Political Science 1100, Introduction to American Politics, January 28, 2015
Current Events
Federalism
How and Why
do Americans fight about states' rights and federalism?
1. WHAT IS FEDERALISM?
In a federal political
system, political authority is divided by a constitution between a central
government and regional governments
Examples:
Canada, Australia, U.S.
(As Opposed To A Unitary System, Such As Britain Or France)
2. WHO CARES ABOUT
FEDERALISM?
A. States Affect Everyone's
Lives
B. States do things differently
Obamacare
Gay marriage
The Minimum wage
3. FEDERALISM AND NATIONAL
POLITICS:
Interstate economic competition
The Economic Shift to the
Sunbelt
The Political Shift to the
Sunbelt:
Population Shifts Result In
Shifts In ....
... The distribution of Seats In The House Of
Representatives,
.... and Therefore in The Electoral College that elects
the President
Civil
Rights:
When Government Must Step in
to Protect People
The Constitution left many unanswered questions about civil rights
1) Unanswered Question #1
Do slaveowners hold the balance of power in America?
How did the U.S. answer the question? Political Compromise (Missouri Compromise)
2). Unanswered Question #2
Can slaveowners start their own nation?
How did the U.S.
answer? Civil War
3). Unanswered Question #3
Are African-Americans' civil rights protected by the
states?
How did the U.S. answer? In the courts
At first, by letting states decide (de jure segregation; "Jim Crow")
Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 upheld Jim Crow laws
In the 1950s, Brown versus Board of Education
(1954) rejects de jure segregation in schools
The Civil Rights Movement, the 1964 Civil Rights Act & the 1965 Voting Rights Act
4). The legacy
a). The Civil Rights agenda
expands to de facto segregation: Housing, Schools, Jobs
b). ... and to other groups: Gender, Other Minorities, the Disabled, and Gays
c). White and Black Americans' Perceptions differ -- and they need to understand each other better.