Federalism and timeline of American political history

1865 – end of the American Civil War, 13^th Amendment (slavery)

The end of the American civil war marked the abolition of slavery, something strongly opposed by the Democratic Party. The 13^th Amendment was passed under Lincoln, the Republican President and at the time, the North supported the Republicans, being generally more liberal and not having slavery in Northern States, generally. the South, was solidly Democratic and pro-slavery so its abolishment was a blow for the party and Southern slave owners.

1868 - 14^th Amendment – gave African Americans citizenship

Everyone, regardless of race (but excluding the Native Americans) who was born or naturalised in the USA would be given citizenship. Again this was something the Democratic Party heavily opposed, including the president Andrew Johnson who vetoed the bill. Congress, however, overruled them as it was dominated by Republicans despite the Southern Democratic states who refused to accept the 14^th Amendment. Here it becomes clear which party was unionist (Republican) and which was confederate (Democrat).

Dual Federalism / layer cake federalism

·         State – everything apart from foreign and interstate affairs

·         Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) gave states the permission to enforce segregation laws/Jim Crow if they wished

·         The Supreme Court struck down laws passed by Congress to regulate business & working conditions – the Supreme Court deemed this unconstitutional and these laws only applied to inter-state commerce

·         the power of states over local matters may be eliminated and…our system of government destroyed’

Co-Operative Federalism – the new relationship of co-operative federalism was more like two different mixtures contributing to marble cake federalism

·         New Deal – provided financial help for the unemployed

·         Schechter Poultry Corporation v. US (1935) Regulated all companies including local trade, which was state responsibility

·         US v. Butler (1936) the court ruled the Agricultural Adjustment Act was unconstitutional as it interfered with state responsibility

·         The federal government rose to take responsibility for local schools, work/unemployment benefits – which was a major departure from traditional federalism

The New Deal destroyed Federalism. Co-Operative federalism continued because the government needed to control the economy during WWII and after to take care of the aftermath of those who served & were wounded by war.

Gideon v Wainwright (1963) – defendants were entitled to a lawyer even if they couldn’t afford it, due to the 6th Amendment  Miranda v. Arizona (1966) – suspects had to be informed of their rights to not incriminate themselves (silence), 5th Amendment

-Medicare – improved healthcare for the elderly

1929 - The Great Depression

1929 saw the biggest American economic depression which spread through every country America had loaned to. For the Democrats, its aftermath meant a huge shift in support; FDR’s socially progressive policies and ideas of Keynesian economics meant an unexpected surge of support from the North. The South becomes Republican. This marked the difference between the two parties; the Democrats started to step away from conservatism as African Americans benefitted from FDR’s Keynesian economic policies and the New Deal.

1945 – 1990 – The Cold War

 The Cold War was a period of conflict between the USA and Russia. The Democrat president at the time, Truman was anti-communist and it seemed opposition to the threat of communism was consensus in American politics. The Cold War didn’t officially end until the Berlin Wall collapsed in 1991; after which Russia becomes tentative allies with America. However, Romney made the mistake of referring to Russia as their number one enemy, a weakness pointed out by Obama at the National Party Convention speech.

·         During the Cold War, the US was a major technological player in arms and provided a vast array of jobs in the economy. Federal government rose as the key player, taking away state power.

1954 - Brown v. Board of Education (Topeka)

Oliver Brown brought about this case when his daughter wasn’t allowed to attend a school close to her home because it was all white. The case ruled in Brown’s favour and ordered the desegregation of schools with all deliberate speed, something the Southern states took to mean an indefinite delay. Furthermore, Eisenhower was a Republican and wasn’t keen on the Brown v. Board decision, privately calling the appointment of Chief Justice, Earl Warren the biggest damn fool mistake I’d ever made. It was for these reasons that desegregation wasn’t enforced until over ten years later and that was with the difficulty experienced by Kennedy to persuade the Republican Congressmen to pass the Act.  

1955 – 1975 - Vietnam War

The Vietnam War lasted 20 years as part of the Cold War. It was an issue the two parties seemed to mostly agree on, hence the very quick ratification of the 26^th Amendment – giving 18 year olds the vote; where before, voters had to be 21.

1963 - Kennedy’s assassination

Kennedy’s assassination meant a change to Democratic policy as his successor, Lyndon B Johnson wanted to pursue the Great Society programme – taking policies even more left wing than the New Deal programme. The Great Society aimed to eliminate poverty from specific groups but this effort had to come from the federal government. The federal government would have to fund, coordinate and be committed to such a huge scheme – this meant a change in the nature of federalism as specific groups were targeted, bypassing state law and intervening with local government. The federal government also dictated how much money states could spend on certain things known as categorical grants.

