American Government and Politics Today, Brief Edition, 2014-2015

58 PART ONE • THE AMERICAN SYSTEM

Cooperative

Federalism

A model of federalism

in which the states and

the national government

cooperate in solving

problems.

Devolution

The transfer of powers

from a national or central

government to a state or

local government.

Some political scientists have

described national­state rela­

tions since 1937 as cooperative

federalism, in which the states

and the national government

cooperate in solving complex

common problems. Roosevelt’s

New Deal programs, for exam­

ple, often involved joint action

between the national government

and the states. The pattern of

national­state relationships dur­

ing these years gave rise to a new

metaphor for federalism—that of

a marble cake. Unlike a layer cake,

in a marble cake the two types of

cake are intermingled, and any

bite contains cake of both flavors.

The 1960s and 1970s were a

time of even greater expansion of

the national government’s role in

domestic policy. Today, few activi­

ties are beyond the reach of the

regulatory arm of the national

government.

The Politics of Federalism

In determining the allocation of

powers between the state and national governments, conservatives traditionally have favored

the states, and liberals have favored the federal government. After all, national authority has

been an agent of change throughout U.S. history. The expansion of national authority dur­

ing the Civil War freed the slaves, and beginning in the 1960s, the federal government was

likewise responsible for extending civil rights such as the right to vote to African Americans.

Republicans and democrats. For much of American history, conservative southern

Democrats were the major advocates of states’ rights. Then, under Republican presidents

Richard Nixon (1969–1974) and Ronald Reagan (1981–1989), devolution, or the transfer

of power from the national government to state governments, became a major theme for

the Republican Party. In recent decades, however, competing theories of federalism often

appeared not to divide the two parties in practice. While the Republicans continued to

advocate devolution in theory, they did not follow it at all in reality.

Consider that the passage of welfare reform legislation in 1996, which involved

transferring significant control over welfare programs to the states, took place under

Democratic president Bill Clinton (1993–2001). In contrast, under Republican president

George W. Bush (2001–2009), Congress enacted the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

This act increased federal control over education, which had traditionally been under the

purview of state governments. In another example, the Bush administration prevented

President Franklin d. Roosevelt (1933–1945) chats with

two Georgia farmers. Roosevelt’s national approach to addressing the effects of

the Great Depression was overwhelmingly popular, although many of his specific

initiatives were controversial. How did the Great Depression change the political

beliefs of many ordinary Americans? (H. William Tetlow/Getty Images)

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