has some pros and cons, strengths and weaknesses. There are some specific areas where having a federal system can seen as a positive or where federalism might be superior to other forms of government.
ADVANTAGES
· Respects national diversity: we have a very diverse country. States are different from other states. If you have ever lived in different states, you have probably noticed some differences in laws, customs, and maybe even values. The fact that we have a system of government that allows states to make their own laws enables states to make decisions that are best for their own people.
· For example, as we mentioned that different states have different gun laws. In some states hunting is a big part of their culture, history, and economy. Gun laws might need to be "more relaxed" (according to some) in order to enable this. Whereas in other states, hunting might not be a big aspect of their culture.
· Balances power among states: every state has the same amount of power and gets to make their own laws. This ensures that regardless of state size or population, every state has equal power
· Limits the power of the federal government: the 10th amendment gives the states power to do certain things. This means that the federal government is limited in what they can do. The federal government is unable to make EVERY decision and they cannot make ALL the laws for ALL the states
· Multiple points of access: this might be one of the best advantages. Because there are so many different layers of government in our society, we have more access to our government. Meaning, we have more of an ability to influence our government and get our voices heard.
· For example, let's say you want the road outside your house repaired and repaved. You would not go to the President to do this, nor would you go to your senator or even the governor. That's because these people do not have control over whether your road is paved or not. Instead, you could go to your local government and ask the city government department that deals with that issue to fix your road. Here in Oakland, you would alert the Public Works department (Links to an external site.) about your problem.
· Also, if you see problems around Oakland that should be fixed (like potholes) you have some options: you can call 3-1-1, you can report online (Links to an external site.), or you can download the Oak311 app which allows you to take a photo of the problem and submit the photo.
· Additionally, all these layers of government have elections (Links to an external site.). This is your ability to directly influence who gets elected to these different government entities and to hopefully hold them accountable for their actions.
Disadvantages of Federalism
While federalism has several good aspects, there are some negative consequences of having different layers of government:
· Overlapping responsibilities: in the previous pages of the module we learned about the responsibilities of the federal, state, and local governments and how each of them has some power to make certain decisions. However, sometimes they share decision-making power and sometimes their responsibilities overlap. These overlapping responsibilities are often called shared powers. Some examples of this are:
· Collecting taxes: both the federal, state, and local governments can all impose different taxes. When you pay your taxes, you will likely have to pay both federal and state taxes. These taxes are a major source of funding for all these governments
· Establish courts: depending on the crime someone is accused of, they might be prosecuted in either a federal court or a state court. This is because federal laws and state laws are not always identical and some crimes are considered to be violations of federal law and some are violations of state law
· Incarceration: similar to courts, there are different types of prisons. If someone was convicted of a federal crime, they would serve their sentence in a federal prison, but people convicted of violating state law would be incarcerated in a state prison (as mentioned in a previous module, the vast majority of the incarcerated population are in state prisons
· Borrow money: the federal government can borrow money from a variety of sources and state governments can borrow money as well (this is usually in the form of bonds (Links to an external site.))
· Conflicts between governments: since each level of government can make its own laws, sometimes those laws conflict with each other. State laws can be different from each other, which is generally not a problem, but when state laws and federal laws conflict, then there can be problems because there is ambiguity as to what is legal and what is not. Perhaps the best example of this are marijuana laws. California, along with other states, have recently legalized marijuana for both medicinal and recreational use (although there are limits to its usage (Links to an external site.)). However, the federal government says that marijuana is illegal. So, is marijuana actually legal? The answer is "depends." Someone is not violating state law by consuming marijuana, but they are violating federal law. This makes for a weird situation in which there is this conflict between state and federal governments and makes marijuana a tricky issue, particularly for those in the marijuana/cannabis industry (Links to an external site.).
· Confusion between governments: with there being so many different government entities, there is inevitable confusion, particularly over the question of "who is in charge?" Below is a video clip that is required viewing, and focuses on the responses to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. This was a devastating hurricane that significantly damaged New Orleans and the surrounding areas. Although the hurricane was awful, what was even worse was the government's response (or lack of response) to this devastation. One question that was asked was: how could this happen? When you watch the video, ask yourself a few questions:
· One, which level of government was ultimately most responsible for the lack of response to the hurricane
· Two, why wasn't there a better response to the hurricane and how does this relate to federalism?
· Three, what should have been done to have improved the response to the hurricane
· Note that this video is about 30 minutes long. Please give yourself enough time to watch the whole thing
· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-pqaTO7ofw
States' Rights Debates
Please watch the video below for more discussion of the confusion and conflict that occurs because of federalism. This video specifically explores some of the debates regarding how much power state governments should have.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM_KxqU53mQ