American Federalism: Balancing National and States' Interests

Dating back to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the balance of national

interests and states’ interest has been highly disputed as a part of our intricate government

structure. The application of federalism has varied over time and that is evident by the

evolving roles and relationship between the central government and the states.

The current state of American federalism cannot be accurately defined by a single

practice of federalism but rather a “complex mix of all the elements our nation’s political

system has experienced in the past” (Bianco and Canon 2015, 83). The most apparent

characteristic of our system however is cooperative federalism. Cooperative federalism is

represented by the national and state governments

Another aspect of federalism today is coercive federalism; A

form of government in which the federal government forces states to alter their policy by

using regulations, mandates, and conditions (Bianco and Cannon 2015, 88). Coercive

federalism enables the ideal of national supremacy to remain present in American

politics. This is often seen in unfunded mandates, federal preemptions and other

regulations such as the Clean Air and Water Acts or Americans with Disability Act that

states are obligated to comply with. Despite the role of the federal government, there has

been a recent trend of devolution, the shift to greater states rights (Miller, 9/10/15). There

is a progression from the U.S. Supreme court to support states’ rights in large part due to

the 10th amendment which declares power not delegated to the federal government are

reserved for the states or the people. America has a very unique, hybrid system of

federalism that is highlighted by the attempt to balance conflicting ideologies of how

States across the country have been able to manifest and validate competitive

federalism through various tax policies that are enticing to businesses. Recently Toyota,

one of the biggest car manufactures in the world, announced it would be moving its

massive California operations to Plano, Texas in large part do to the business

infrastructure in Texas. Toyota will be eligible for $40 million in tax breaks through

Texas’ enterprise fund, along with local tax incentives (LA Times, 2014). Texas as well

as other states such as Tennessee and Ohio are prime examples on how states are able to

generate more opportunities for its people when given the flexibility. Federal-only control

could limit that flexibility, resulting in the stagnation of innovation and options for

businesses. Furthermore this sort of flexibility is what permits states’ to be the

laboratories of democracy. For example, when Colorado and Washington took initiative

in legalizing marijuana in 2012 it gave the rest of the nation the opportunity to