Questions tagged [federalism]

Forms of government that mix a central government with regional governments.

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What would happen if an American state didn’t follow a ruling by the Supreme Court?

If the Supreme Court decided that same-sex marriage was a right on the federal level, what would happen if a specific state decided not to follow their ruling? What power does the federal government ...
Julius Hamilton's user avatar
30 votes
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A new proposal suggests subdividing Washington D.C. into 127 new states so that they can change the Constitution at will. Is this possible?

There is a new proposal in the Harvard Law Review titled: "Pack the Union: A Proposal to Admit New States for the Purpose of Amending the Constitution to Ensure Equal Representation". ...
SurpriseDog's user avatar
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25 votes
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(Why) does the US left promote federal powers over state powers?

This comment states that the modern left is often promoting federal powers over state powers. I assume that the comment relates to the United States. It surprises me, because in (northern) Europe, ...
gerrit's user avatar
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23 votes
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Why did some places with a large population become states within a country when other places with smaller populations became countries of their own?

With a population of over 200 million, the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has a much larger population than most EU countries(eg: Switzerland has approx 9 mil population). Why is it that small places ...
tryst with freedom's user avatar
21 votes
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Why are national guards in states nowhere near the US Mexico border getting involved in border security with Mexico?

I have seen an article saying that the state national guard of North Dakota is preparing to send troops to the US Mexico border. Other states have done this too, I just pick North Dakota because it is ...
Number File's user avatar
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What are the conditions required for a territory to become part of United States?

This question is very related to Commonwealth United States Insular Areas, where I asked in detail about the Puerto Rico (and other areas) situation. Now I am interested to know which are the legal ...
Alberto Bonsanto's user avatar
20 votes
3 answers
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Why didn't Liberal states all have state run health care?

For many years, there were attempts at making national health care coverage, which finally passed as the ACA. The ACA ("Obamacare") was controversial vis a vis constitutionality (it won by a five-...
aca's user avatar
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Why are German local authorities taxing DoD employees, despite the protests of the US and of the German federal government?

There's a pretty long Stars and Stripes article on the matter of taxes on some DoD employees in Germany: The U.S. contends the situation amounts to a treaty violation, but so far American officials ...
the gods from engineering's user avatar
18 votes
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How could Philadelphia join New Jersey?

Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Senate voted to block a Philadelphia law which would require paid sick leave for employees. This is just one in a long series of examples where the heavily-Democrat ...
Bobson's user avatar
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How was the US able to create a Department of Education at the Federal level?

Looking through Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution (that part of the document that enumerates the powers of the Congress), there is nothing that talks about Congress' role in education. ...
Affable Geek's user avatar
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What does the Tenth Amendment actually do?

The Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution says: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to ...
Paul Draper's user avatar
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What type of organization is an American political party?

Legally, what is a political party in the US? I know they are not mentioned in the Constitution. They do not appear to be corporations or charities, or PACs, or any other type of formal organization ...
AShelly's user avatar
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Can a monarchy become a US state?

I'm wondering if a monarchy could technically become a State in the US (without switching to republic, obviously), according to US constitution and to US laws. I.e., for the sake of the question, it ...
o0'.'s user avatar
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Is there a ranking of states based on how unitary/federalized they are?

As an example, the UK is formally considered a unitary state but in reality its subregions enjoy a lot of autonomy and are able to pass laws of their own. On the other hand Russia is formally a ...
JonathanReez's user avatar
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Have congressional Republicans taken a position on whether they will give "consent" to the United States Climate Alliance as an interstate compact?

The United States Climate Alliance is an effort by state governments to support the Paris Climate Accord and help reduce emissions in the United States. There is however a constitutional problem with ...
lazarusL's user avatar
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Trump is revoking California's Clean Air Act exemption. Does this automatically affect the 13 other states that use California's standards?

President Trump is reported to be revoking California's Clean Air Act exemption. Trump tweeted on September 18, 2019 that he was doing so. Since 1970, California has restricted automobile emissions ...
Jasper's user avatar
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Why do non-federations need bicameral parliaments?

