We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
American Federalism: Madison's Middle Ground in the 1980s.
- Authors
Derthick, Martha
- Abstract
This article describes federalism in the U.S. As the composition approaches 200 years of age, it is still not easy to render a simple, indisputable judgement on the outcome. Surely the national government has proved supreme. It got the better of the states in the original contest, as well as in the major tests of subsequent centuries. The nineteenth century, embracing the great debates over nullification and secession and culminating in the Civil War, virtually disposed of the doctrine that the states have the right to decide disputes over the distribution of governmental power. As it happens, quite apart from the impending bicentennial of the Constitution, the 1980s are an eminently suitable time for taking stock of the federal system for two reasons. Probably no more striking proof of the persistence of states' individuality exists than the SS1 program, in which they are free to supplement the federal minimum payment. Congress in 1973 required supplementation to the extent necessary to hold current recipients harmless against the changes associated with federalization, and some states have also provided optional supplements.
- Subjects
UNITED States; FEDERAL government; CONSTITUTIONS; CONSTITUTIONAL law; FILIBUSTERS (Political science); CIVIL war; FEDERATIONS
- Publication
Public Administration Review, 1987, Vol 47, Issue 1, p66
- ISSN
0033-3352
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2307/975473