POLS 1101 1st Edition Lecture 7Outline of Last LectureI. The Confederation’s Troubled PeaceII. Drafting a New Constitution The Economy Protests Constitutional ConventionIII. The Virginia Plan Madison and Nationalists Blueprint OppositionIV. New Jersey PlanV. StalemateVI. Substantive Issues Foreign policy and trade-coordination problems under articles solved Interstate Commerce SlaveryVII. Amending the ConstitutionVIII. Logic Underlying the ConstitutionOutline of Current Lecture I. FederalismII. Qualifications of Federal SystemsIII. Dual FederalismIV. Federalism and the ConstitutionV. CasesCurrent LectureThe framers wanted a stricter U.S. ConstitutionBut not overly powerfulI. Federalism The Constitution solved a lot of problems but created a whole other messo The Constitution was not clear on where federal and state lines were drawnThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute. How much can the federal do and how much can the state do or how much should they do In 2006 Arnold passes a climate change legislation, it went waypast the federal reach of power due to the fact that it was global reach- Violated federal lawo Federal System Authority divided between two or more distinct levels of government United States: consists of federal and state levelsII. Qualifications of Federal Systems The same people and territory are included in both levels of government The nation’s constitution protects units at each level of government from encroachment by the other unitso Each unit or area in the government has some level of independenceo At each unit there is some leverage over the othero But the boundaries are not that clearo Constant arguments over who has the authority to carry out certain government services There are some states that would prefer to do it on their own but they must go by the federal system Some states don’t want a certain law, but other states want the law States argue over which federal solution they want The Constitution does not address the problem of where the line is drawn between federal and state law III. Dual Federalism Clear boundary between what the federal can do and what the states can do Nationalizationo Authority shifted to the national side and away from state governmentso Today the national government has a hand in almost all policies that concern the lives of the citizenso We don’t really have this today Shared Federalismo Recognizes that the national and state governments jointly supply services to the citizenso Outcome of progressive nationalization has moved American federalism from mostly dual to mostly shared One policy is the besto Sometime the federal government is the only resource that can handle it because they are so much largero So if there was a hurricane and 5 states were involved then it would be easier if the federal system handled it instead of the 5 states merging their 5 different state constitutions together when they can just all go under the federal lawsIV. Federalism and the Constitution Transformation of the Senate (transferred power from state to federal)o Victory for states righterso Senate members were to be selected by the state legislatures Being in the national government was not important to the politicians back then due to the fact that each senator was beholden and owed the state legislator back home. The state legislatures would threaten the senator to vote for a bill or they wouldn’t elect them again. So they looked out for what their state legislature wanted and not the people When this was found out it was changed. Now the senator must look out for all the people that voted from them. So now it is the people that elect a senatoro Constitutional provisions governing federalism Supremacy Clause Article 1, Section 8- Powers of Congress- Elastic Clause – Congress shall do everything that is necessary and proper to enforce laws Interpreting the Constitution’s Provisionso Courts resolved conflict between federal and state governmentV. Cases McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)o Congress established a national bank that was unpopular in some of the stateso MD levies a heavy tax on all nonstate-chartered banks Tries to sue the national bank and they go to court Court rules that Congress had a right to establish the bank and that the government is excluded from state taxes Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)o NJ and NY feuded over monopoly rights for shipping on the Hudson River They sue each other and it goes to supreme court The court rules that since the shipping involves going across state boarders so the federal law has control due to the interstate commerce
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