POLSC232: American Government

This period marked an era of greater cooperation and collaboration between the various levels of government. It was during this era that the national income tax and the grant-in-aid system were authorized in response to social and economic problems confronting the nation. Though the first part of the 20th century has been characterized by some federalism scholars as one of inactivity, by 1920 eleven grant programs had been created and funded at a cost of $30 million. During this period the federal government was seen as "servant of the states" in the kinds of activities funded. The federal grant system, spurred by the Great Depression, was expanded and fundamentally changed the power relations between federal and state governments.

1910 – New Nationalism.

President Theodore Roosevelt's New Nationalism initiative sought to expand the powers of the national government. His view of government contended that matters of national concern had become too decentralized or as he stated: "[The New Nationalism] is still more impatient of the impotence which springs from overdivision of governmental power, the impotence which makes it possible for local selfishness or for legal cunning, hired by wealthy special interests, to bring national activities to a deadlock. The New Nationalism regards the executive power as the steward of the public welfare".

1913 – New Freedom Program.

As an academician, Woodrow Wilson noted that:

As President, Woodrow Wilson built upon the Roosevelt program. He sought to continue the trend toward more active national cooperation with other governments. Daniel J. Elazar, a noted scholar of federalism, contends that Wilson, in line with congressionally- determined national policies, expanded the federal role beyond "servant of the states.

1913 – Sixteenth Amendment.

The Amendment, which authorized the income tax, provided the means of developing and expanding the grant-in-aid system. "If grants-in-aid are the power that drive the federal engine then the income tax is the fuel that powers it".

1933 to 1938 – New Deal.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Congress in response to the economic calamity of the Great Depression further expanded the federal role in domestic affairs. States were unable to respond effectively on their own. The expansion of national government in economic and social policy was seen as a necessary means of addressing grave national economic conditions. During this period 16 on-going programs were established. The New Deal era has been characterized as "the geological fault line" in the history of federalism, particularly in the area of federal-local relations.

1953 – Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.

Congress created the Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (CIR), which later evolved into the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. The CIR was a temporary study commission comprised of persons appointed by the President and Congress. Its mission was to review federal aid to state and local governments, to determine if federal aid and involvement were appropriate, and to assess the fiscal capacity of the federal government and the states to undertake various activities.

1954 – Civil Rights and States' Rights Reconsidered.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas struck down, as unconstitutional, an earlier decision (Plessy v. Ferguson) and the doctrine of "separate but equal" public accommodations for blacks. The Justices cited the Fourteenth Amendment's due process and equal protection clause noting that racially segregated schools were inherently unequal. Brown prompted a new wave of action by states intent on resisting the Court's decision, including the resurrection of states' rights under the doctrine of interposition, which contended that a state government may interpose itself between an improper national act and the state's citizens.

1959 – Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR).

ACIR was created by Congress to monitor intergovernmental relations and the operation of American federalism and to report to Congress, on a continuing basis, recommended improvements. Unlike its CIR predecessor ACIR is a continuing body comprised of representatives from federal, state, and local governments