Federalism Before Trump

Abstract

This chapter begins by explaining the roots of federalism in the American constitutional system: where it comes from historically and why it exists today. It also explores how northern states relied on federalism mechanisms and principles to oppose the expansion of slavery in antebellum America and how progressives more recently have used federalism to encourage state experimentation with progressive policies, such as marriage equality and marijuana decriminalization, as a way of promoting their eventual national implementation. At the same time, the chapter acknowledges that federalism in American history has been frequently deployed to promote racist and reactionary policies. This mixed record supports the chapter’s thesis that federalism is a substantively neutral principle that has sometimes been used for good and sometimes for ill. Federalism, in other words, is about which level of government (federal or state or both) should make which types of policy decisions rather than about the policies’ substantive content. As such, federalism is a neutral principle of governance that can and should be separated from the pursuit of particular policy objectives.