Examine the Causes and Consequences of the changing balance of power between the federal and state governments since 1980.

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Examine the Causes and Consequences of the changing balance of power between the federal and state governments since 1980

In the years preceding 1980 the balance of power between the federal and state governments had been evolving and changing. This was due to both the changing times in America and the differing philosophies of those men in the famous oval office who had different ideas about how little or large a role the federal government should play. This role has been basically decreasing since 1980 with recent US president’s adhering to Nixon’s idea of ‘new federalism’ although the federal government still does have a lot of the power that it gained in the years leading up to 1980 as a result of revered president’s such as Franklin Roosevelt increasing this power.

Those presidents who took the view that the powers of the federal government should widen mainly did so because decisive federal action was needed at the time to ease America’s problems. Since 1980(with the possible exception of September 11th) America hasn’t faced such difficulties, which has meant that the Federal government hasn’t had to do so much and therefore its powers have decreased. For example in the early 1930s when the USA was ruined by the great depression and the laissez-faire politics advocated by the republican president Herbert Hoover a new approach was needed. Roosevelt supplied this approach with his New Deal programme, which involved a lot of federal government intervention in areas such as housing and employment. To do this the federal government had to increase its power and so therefore this happened with the idea of ‘CO-operative federalism’ being introduced. Similar shifts in the balance of power can be seen with Johnson’s administration in the 1960s as American faced problems such as widespread racism, poverty and the Vietnam War. Since 1980 the US has seen its economic position strengthen along with its position as a world superpower and as a result, the federal government has seen its role reduced. This in-turn has seen the power of the federal government reduce and this is clear from the number of supreme court rulings which have enhanced the power of the states by going against the federal government. For example the Garcia ruling in 1985 and also the Webster V Planned Parenthood case in 1989 on the availability of abortion. It is clear that when America is in crisis people turn to the federal government and this can be seen from the fallout of September 11th. Since this atrocity Bush’s administration has gained more power in areas such as homeland security and following a congress ruling the federal government will be in charge of airline security for the next two years. Therefore it is clear that as America’s problems decrease and its prosperity increases, state governments gain more power from their federal counterparts while an increase in problems will result in the reverse.

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The change in the balance of power since 1980 has also been affected by the attitudes and actions of the executive who have been less inclined to use grant-in aid programmes which has weakened the stranglehold of the federal government on the states. This point is backed up by the fact that in 1995 federal aid accounted for 22.2% of state and local outlays compared to 26.3% in 1980. This money is usually given by the federal government with strings attached and a proviso that the states will agree with a certain area of federal government policy to receive ...

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