1. Colonies experienced this
heavily centralised
system under British rule
Compromise the
founding fathers created
in 1787 after the failure
of…
…this system created in
1781 in fear of a
powerful central
government

2. Dual Federalism
Federal – State relationship:
Federal government was
relatively small (only 3
departments in 1790s) and was
limited mainly to war, money
and peace.
Focus on states’ rights. States
exercised most political power
Federal and State
governments had distinct
areas of responsibility

3. Presidents associated with Dual
Federalism: Guess who???
A collection of lesser known presidents…but it’s not their fault - they didn’t
have much to do!

4. Co-operative
Federalism
Federal State relationship: the
effects of the Wall St crash and
Great Depression were huge,
on a national scale. Federal and
State governments cooperated
to solve the problems facing US
Society.
• Employment
• Poverty
• Health
• Education
• Transport
• National Security
in Categorical
GrantsIncrease in scope and power of
Federal government

5. Co-op Federalism era coincides
with four democratic presidents
FDR – responded with the
New Deal, raft of govt
schemes promoting
employment, agriculture
industrial expansion and a
building programme of
schools, roads, HEP, etc
Truman –
promoted Fair
Deal, passed laws
to stop racial
discrimination and
opposition to
lynching
JFK – New Frontier:
more money for
highways, raise
farmer’s wages,
invest in science,
tackle water
pollution
Johnson – Great
Society – measures
to tackle
employment,
health & education
in order to tackle
poverty and race
relations

7. New Federalism
Federal - State relationship:
whenever possible, power was
devolved to the states
• Reduction of federal government
economic aid to states
• Perception that New Deal and
Great Society had not been as
successful as first thought
• Belief that federal government
had failed to tackle social problems
like gun control, abortion, drugs,
etc
• Decisions made by mainly
Republican appointed Supreme
Court limiting scope of federal
government (e.g. Planned
Parenthood v Casey 1992)
• Republicans dominated Congress
and had many state governors
In Block
Grants
Decentralisation and States’ Rights
are key buzzwords in US Politics.
Why?

8. Associated with four Republican
presidents
Nixon: Coined the
term and wanted
to remover ‘red
tape’ and
promote
entrepreneurship
Reagan: Wanted a
‘devolution revolution’.
“Government's view of the
economy could be summed
up in a few short phrases: If it
moves, tax it. If it keeps
moving, regulate it. And if it
stops moving, subsidize it.”
Ford Bush Sr
And also a
Democrat (though
he was an ex
Governor of a
Southern state…)
“the era of big
government is
over…” Clinton

9. Federalism under
George W Bush
• The war in Iraq
• Homeland security issues following the 9/11 attacks
• The expansion of Medicare
• The No child Left Behind Act passed by Congress in
2001
• The Wall Street and banking collapse in 2008
You would expect a Republican to be keen on decentralisation - especially a former
Texas governor...
However! That didn’t
happen...Federal government
spending grew at rate
unseen since the 1960s!
Whilst most Republican
presidents arrived in
Washington determined to cut
bureaucracy, Bush increased
it.
Why did this happen
•
•
•

10. Federalism
under Barack
Obama
• The re-authorisation if the State Children’s
Health Insurance Programme in 2009
• The expansion of Medicare
• Higher education expenditure (e.g. Pell
Grants 2010)
Whereas the Bush administration focused mainly on
war and terrorism, Obama is more clearly focused
on domestic policy.
This has had a profound
effect on the nature of the
relationship between
federal government and
the states.
War and security are
exclusive federal powers,
whereas domestic policy
has increasingly been
dominated by the states
since 1960s.Why
• Rate of state/local employees to federal
employees highest since New Deal
• Fed govt aid to states up from 3.7% of GDP to
4.7% in just over a year
• Money from federal govt accounted for 30% of
state spending in 2009 compared to 25% the
year before
 Heavily criticised by
Republicans
 Some in the ‘Tea Party’
though he was more of a
Socialist than a Federalist

11. Consequences of Federalism
• Variations in state laws – e.g. age for compulsory
education and driving cars
• Variation in penalties for law breaking from state
to state
• Complexity of legal system – both national and
state courts
• Each state has it own Constitution
• State based elections (including frequency and
number
• Parties are decentralised and mainly state based
• Regional diversity means considerations needed
when appointing cabinet or choosing VP nominee

12. Pros & Cons?