『The State of Control: Federalism and the Limits of Federal Power』のカバーアート

The State of Control: Federalism and the Limits of Federal Power

The State of Control: Federalism and the Limits of Federal Power

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As America approaches its 250th anniversary, America at 250: Due Diligence turns to one of the oldest unsettled arguments in American life—not whether to have a national government, but how much of one. Where should power actually live: close to the people, in the states and towns where most Americans spend their lives, or at the center, in Washington? The argument was there before the ink was dry. Inside the Constitutional Convention of 1787, James Madison pushed for what became known as the "federal negative"—a congressional veto over state laws—and lost. The states were too protective of their authority and too wary of a powerful national government to surrender that kind of control. What emerged instead was what Madison called a "compound republic": a national government strong enough to provide for defense, regulate trade and raise its own revenue, layered over states that retained broad responsibility for the everyday business of governing. It was a balance built through compromise—including compromises that preserved slavery and embedded protections for it within the constitutional order. That balance has been renegotiated ever since, almost always under pressure. In 1937, after the Supreme Court struck down several New Deal programs, Franklin Roosevelt proposed adding as many as six justices to the Court. His plan failed, but during the same period the Court began upholding major economic regulations and federal programs, helping establish a much broader understanding of national power. In 1962, federal marshals and troops enforced a court order allowing James Meredith to become the first Black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. In 1965, Lyndon Johnson urged Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act, providing the strongest federal enforcement of the Fifteenth Amendment since Reconstruction. And in 1981, Ronald Reagan stood on the inaugural platform and declared that the federal government did not create the states—the states created the federal government. Today, the same argument is live again: in clashes over immigration enforcement and the deployment of federal forces within states; in disputes over who controls election administration; in mid-decade redistricting and gerrymandering battles; and in the narrowing reach of federal voting-rights protections after Shelby County v. Holder and subsequent Supreme Court rulings. To trace the original architecture, where it has been tested and where it stands now, this episode brings together three very different voices: a constitutional law scholar who argues that most domestic governing was designed to remain close to home; a political scientist who examines what has happened when fundamental rights were left to the states to protect; and a constitutional lawyer who contends that the federal government has moved far beyond the limited, enumerated powers the Constitution grants it. Together, they wrestle with a question that runs through 250 years of American history: Is federalism a safeguard the founders wisely built into the Constitution to prevent any one level of government from becoming too powerful—or can it become an excuse, dressing the denial of rights in the language of local self-government? Federalism can be both. The fight is over which one it is. Hosts Steve Herman Steve Herman is a veteran journalist and former White House Bureau Chief for Voice of America. He brings decades of reporting experience to America at 250: Due Diligence, helping guide the series through the historical, political, and institutional questions that have shaped the United States. Website: Steve Herman X: @newsguyUSA Bill Bernardoni Bill Bernardoni is the founder of Bernardoni Media & Marketing and co-host of America at 250: Due Diligence. His work focuses on building, producing, and distributing podcasts and radio programs that bring serious conversations to broad audiences. Website: Bernardoni Media & Marketing Blog: The Bernardoni Brief X: @BillBernardoni Guests Featured in This Episode Randy E. Barnett Randy E. Barnett is the Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University Law Center and faculty director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution. A former felony prosecutor in the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, Barnett argued the medical-marijuana case Gonzales v. Raich before the U.S. Supreme Court and was one of the lawyers representing the National Federation of Independent Business in its constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act. He is the author or co-author of numerous books on the Constitution, including Restoring the Lost Constitution: The Presumption of Liberty and The Original Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment: Its Letter and Spirit. In this episode, Barnett explains the original architecture of Madison's "compound republic"—and why he believes national authority has expanded far beyond the domestic role the founding generation envisioned. Faculty Profile: Randy E. ...
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