HY 357 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Morrill Land-Grant Acts, Voting Rights Act Of 1965, Franklin D. Roosevelt
6 Jun 2018
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Federal-State Relations
Federalism is a fluid concept. Historically, the relationship between the two levels of government
has been defined by the courts, Congress, and funding policies.
The role of the courts
Questions concerning the respective powers of the states and the federal government are
constitutional, and the courts must address them. Early Supreme Court decisions reflected the
views of Chief Justice John Marshall, who personally favored a strong national government. In
defining commerce in the broadest possible terms in Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), he argued that
Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce could be "exercised to its utmost extent."
Marshall's interpretation of the commerce clause has provided a means to enforce civil rights
laws and regulate wages, working conditions, and other areas that seem, at first glance, far
removed from federal jurisdiction. At the same time, however, he believed the Bill of Rights
imposed no restrictions on the states.
Throughout most of the 19th century and on into the 1930s, the Supreme Court did not follow
Marshall's lead; it was reluctant to allow an expansion of federal power at the expense of the
states. As the makeup of the Court changed with the appointments made by President Franklin
Roosevelt, so did the direction of its decisions. In the areas of civil liberties and civil rights in
particular, the Supreme Court and the lower federal courts have set national standards that states
and municipalities are obligated to follow. Through their interpretation of the due process and
equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, they have brought about a significant
transfer of power from the states to the federal government. This amendment, along with the
Fifteenth and the Twenty-fourth, has largely restricted the authority of the states to determine
who can vote and where they cast their ballots. The courts have directed how state and local
authorities draw their congressional, legislative, and school-board district boundaries.
In recent years, the Supreme Court limited the powers of the federal government in favor of the
states. United States v. Lopez (1995) held that Congress cannot prohibit guns in the area around a
public school under the commerce clause. The Court also upheld Oregon's "death with dignity"
law, which allows the terminally ill to end their lives, against a federal challenge, in Gonzales v.
Oregon (2006).
The role of Congress
Legislation can compel states either directly or indirectly to take action they otherwise might not
take. Again, civil rights provide a pertinent example. The 1965 Voting Rights Act intruded on
the constitutional power of the states to set voter qualifications by challenging the literacy tests
and poll tax that were used in the South to get around the Fifteenth Amendment.
A wide range of environmental laws establishes requirements for air and water pollution control
and the disposal of hazardous wastes to which states and municipalities must adhere. These are
examples of mandates.
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