Main Characteristics

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Nature and Basis of US Federalism

Federalism is the sharing of sovereignty between the individual states and the central government.

The US has a federal government, which makes laws that apply to all of the states, territories and the District of Columbia (where Washington, DC is), and 50 states with individual governments.

States have different histories, politics and cultures.
States were incorporated into the Union at different times - there were originally 13 states which expanded to the current 50.
States rights keeps the individual culture and histories of the states alive, and means that each of the 50 states continues to have different characteristics in the present day.

There are 50 states, all of which have their own governments with executive, legislative and judicial branches.
The executive branch is run by a Governor, who is democratically elected.
The governor is responsible for the implementation of state laws and running the executive branch.
Many cities and towns also have elected governments.

The 10th amendment of the US Constitution lays out the federal system of the United States - “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”.
- This amendment forbids the federal government from acting in ways not allowed by the constitution.

There have been several different periods of federalism in US history - including Dual, Cooperative and New Federalism.

This was the period between the founding of the USA as a republic (1780s) up until the 1920s and 1930s.
States had strong rights, and so the President and federal government was much less powerful.
The government had power that was clearly defined and limited.

Cooperative Federalism was a period from the 1930s to the 1960s when the federal government’s powers over the states increased. -New executive departments were created that had power over specific things - Defence and Transportation, for example.
Grants with specific purposes were increased, which specified what the money had to be spent on.

New Federalism is a movement of power back to the states from the central government, which took place from the 1970s to the 1990s.
Republican presidents have mostly been responsible for this movement.
For example, ‘block grants’ are given to states which have no designated purpose - so states can do what they wish with them.

Under Barack Obama the federal government’s power increased.
Healthcare is one of the most important examples of this, changing the way that people purchased health insurance and mandating that all individuals bought health insurance.
Previously lots of healthcare policy was left to individual states.
States were allowed to choose their own policy directions, such as the legalisation of cannabis in some states, but only when this suited the aims of the Obama administration.