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Federalism and Presidency
Bridgett Reilly
Liberty University
PADM610: Management of Public Sector Organizations
Professor Marshall
November 3, 2024
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Introduction
Though Americans rarely appreciate it, federalism has profoundly shaped their nation’s
past, present, and future. Federalism—the division of government authority between
the national government and the states—affects the prosperity, security, and daily life of
every American. Some of the most spectacular political conflicts in American history
have been fought on the battlefield of federalism, including states’ rights to leave the
union, government power to regulate business, and responses to the problems of race,
poverty, pollution, abortion, and gay rights. (Robertson, 2018) Federalism has been a
staple in American history beginning with the Articles of the Confederation in 1777. Ten
years later in 1787 the Articles of the Confederation were cast aside in favor of a
brandnew government. This new government was meant to take the advantages from
both types of governmental systems ( articles of the confederation and the unitary
system which was held by Britian) and create a government where there was both
federal and state laws. James Madison stated in The Federalist Papers The powers
delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined.
Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.” In
the United States power is shared by the federal and state governments. This is the
definition of federalism, a political organization that unites separate states or other
polities within an overarching political system in a way that allows each to maintain its
own integrity. This means that although something can be illegal federally it can be legal
in different states. An adequate example of this is marijuana. Although marijuana is legal
in an average of about 30 out of the 50 states in the US it is still considered to be a
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schedule I drug in the eyes of the federal government. This can be said for many other
things such as speed limits, issuing driver licenses etc. Federalism means that states are
exclusively responsible for some things (licensing, holding elections) and the federal
government is exclusively responsible for other things (minting currency, foreign
relations) and the states and the federal government are both concurrently responsible
for other things (taxation, law enforcement). This system has been likened to a layer
cake in that no one fully understands how layer cakes are constructed, and layer cakes
can always assert eminent domain.(Petri,2020)
As with anything that grows, it never stays the same for long. The same can be
said about federalism. Federalism in the 1800s is a long way from the federalism we
know today. There have been numerous types of federalism eras in the United States
ranging from the dual federalism phase I which was from the years 1789 to 1865 at the
end of the Civil War. To one the most recent era of contemporary federalism which
began in 1970. Each of these eras have had a significant impact of federalism in the
United States. The goal of federalism as a whole was to make sure that no one
government entity overpowered another. Making sure that both Federal and state
governments have a “say.” Of each of the forty-six presidents that the United States has
had each of them have had their own view of federalism. When Ulysses S grant became
president, the nation was still rallying from one of the worst wars in US history. Grant
was known for not always “wanting the federal government to become the arbiter of
state conflicts. He believed in a federal system in which the states maintained much of
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their autonomy separate from the federal government. So, when conflicts arose in states
such as Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, or Mississippi, Grant did not always
intervene.”(Waugh, 2023) Intergovernmental relations is defined as all activities and
interactions between and or with governments and entities from all levels within the
federal and state and also tribal governments. .Intergovernmental relations falls under
the U.S. Advisory
Commission on Intergovernmental Relations which was established in 1959 and
operated until 1996. Hearing about a politician that does not believe in some type of
federalism in today’s society is rare. The longer Federalism is around the more we as a
nation rely on the foundation of it to support the democracy that we know. Of the last
three presidents, Barak Obama, Donald Trump and Joseph “Joe” Biden, each has had
their own opinion and effects of federalism in the United States.
Barack Obama
Barack Obama served as the 44th president of the United States from January 20,
2009, to January 20, 2017. In 2008 he won against Republican candidate John McCain
and won against Republican Mitt Romney in 2012 leading to serving a second term as
President of the United States. One of Obama’s biggest achievements in his terms as
president was Obama care which is also known as the affordable care act. “The
Affordable Care Act (ACA) offers a window into modern American federalism--and
modern American nationalism--in action. The ACA's federalism is defined not by
separation between state and federal, but rather by a national structure that invites
stateled implementation”(Gluck, Huberfeld, 2018) During this time the supreme court
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ruled against a provision that would have required that states enroll more citizens into
the Medicaid program. A program that is funded partially by state governments. In the
eight years that Obama served as President of the United States several different people
on several unique occasions were quoted saying things like the administration was doing
nothing more than attempting to take away states rights and give them exclusively to the
federal government. During his eight-year tenure as president, Obama violated the
Constitution in numerous occasions for distinct reasons. According to Shapiro (2017) The
Obama administration has been the most lawless in U.S. history.
Donald Trump
Donald J. Trump served as president for four years from January 2017 to January
2021 before being defeated by Current President Joe Biden. “On November 8, 2016, Mr.
Trump was elected President in the largest Electoral College landslide for a Republican in
28 years. Mr. Trump won more than 2,600 counties nationwide, the most since President
Ronald Reagan in 1984. He received the votes of more than 62 million Americans, the
most ever for a Republican candidate.”(Hendricks) Although never holding a political
office before becoming president in 2017, Trump was well known for his boisterous
opinions on things like, immigration, the ongoing war in Iraq etc. Trump was well known
for voicing his opinion on certain events and not being afraid to speak his mind. His
presidential campaign was centrally based on Federalism. When he took office in 2017
one of the first things he was confronted with was the reality of how intricate federalism
could be. For example, when he took the hard stand on immigration and attempted to
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implement particular policies he was met with resistance from both state and federal
governments leading to the failure of most of the policies.