Federations often have a bicameral parliament: one house speaks for the nation itself, whereas the other one speaks for the subjects within the federation (it could be summoned by the means of the ...
Zhiltsoff Igor's user avatar
13 votes
2 answers
6k views

Why does there not seem to be more support for state-specific border walls in the US?

While there seems to be a good amount of discussion about the border wall desired by President Trump, I have not seen much in the way of discussion regarding state-based approaches; that is, given the ...
JAB's user avatar
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Can state governments be overthrown without national government involvement?

It is my understanding that the state and national government of the United States are separate entities (that's what federalism is, combining smaller states into a larger one). Could unhappy ...
tzengia's user avatar
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Is the US one of the most decentralized countries in the world? [duplicate]

After living abroad in a small, politically centralized country, I came back to the United States and suddenly realized how strange federalism feels to me. Individual states have so much political ...
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12 votes
6 answers
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Why should I care about federal vs state rights?

The premise behind most arguments about Obamacare, and other programs is that it's a "Federal" vs "State" rights issue. I come from a corporate business background, and it seems to me that if enough ...
makerofthings7's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
633 views

How is the European integration process similar to the creation of the United States?

What are the similarities and what are the major differences (economically, socially and culturally) between the current European integration process and the historical formation of the United States? ...
Sven Clement's user avatar
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Supreme Court cases that were harbingers of New Federalism

Between the mid-1930s and late 1980s/mid-1990s the Supreme Court didn't invalidate any acts by Congress during the era of New Deal Federalism, but under the Rehnquist Court a revival of Federalism ...
thekeyofgb's user avatar
11 votes
5 answers
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In the USA, who decides who can run for president, the states or the federal government?

From twitter BREAKING: Maryland is on the verge of passing a law requiring all Presidential candidates to release their past 5 years of tax returns in order to be placed on the election ballot. ...
Evan Carroll's user avatar
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What level of autonomy do regions within the Russian Federation have?

So, in the United States, of course, there is the 10th Amendment to the constitution, stating that powers not enumerated as adhering to the federal government are reserved either to the states or to ...
Affable Geek's user avatar
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What additional measures, within presidential authority, do people say the president should take against Covid-19?

It seems Donald Trump is under heavy scrutiny from a lot of the media and his political opponents for failing to appropriately respond to Covid-19. My question is: what more could he have done that ...
Ertai87's user avatar
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Entire court impeached

The West Virginia House Judiciary Committee has voted to impeach the entire West Virginia Supreme Court. This vote means that it will go to the WV house floor for impeachment consideration. Here's ...
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9 votes
1 answer
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Did 'State' mean the same thing as today's 'country' during the time of the foundation of the USA?

It has been said that during the 18th century, the term State meant what we now refer to as countries. In other words, modern developments notwithstanding, did each US State start out as countries, ...
Five Points's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
725 views

Why is the Federal Government competing for medical supplies with the US States hit hardest by the COVID-19 Pandemic?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and first responders have struggled with a lack of PPE, ventilators, and other essential medical supplies. The Federal Government has urged individual states to ...
divibisan's user avatar
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What is the furthest an amendment has gotten to 'fix' the elastic and commerce clauses?

There exists a strain of political thought in the United States roughly as follows: Most of the day to day government action (ie: not national defense) should be handled by state governments. ...
lazarusL's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
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Does federalism lead to the separation of single states?

Federalism involves a great deal of power sharing, both at administrative and governmental levels. Federalism accepts the concept called 'right to self determination' to varying degrees, including '...
Ludwig Wittgenstein's user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
1k views

Can states nullify the president's pardoning power by making federal offenses state offenses?

Can a state make federal offenses state offenses as well, so that even if the president pardons a criminal for a federal offense, they'll still be on the hook for the equivalent state offense? Edit: ...
user541686's user avatar
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Do municipal and state police have to cooperate with federal police?

To what level do local/state police have to cooperate with federal police when state law differs from national law, especially regarding the recent legalization of recreational marijuana in Washington ...
Sam I am says Reinstate Monica's user avatar
8 votes
5 answers
2k views

Is much of what the US federal government does unconstitutional?

