Changing federal-state relationship

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Changing federal-state relationship

Fed. is ever changing. N.o of factors led to > role for the fed govt.

Growth of population - pop grew from under 4m in 1790 to 76m by 1900 and 275m by 2000. A growing nation required management by a growing govt.

Industrialisation - need for govt regulation - fed exec departments of Commerce and Lab were formed in 1903.

Improvements in communication - nation shrank in terms of accessibility as modern methods of communication gradually developed. Time of journeys decreased, railways, roads, aircraft opened up the nation -> better communication and a feeling of national identity. Telephone, fax, email.

Great Depression - events influenced the federal-state relationship. State looked up to the fed govt when GD hit USA in 1929. The govts didn't possess the necessary resources to reverse the huge levels of unemployment, launch vast public works schemes or reverse agriculture from the effects of the dust bowl conditions. Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal w/abitious schemes to build roads and schools helped get the USA back to work.

Foreign policy - USA world superpower @ beginning of WW2. Fed govt's role enhanced significantly w/exclusive jurisdiction (make legal decisions and judgements) over foreign policy.

Supreme Court decisions - fed-state relationship was altered due to political relationships. Decisions made by the SC b/w 1937 and 1970s enhanced the power of the fed govt through the interpretation of the implied powers of the Const. This was possible through the Court adopting a more expansive meaning to the powers allocated to Cong. Role of Cong and fed govt limited. Mostly seen in 2012 decision of National Federation of Independent Business v Sebelius in which the Court declared that Obama's hc reform act couldn't be justified under the commerce clause, but only under Congress' power to levy taxes.

Constitutional amendments - one of 3 post-Civil War amendments, 14th, changed dramatically - the fed govt's federal govt's relationships with the states. The Const had been amended to impose prohibitions directly on state govts (for the first time). These 14th amendment provisions have been used by the SC to invalidate state laws requiring public school segregation and other forms of racial discrimination. ALSO, passage of the 16th amend. allowed the fed govt to impose an income tax - gave fed govt the means to launch all the fabulous programmes from Roosevelt's New Deal through the presidencies of Truman, Kennedy and Johnson to the late 1960s.