US Federalism: The Changing Relationship Between Federal and State Government
Federalism is the constitutional division of sovereign power between a national (federal) government and state governments, each with its own areas of authority that the other cannot override.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn the constitutional basis of the divide: enumerated and implied (necessary and proper clause) powers for the federal government, reserved powers for the states under the 10th Amendment, and concurrent powers held by both (e.g. taxation).
- Learn the sequence of federalism 'eras' in outline: dual federalism (separate federal/state spheres, 19th century), cooperative federalism (overlapping responsibility, especially from the New Deal of the 1930s), and New Federalism (attempts to devolve power back to the states from the 1970s onwards).
- Learn how grants-in-aid work as a lever of federal influence: categorical grants come with conditions attached, while block grants give states more discretion over spending, and Congress can also impose unfunded mandates that require state action without full federal funding.
- Learn one Supreme Court case that expanded federal power (e.g. McCulloch v Maryland, 1819, upholding federal supremacy and implied powers) and one that limited it (e.g. United States v Lopez, 1995, striking down a federal gun law as exceeding the commerce power).
- For a question on 'has federalism grown more centralised', build the case for centralisation (New Deal and Great Society programmes, conditional grants, national responses to crises) against the case for continued state power (10th Amendment litigation, state resistance on issues such as marijuana policy or immigration enforcement, the Supreme Court limiting federal reach in cases like NFIB v Sebelius, 2012).
- Always name the specific power, clause or case rather than describing federalism only in general terms; a mark scheme rewards 'the necessary and proper clause' over 'a clause in the Constitution'.
Worked example
Assess whether the relationship between the federal government and the states has become significantly more centralised since the New Deal of the 1930s.
- Identify what 'centralised' would mean in this context: federal law and funding increasingly shaping decisions in policy areas once left to the states, such as education, healthcare or criminal justice.
- Build the case for centralisation: the New Deal (1930s) and Great Society (1960s) created major federal programmes and conditional grants reaching into areas like welfare and education that had been state-run; the Affordable Care Act (2010) extended federal involvement in healthcare.
- Build the case against, or for continued state power: the Supreme Court's ruling in United States v Lopez (1995) struck down a federal law as exceeding the commerce power, and in NFIB v Sebelius (2012) ruled that the federal government could not compel states to accept the ACA's Medicaid expansion, showing judicial limits on federal reach.
- Add a further point for continued state discretion: many states have resisted or diverged from federal policy in areas such as drug law or immigration enforcement, showing the states retain real independent authority even within a more federally active system.
- Reach a conclusion: federal involvement has grown substantially in scope and funding since the 1930s, but the states retain meaningful constitutional and political power, so 'centralised' is a matter of degree rather than states losing their federal status.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1Which amendment reserves powers not given to the federal government to the states?Show answer
Answer: The 10th Amendment.
Q2Name the clause in Article I Section 8 that allows Congress to pass laws needed to carry out its enumerated powers.Show answer
Answer: The necessary and proper clause (also called the elastic clause).
Q3What is the difference between a categorical grant and a block grant?Show answer
Answer: A categorical grant comes with specific conditions attached to how the money is spent; a block grant gives the state broader discretion over how to spend it within a general policy area.
Q4Name one Supreme Court case that expanded the scope of federal power.Show answer
Answer: McCulloch v Maryland (1819), which upheld the necessary and proper clause and the supremacy of federal law over state law.
Q5Name one Supreme Court case that limited the scope of federal power.Show answer
Answer: United States v Lopez (1995), which struck down a federal law banning guns near schools as exceeding Congress's commerce power (NFIB v Sebelius, 2012, is also acceptable).
Q6What is an unfunded mandate?Show answer
Answer: A federal requirement that a state must comply with, without the federal government providing the full funding needed to carry it out.
Q7Give one example of a federal era in which federal power expanded significantly, and name a policy programme from it.Show answer
Answer: The New Deal in the 1930s, which included programmes such as Social Security, or the Great Society in the 1960s.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a A Level Politics exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Explain and analyse three ways in which the federal government can influence policy in areas that the Constitution otherwise reserves to the states.
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 12 available
Assess whether the relationship between the federal government and the states has become significantly more centralised since the New Deal of the 1930s.
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 25 available
See real A Level Politics past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the us federalism: the changing relationship between federal and state government worksheet pack - 6 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
Next topics
Not quite what you needed?
Tell us what is missing on us federalism: the changing relationship between federal and state government, or which topic to write up next. Every request is read, and we reply to every one.
Build a full practice pack.
This topic is one of hundreds in the library - pick the ones a student needs and generate a printable PDF in minutes.