Different Eras of Federalism

Dual Federalism of the Rural Republic (1789-1865)

• Enumerated powers• Sovereign and equal spheres• Nullification

– Eventually settled by the Civil War

Dual Federalism Serving Commerce (1865-1901)

• Focus on commerce• "to perfect the free economy“• Growing government at both levels• States as senior partners in police powers and

providing services

Cooperative Federalism (1901-1960)

• Shared functions• focus on providing services• broadly collaborative patterns• Income Tax; Grants-in-aid• Fed is “servant to the states”

– New Deal

Creative Federalism (1960-1968)

• Overloaded cooperation• Intergovernmental fiscal transfers• Crosscutting regulation and states as implementers

of federal mandates• Increased regulations (strings)• Great Society (LBJ)

New Federalism and the Reaction (1970-)

• Revenue sharing• Devolution• Growth of unfunded mandates• Deregulation• Supply-side reductions• Deficit dominates