Separation of Powers and Federalism

 For Wednesday:

• David French, "The Police Power of the States to Control a Pandemic, Explained," The Dispatch, March 17, 2020, https://thedispatch.com/article/the-police-power-of-the-states-to/
• Adam Nagourney, "The L.A. Fires Expose a Web of Governments, Weak by Design," New York Times, January 19, 2025.

News:

ICE is coming.  Know your rights.

Separation of powers in the news.

What happens if a president defies a court order?

Federalist 49  

• "Veneration"
• James Ceaser: "The idea of reverence for the Constitution was a creation of The Federalist. But why did The Federalist create this doctrine of constitutional reverence?"

Veneration: 

• Norms
• The Constitution and oaths
• Citizenship
• Military oath of enlistment
• Civilian oath of office
• Judicial oath
• Presidential oath

Federalist 39 and Federalism:

The proposed Constitution, therefore, is, in strictness, neither a national nor a federal Constitution, but a composition of both. In its foundation it is federal, not national; in the sources from which the ordinary powers of the government are drawn, it is partly federal and partly national; in the operation of these powers, it is national, not federal; in the extent of them, again, it is federal, not national; and, finally, in the authoritative mode of introducing amendments, it is neither wholly federal nor wholly national.

Federalist 51

Separation of Powers: "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place."

Divided government

Is the Founding legitimate?  

• Federalist 39:  "derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people."
• Federalist 49: Madison quotes Jefferson: "As the people are the only legitimate fountain of power.."

Federalism:  "In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and then the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments. Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people. The different governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself."

How does the federal government "control" states and localities?

The Supremacy Clause and the Tenth Amendment

How the feds "control" the states: Grants and mandates (more on Wednesday)

How the states "control" the feds: legal action