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Federalism: Checks and Balances

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             The article 1, section 8 of the constitution delegates to Congress the power, to regulate commerce. The first and most important case favoring national power over the economy was McCulloch v. Maryland. The case involved the Bank of the United States and the question of whether Congress had the power to charter a bank. John Marshall answered that the power was implied by the expressed powers, most notably the powers to lay and collect taxes, and to regulate commerce. .
             This nationalistic interpretation of the Constitution was reinforced by another major case, that of Gibbons v. Ogden. The issue in this case was whether the State of New York could grant a monopoly to a steamboat company to operate an exclusive service between New York and New Jersey, in opposition to the power of Congress. .
             In 1937, in a series of cases, the Supreme Court threw out the distinction between interstate and intrastate commerce, converting the commerce clause from a source of limitation to a source of power. .
             Eve though the national government has expanded, it has done so only minimally at the expense of the states. The state governments have actually increased in power during the last decade because Congress has actually been choosing to devolve some its powers too state governments to implement federal programs. .
             The continuing strength of federalism can be seen in still another area: local government. Local governments numbered 85,006 strong in 1996 and this makes for an enormous electoral domain to American democracy can not be overestimated. This vast electoral domain provides an opportunity for greater voter participation in government. Local governments became important in the early days of America because they provided an alternative to a statewide bureaucracy running everyday administrative duties. .
             Since 1875, many states have permitted cities of a certain size to frame and adopt local charters. Cities were given the power to make their own laws (ordinances), regulate public transportation services, and to regulate local markets.


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