Heard the argument that since much of what the federal government does these days - Freddie Mac, Social Security, Medicare, you name it - is not within explicitly listed Enumerated Powers in the ...
user75619's user avatar
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8 votes
1 answer
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How much is Russia actually a federation?

The official name of Russia is Federation of Russia. Federations are normally a bunch of semi-independant federated states that have their own local laws and tax-collecting habits, but that defer ...
Bregalad's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
402 views

Is it possible for a federated state to be a member of two federations?

It's a well known fact territorial disputes are a constant source of instability and wars, especially if a territory contains both members of ethnicity X and Y. Would it be possible by having the ...
Bregalad's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
611 views

Is the President of the United States bound by state laws?

The state of New York is currently in the process of passing a law allowing Congress to access the state tax returns of elected officials and top appointed officials. This is seen as a potential "end-...
PlutoThePlanet's user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
352 views

What are some potential dangers of decentralization in fragile societies?

I'm working on a paper where I consider a decentralized*/federalized* political system in Afghanistan. While there are many journal articles (a quick google search would show this) arguing in favor of ...
Colonel's user avatar
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7 votes
4 answers
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Can a U.S. county secede from a U.S. state? [duplicate]

Assume a county in State A wanted to join State B. Would that be possible? If so, what would be the procedure? If not, why not?
Rain Willow's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
561 views

Are there federal systems where federal laws do not have primacy?

The powers are distributed in a federal system. But often, the jurisdiction of the federal government and that of the state/province/etc. can intersect for a particular subject matter (e.g. federal ...
xngtng's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
387 views

Why does the Govt. of Maharashtra not use Moḍi as the official script of the Maraṭhi Language?

The Moḍi script was extensively used to write Maraṭhi during the rule of the Maraṭha confederacy. But during the British rule, Balbodh (बाळबोध) replaced Moḍi(𑘦𑘻𑘚𑘲) for Maraṭhi documentation in the ...
ksinkar's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
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Can states buy vaccines directly from the manufacturers?

New York and Michigan have been requesting to purchase vaccines directly from the manufacturers. From NBC News' reporting: No can do, Pfizer replied. While the company is ready to collaborate with ...
Panda's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
3k views

To what extent has the idea of "laboratories of democracy" worked in the US?

From how I understand it, the idea of "laboratories of democracy" in the US is that state and local governments can better experiment with policies than the entire country can. So we can see what ...
mikeazo's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
384 views

How does a federal state differ from an anarchist "federation"?

Anarchists such as Proudhon, Bakunin, and Kropotkin advocate federalism. As far as I understood from their works, this entails an organizational structure in which power flows "upwards" and ...
DK2AX's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
669 views

What are the conditions and benefits of U.S. insular properties like Puerto Rico? [closed]

I always wanted to know which is the legal status of the associated states of United States like Puerto Rico. Who is the state head, of this kind of territory? Why can't they vote for the United ...
Alberto Bonsanto's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
366 views

Is the there a term for state (or local) officers not caring about enforcing federal law?

I think it's generally accepted that in the US: state officers cannot be compelled to enforce federal law. For more details as to why that is accepted: In Printz v. United States, 521 U.S. 898, ...
the gods from engineering's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
665 views

Mark Levin and The Liberty Amendments: coordination of states proposing constitutional amendments

Article V of the United States Constitution says the following: The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the ...
Matt Davis's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
648 views

Why is Pondicherry divided into so many names and exists in so many states?

In Tamil Nadu it is called Punducheery. Yanam is in Andhra Pradesh and again I guess there is another territory where it exists. A slightly detailed insight into this will be most welcome.
Rajorshi Koyal's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
412 views

Is there an American counterpart of ”Euroscepticism”; in other words, is the states' rights movement associated with reduced chauvinism?

In Europe, people opposed to specific policies of the European Union, expansion of the European Union, or transfer of powers from member states to the European Union, are often described by the media ...
gerrit's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
213 views

If the EU were viewed as a federation, would it appear more decentralized than the U.S.?

The U.S. may appear distinctive compared to many European nations in the extent to which state laws differ from state to state, as they are given more jurisdiction to govern themselves. For example, ...
Julius Hamilton's user avatar