1964 - 24^th Amendment

Lyndon B Johnson pushed through the 24^th Amendment, outlawing poll tax and other obstacles of voting for black people. This also demonstrates the steps taken to move away from social conservatism and instead being more progressive. LBJ also proved to be very liberal in this respect, both by furthering the Civil Rights Movement and through the Great Society. Widening the electorate affected every state – displaying the power of federal government over state government, as only Southern states had poll taxes, literacy tests. The Shelby County decision rejects Section 4b of the Voting Rights Act and gives the states to use said “preventative procedures” by discretion of the state

Johnson and Creative Federalism

·         Federal government

·         Great Society – aimed to alleviate poverty; only federal government would have the resources for such a large programme that would take significant commitment in areas including; healthcare for the elderly, inner city unemployment, housing, education, transport

        The gates of opportunity speech paved the way for government programmes like Affirmative Action. 

·         Direct federal support; block grants changed the nature of federalism

·         Financial support for local government bypassing state government; constitutionally, the local government is accountable to state government which changed the dynamic of federalism completely.

·         Categorical grants; given for specific purposes – the state couldn’t put the money to any other use

·         Federal government dictating how money was spent by states changed the nature of Federalism. Effects of Great Society – the amount of money spent by federal government on welfare for citizens rose dramatically

1972 – 1974 - Watergate

Watergate was the scandal in the 1970s regarding political corruption and issues with campaign finance. Republican President, Nixon’s advisors had paid people with campaign funds to break into the Democrat headquarters and investigate their campaign strategy. It was also revealed that Nixon’s relationships with those donating to him were questionable all of which brought great controversy to the Republicans. This scandal was investigated by the Senate and led to Nixon’s resignation.

Nixon and New Federalism

·         State government

·         Nixon attempted to bring back federalism in its purest form. Nixon attempted to reverse the effects of the Great Society which he believed completely destroyed federalism.

·         Whilst Nixon attempted to pass the federal power down to the states, the Supreme Court continued to insist on Federal standards being applied to state laws and actions

·         General Revenue Sharing – categorical grants replaced by block grants for states to spend

1973 - Roe v. Wade

Roe v. Wade took away Texas’s state laws that restricted abortion on the basis that it contradicted the 9^th Amendment. This was something conservatives to this day feel incredibly strongly about,  as shown by Todd Akin remarks “the female body has mechanisms to get rid of the baby conceived from rape” in defence of being pro-life. The Republicans are very pro-life as seen by Sarah Palin and Romney as well and Reagan as a Republican gave back the right for states to restrict abortion to some extent. However, the Democrats are very pro-choice and this can be seen by Wendy Davis’ filibuster preventing legislation in Texas restricting abortion and closing many abortion clinics down.

1981 – 1989 - Reagan’s presidency

Reagan and New Federalism

·         State government

·         -Issued Executive Order to favour the interests of the states  over federal government when policy making

·         -By reducing federal aid to states, he broke dependency culture (reducing $18billion)

·         -Instead of federal & state government sharing responsibility, the states would take FULL responsibility of 2/3 programmes (Medicaid, welfare/food stamps) and federal government would be responsible for the third. This was known as SWAPS – and whilst this seemed a feasible proposal, the states simply couldn’t afford such a programme

·         Appointed Anthony Kennedy who shared the view that the judiciary should restrain Congress in interfering with in state affairs/problems

Reagan famously said government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.                He was a conservative and wanted to reduce federal power first by voting on an executive order to favour the states interests over federal interests when it came to policy. Federal aid to states was reduced and became the responsibility of the state, mostly to provide welfare. So while the Republicans were New Federalists wanting an EQUAL balance of power between the federal government and the state, the Democrats wanted more federal power following the presidency of FDR.

Clinton and New Federalism

·         Clinton felt, as a previous governor, states should have freedom to decide what was best for states, which was enhanced by the growing professionalism state governments possessed. State government

·         US v. Lopez (1995) – Congress had exceeded powers when it passed banning firearms near schools; this could only be passed by states;

·         Printz v. US (1997) – background checks could not be enforced by Congress as this was for states to instruct

·         1960s: local/state electors declined, as most wanted to be in Washington.

·         1990s: this reversed and state politicians cooperated with one another

·         Economic boom leading to an increase in tax revenues for states and less reliance on Federal government income

1994 - Contact with America

Contract with America refers to the plot by the Republicans to take control of the House of Representatives during the 1994 congressional election, led by Newt Gingrich and Richard Armey. This document outlined what the Republicans would do if they had a majority in the House – what would be a majority for the first time in 40 years. It also detailed specific legislation concerning shrinking the size of government, lowering taxes and welfare reform. To the Democrats dismay, the Republicans won their majority in the House meaning more allowance to socially conservative legislation. The Contract with America was likely part of the reason Bush was able to invade Iraq with the growth of neo-conservatism, and a more nationalised agenda.

