Lecture Notes: Advantages and Disadvantages of Federalism

Introduction

• Conclusion of Unit 1.
• Federalism: Division of power among federal, state, and local governments.

Advantages of Federalism

Political Participation

• Increased opportunities for political engagement.
• Multiple access points at local, state, and national levels.
• Greater local political power.

State-Specific Policies

• States can address unique needs (e.g., hurricane policies in Florida, snowstorm policies in Colorado).
• Ability of states to make decisions without national consensus (e.g., abortion laws).

Uniform National Policy

• Federal government can enforce uniform policies when necessary (e.g., foreign policy).

Laboratories of Democracy

• Concept by Justice Brandeis: States can experiment with novel social and economic policies.
• Example: Marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington as test cases.

Disadvantages of Federalism

Challenges in Unified National Policy

• Difficulty in implementing nationwide policies (e.g., education variability among states).

Historical and Contemporary Discrimination

• Use of states’ rights to perpetuate discrimination.
• Madison’s argument in Federalist No. 10: Minority rights are better protected in larger republics.

States' Rights

• Definition: 10th Amendment reserves non-delegated powers to states.
• Supporters argue for state-level governance to reflect local preferences.

New Federalism

• Movement to return powers to the states, began under Nixon and accelerated under Reagan.
• Concept of devolution: Reducing federal power in favor of state authority.

Conclusion

• Overall trend: Federal government has grown stronger over 200 years.
• States' influence has diminished.

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• End of Unit 1.
• Reminder about upcoming test and review resources available.
• Encouragement to check out additional review materials.

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• Thank you note and closing remarks: Promotion of channel engagement (like, subscribe, etc.).