Federalism
Federalism involves the question of how government should be divided, and more specifically, when there is a conflict who should get to decide the outcome (National government or state or local governments). Please choose an issue that is a federalism issue (e.g. legalization of marijuana, sanctuary cities, educational standards, etc.) and respond to the following.
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Explain fully the issue you’ve chosen (you can pick from the list above or come up with your own- there are a lot). Do not simply state what issue you’re looking at, explain the controversy to me with data (e.g. if you’re looking at marijuana you should include background about states that have passed laws legalizing it and what the response of the Justice Department has been over time and what it is currently).
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How does this issue represent a challenge to federalism (i.e. what is the federalism issue)?
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What are the arguments of the state/local governments (why should they get to decide this issue)?
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What are the arguments of the federal government (why should it get to decide this issue)?
CAREFUL: This assignment is about federalism, not the underlying issues the parties are disagreeing about. So if you write a paper about legalization of marijuana for example, the focus of your paper should be about who gets to decide this issue, state governments or the federal government. Dealing with the pros and cons of legalization of marijuana would be appropriate in explaining the positions of the state governments and the federal government but that is just one section of this assignment.
CAREFUL #2: Don’t let your biases influence this assignment. Both state and federal governments generally have good arguments for why they prefer to make decisions in a particular area. So, for example, even if you’re a hardline anti-immigration policy person, you need to explore why states and local governments may have chosen to be sanctuary cities (what are their arguments for doing so (e.g. what are the costs and burdens of complying with ICE?).
SAMPLE ASSIGNMENT