1998 Clinton’s impeachment

Bill Clinton was very much popular and nationally favoured as a president. The Monica Lewinsky scandal tainted his image greatly. Kenneth Starr, Independent Counsel was appointed in 1994 and investigated Clinton’s sexual misconduct at great lengths, where he was tried by the Senate and acquitted of both charges; lying under oath and obstruction of justice.

2000 election

The 2000 election beckoned a winner who received fewer popular votes but more Electoral College votes. It was also heavily contested because of the issues with Florida’s results. Originally, TV broadcasts projected Gore as the President and then they changed to Bush, before back to Gore. Gore demanded a recount – which was taken to the Supreme Court. Because the majority were conservative judges, they all voted to stop the recount and declare Bush the winner because he was Republican. This made the Democrats look ineffective, in light of the Monica Lewinsky scandal; as Al Gore was Vice President at the time.

George W Bush and New Federalism

·         State government

·         Fiscal conservative agenda; if taxes were cut national government would be forced to do less & people would rely on their own resources. Starving the Beast would strengthen state governments and ensure personal responsibility

·         -9/11 federal government was given additional funds to spent on reconstruction of New York City; new government department set up for Homeland Security

·         INTERVENTIONIST INSTINCTS:

·         -No Child Left Behind – federal government’s contribution to the cost of education. Introduced the federal system of accountability for schools not meeting English, Maths, Science criteria

·         -Hurricane Katrina: serious damage to New Orleans – Bush committed to rebuild the city

2001 9/11 bombings

The attacks on the World Trade Centre meant an economic recession as well as an intense feeling of fear through America. The stock markets had already collapsed and business failing meant less tax paid and less tourist revenue. The government of America continued to spend, reconstructing New York funding the Afghanistan invasion and creating a new Homeland Security invasion. This seemed to go against Bush’s proposed fiscal conservatism due to factors beyond his control.

2006 Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina further challenged Bush’s so called fiscal conservatism and illustrated him very much as a compassionate conservative. There was serious question raised over the rebuilding of New Orleans. New Orleans was in a vulnerable location and below sea level but Bush pledged to rebuild it. Congress investigated why the mainly African-American community were not better protected – with nine committees making reports and recommendations, which the Republicans were criticised for.

2006 6 for 06

1.       Honest leadership and open government

2.       Real security – deployment of US forces from Iraq, and doubling the size of US military officials to capture Bin Laden and destroy al Qaeda.

3.       Energy independence – end to American dependence on foreign nations for fuel.

4.       Economic prosperity – ending congressional pay rise until minimum wage is raised

5.       Educational excellence – extend federal grants

6.       Healthcare and retirement security

The Democrats wanted six key policy themes that eventually won them the control of the Senate. The Republicans still had control of the House which is why it’s so hard to enforce gun control – a majority when the Republicans dominate the House.

2008 DC v. Heller

Highly controversial case regarding firearms for traditionally lawful reasons, like self defence, at home. It was the first Supreme Court case in history to ascertain whether or not the Second Amendment allows bearing arms for self defence and they voted 5-4 in favour striking down provisions saying guns were unconstitutional as well as regulations requiring all shotguns and rifles being unloaded.

2008 Lehman Brother’s collapse

The Lehman Brothers collapse marked the beginning of the recession and impacted the Republican Party badly because of how McCain reacted to the recession refusing to continue his campaign in attempt to retain his campaigns strength. However, Obama kept his cool and rather calmly dealt with the situation demonstrating the ability to concentrate on multiple issues at one – which illustrates his ability as president.

Obama and Federalism

·         Federal government growing on a gargantuan level - tipping the balance in favour of federal government. 

•  Fisher v Texas (2013) – voided the Grutter decision and made Affirmative Action unconstitutional in Texas, in favour of the state
• US v. Windsor (2013) – against Congress, struck down the part of DOMA that prohibited federal benefits to homosexual couples
• Hollingsworth v. Perry (2013) – refused to hear case on same sex marriage, which reinstated same sex marriage in California.
• Shelby County v. Holder – invalidated Section 4b of the Voting Rights Act; permitting the states to decide their own voting procedures. This was a win for the ANTI-FEDERALISTS!!!
• National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius – that insurance exchanges under Obamacare were unconstitutional as they didn’t have the individual mandates to force the states in providing healthcare insurance. Congress couldn’t collect taxes under the Commerce Clause, making the coercion of states to buy healthcare insurance completely unconstitutional 
• Obamacare – Affordable Care Act meant that the federal government was maintaining the role of the state by paying for welfare
• Obama Stimulus Package – economy was in absolute shambles, collapse of the Lehman Brothers. Economic stimulus bill of $787billion dollars