Joseph “Joe” Biden
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. took office on January 2021 after winning the
presidential race against his incumbent Donald Trump. When Biden took office in
November of 2021 the economy was strong and continuing to grow after the bulk of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Currently holding the presidential office Biden has had notable
achievements such as working to bring the UN in to the 21st century, accelerated the
adoption of electric vehicles by reducing costs for families and jumpstarted the first
national EV charging network, made historic investments into EV batteries and
materials, provided college debt relief, and cut child poverty in half.
Compare and Contrast
There is no denying that each of these presidents have each had victories and
losses. Athey have each had their own impact on the United States, the citizens and the
government they serve. Obama had the affordable care act also known as Obama Care.
During Trumps presidency he oversaw the death of founder and leader Abu Bakr al-
Baghdadi in 2019.Biden’s presidency has come with pulling American troops from the
Middle East ending America longest war to date and signed bipartisan safer
communities act against gun violence. Each of the past three Presidents have played a
role in federalism whether that be a positive role or a negative role. Although none more
than Trump, each campaigned on that fact of federalism. After being elected and sworn
into office each of these three people had their own sets of issues to deal with and did
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that in their own way. Even though these three people campaigned on federalism and
making sure that the states had rights Russell L. Hanson says it best when he is quoted
as saying “The structure of intergovernmental relations is . . . a federal one in which the
powers and responsibilities of government in general are shared among specific
governments. However, the sharing of power and responsibility is not equal, nor is it
unalterable. As a result, the structure of authority [in IGR] tends to be rather loose, and
it invites frequent clashes between governments over the right to make certain kinds of
decisions. Conflict often arises in the course of day-to-day interactions between
governments as they seek to define and redefine their relationships with one another in
order to satisfy the demands of their respective citizenries.”(Milakovick, Gordon, 2023)
The eight years that Obama was in office saw an increase in funds for state and local
governments, however it also saw Obama attempting to control how that money was
budgeted on a state level. During the eight years of his presidency the division of
responsibilities between the national and state governments also came under siege.
Making the fine line that had been walked in previous presidency blurry and almost
unrecognizable. Evidence shows that Obama and his administration wanted to take
responsibility from the lower governments. A wellknown example of this is the
affordable-Care Act. While states did have some flexibility in implementing the Act, the
federal government set significant regulations and guidelines for healthcare policy. This
reduced the number of rights the states had on healthcare. With Trump’s presidency
came four years of completely different agendas, actions and policy. “The presidencies
of Barack Obama and Donald Trump offered contrasting lessons on the exercise of
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presidential power in a system of decentralized policymaking. While Obama broadened
the equity agenda and strengthened federal oversight on state roles, Trump used
executive tools to promote state policy authority, diminish federal direction on civil
rights, and expand private school choice.”(Wong,2020)
Conclusion
Obama, Trump and Biden, those three names make up the presidents for the last
fifteen years. In that time there have been mass shootings, terrorist attacks, the end of
the longest war in American history and so much more. Each of these presidents have
had some type of impact on federalism and the role it plays in today’s government. Of
each of these president’s I believe that the one that had the greatest impact on
federalism and the government is Obama. Although during each of the presidents’ terms
there were both positives and negatives that come from each Obama seems to have
been the one out of the three to give the most and have the most success. With
Obamas history in the state government and local organizations he was able to focus
somewhat on the local governments.
References
https://aiwaycent.com/cent/aiway/centvote/cvt_candidateProfile.php?
random=urGVuE3kzNh2cabY&id=pKXTliU7hjpx0YDW&unq=pcingov
Gluck, A. R., & Huberfeld, N. (2018). What Is Federalism in Healthcare For?.
Stanford law review, 70(6), 1689–1803.
Hendricks, T. (n.d.). Cent: CVT candidate profile. Aiway.
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Milakovich, M. E., & Gordon, G. (2023). Public Administration in America (12th
ed.). Cengage
Petri, A. (2020, April 14). Opinion | the trump administration’s guide to
federalism
- the Washington post. The Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/trump-administrations-
guide federalism/
Robertson, D. B. (2018). Federalism and the making of America (2nd ed.).
Routledge.
Shapiro, I. (2019, January 19). Top 10 ways Obama violated the constitution
during his presidency. The Federalist.
Waugh, J. (2023,August 8). Ulysses S. Grant: Domestic Affairs | Miller Center.
Miller Center. https://millercenter.org/president/grant/domestic-affairs
Wong,K (2020, November 25). Obama, Trump, and education policy in US
federalism. OUPblog. https://blog.oup.com/2020/12/obama-trump-and-education-
policyin-us-federalism/
