How can the national government influence the ways that the states use their powers?

Abstract

During the last several decades, state officials increasingly concluded that their interests are not adequately represented in national policymaking and sought to increase their influence through the constitutional amendment process, the federal judiciary, and the political process. This article evaluates the extent to which these institutional mechanisms were effective in advancing state interests during the 104th Congress. United States Constitutional amendments were improbable and ineffective devices. Litigation was slightly more successful, though it provided an uncertain source of long-term security for state interests. Efforts to work through the political process, either through securing the passage of legislation that increases congressional responsiveness or by engaging in direct lobbying, were moderately effective under certain conditions.

Journal Information

Publius is an international journal and is interested in publishing work on federalist systems throughout the world. Its goal is to publish the latest research from around the world on federalism theory and practice; the dynamics of federal systems; intergovernmental relations and administration; regional, state and provincial governance; and comparative federalism.

Publisher Information

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. OUP is the world's largest university press with the widest global presence. It currently publishes more than 6,000 new publications a year, has offices in around fifty countries, and employs more than 5,500 people worldwide. It has become familiar to millions through a diverse publishing program that includes scholarly works in all academic disciplines, bibles, music, school and college textbooks, business books, dictionaries and reference books, and academic journals.

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After the American colonies won their freedom from England, the thirteen colonies became thirteen states. The new states decided to work together. Their system of government was described in the Articles of Confederation. In this system, the state governments had most of the power. The Federal Government was very weak. This was very different from the government under the King of England.

The Founding Fathers thought that this system left the nation too weak. They decided to develop a new system of government. They wrote a new document called the Constitution, to replace the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution made a stronger Federal Government. It gave power to both the Federal Government and the state governments. This system is called federalism.

Here are some examples of how powers are shared between the Federal Government and state governments.

In addition, the Federal Government and state governments share these powers:

• Making and enforcing laws
• Making taxes
• Borrowing money

Overview

Federalism is a system of government in which the same territory is controlled by two levels of government. Generally, an overarching national government is responsible for broader governance of larger territorial areas, while the smaller subdivisions, states, and cities govern the issues of local concern.

Both the national government and the smaller political subdivisions have the power to make laws and both have a certain level of autonomy from each other.

United States

In the United States, the Constitution has established a system of “dual sovereignty,” under which the States have surrendered many of their powers to the Federal Government, but also retained some sovereignty. Examples of this dual sovereignty are described in the U.S. Constitution. 

Supremacy Clause

Article VI of the U.S. Constitution contains the Supremacy Clause, which reads, "This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding." This effectively means that when the laws of the federal government are in conflict with the laws of a state's government, the federal law will supersede the state law. 

Article I, Section 8

Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution describes specific powers which belong to the federal government. These powers are referred to as enumerated powers. 

Tenth Amendment

The Tenth Amendment reserves powers to the states, as long as those powers are not delegated to the federal government. Among other powers, this includes creating school systems, overseeing state courts, creating public safety systems, managing business and trade within the state, and managing local government. These powers are referred to as reserved powers. 

Concurrent Powers

Concurrent powers refers to powers which are shared by both the federal government and state governments. This includes the power to tax, build roads, and create lower courts.

Further Reading

For more on federalism, see this Florida State University Law Review article,  this Vanderbilt Law Review article, and this Stanford Law Review article. 

How does the national government try to influence states?

What is the relationship between the national government and the states?

How does the national government help state and local governments?

How is power distributed between the national government and states?