⇒ The Founding Fathers – such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison – would be surprised by how much the US policy making process has changed since the 18th Century if they were around today

⇒ The rule of law (the principle that all people and institutions are subject to and accountable to law that is fairly applied and enforce), separation of powers (division of the legislative, executive, and judicial functions of government among separate and independent bodies), and federalism is still protected to this very day

• These features put limits on the Government and ensure the people retain sovereignty/power
• The Declaration of Independence even states that power derives from the consent of the governed
• Although some groups of people have historically not been able to fully participate in politics (such as African Americans and Women), the right to political participation is now much greater

⇒ The USA emphasises the importance of individual liberty and this is reflected in their policy making

⇒ The US political system is often criticised for being slow to adopt new policy, but this policy restraint is a major feature of the system ensuring that all policy is deliberative and carefully adopted

⇒ However, slow policy making can create ‘stasis’ – for example, it took the US over 100 years to sort out its central banking system

⇒ The United States adopts a federal method of government - Federalism is the mixed or compound mode of government, combining a general government with regional governments in a single political system.

• How exactly power would be divided between the central Government and the federal States was a major task

⇒ After gaining independence from Britain, the federal States expected to be economically prosperous, but they actually faced an economic depression

• This was made worse by the Articles of Confederation (essentially America’s first constitution) – the national Government failed to raise taxes, make an army, and had poor political participation

⇒ The final US Constitution (ratified in 1789) limited the power of the central government, but gave the wealthy significant protection against popular uprising (mainly due to the weaknesses of the federal division of power at the time)

• Charles Beard argued it was a counterrevolutionary document

⇒ Article 10 of the US Constitution expresses the principle of federalism and states’ rights

Congress

⇒ Article 1 section 8 of the US constitution defines Congress’ powers, which includes handling national matters (e.g. defence) and commercial powers (such as those relating to national currency and transportation networks).

• However, the powers Congress has are actually broader than what is stated here due to clause 18 (i.e. the elastic clause) – a Constitutional clause allowing Congress to pass laws deemed necessary to carry out its job.

⇒ Between the 1870s and 1933 state activism took hold, where the country shifted from a rural-based economy to an industrial economy

• This economy shift made some people very rich and others very poor – disease and crime went up significantly in some areas, leading to uprisings such as the Haymarket Riot in 1886

⇒ Some States tried to limit the powers of some large businesses (monopolies) but they found it difficult to do so when they operated across numerous States. They, therefore, wanted the central Government to step in and help

⇒ Reacting to the problems faced by an industrial economy, the USA set up the Interstate Commerce Commission, which was used to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminate race discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carrier, including interstate bus lines and telephone companies

⇒ The Government also sought to integrate former slaves into the community through the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution

• In addition Civil Rights laws were passed (e.g. Civil Rights Acts 1866 and 1875) to give basic rights to African Americans
• However, the success of these efforts was short-lived. Following the election of Rutherford Hayes in 1877, the South were able to freely adopt a policy of segregation (Jim Crow laws)

⇒ The central Government also failed to adequately regulate industry and embraced a laissez-faire attitude (i.e. the idea that businesses should be free to develop without the involvement or control of government)

• E.g. the Supreme Court case of Lochner v New York held that the State law restricting the number of hours an employee should work for violated their right to contract freely with their employer

⇒ The Federal Reserve System (the central bank) was created in 1913, to help control the economy

⇒ Despite the heavy involvement of the central Government the States still wielded a lot of power (more so than today)

• In fact, a lot of political representatives preferred to work for the State than to have a position in the central Government because they would have more influence that way

⇒ At the time, citizens of a particular State were also citizens of the United States (i.e. they had dual citizenship)

• This meant that the federal bill of rights did not apply to the actions of the State e.g. Barron v Baltimore 1832
• Only once the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified did an opportunity open for the federal Bill of Rights apply to States too – the ‘equal protection clause’

⇒ 1933 – 1961 was a period of national activism

⇒ Following his inauguration, Roosevelt adopted the National Industrial Recovery Act (1933), which attempted to regulate industry for fair wages and prices that would stimulate economic recovery following the Great Depression

• However, the Supreme Court struck the Act down under the same principle seen in Lochner – the central Government should ensure industry is as free as possible

⇒ The restraint on central Government was large and Roosevelt sought to do something about it and restructured the Supreme Court to make them more amenable to his New Deal program

• The New Deal took action to bring about immediate economic relief as well as reforms in industry, agriculture, finance, waterpower, labour, and housing, vastly increasing the scope of the federal government’s activities.
• A number of centrally controlled regulatory bodies were set up which vastly increased federal involvement in decision making

⇒ Throughout World War II more programs were adopted to increase the power of the central federal Government

⇒ It was around this time that foreign and defence policy grew, and led to terms such as ‘national security’ being coined

• NATO was also formed in 1949 - its primary purpose was to unify and strengthen the Western Allies' military response to a possible invasion of western Europe by the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies.

⇒ The final era was that of ‘national standards’, which has ran from 1961 to today

⇒ Domestic policy was a key focus in the 1960s with Lyndon Johnson setting out the Great Society – an ambitious series of policy initiative aimed at ending poverty, reducing crime, abolishing inequality an environmental improvements

⇒ The Federal Government also began to set certain national Standards that States should follow when pursuing policy goals

⇒ Many believed Nixon’s presidential appointment in 1968 was a return to traditional federal governance

• He pursued a policy of ‘New Federalism’ that sought to return policy making decisions, power, and discretion to the States (and reverse the top-down influence created by the Great Society programs)
• However, Nixon still used the powers of the central Government to create certain agencies e.g. the Environmental Protection Agency

⇒ In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan’s policy was to cut ‘big government’: a ‘big government is a government perceived as excessively interventionist and intruding into all aspects of the lives of its citizens.

• However, it should be noted, similar policies to cut ‘big government’ were taken by both president Nixon and president Carter e.g. president Carter deregulated the airline industry
• Reagan stated once: “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem”

⇒ Ever since Nixon and the Watergate scandal, the public has generally distrusted government and this has affected policy making ever since

⇒ A smaller, less intrusive, government has popular support – however, this is not the case in certain areas of particular public importance

• For example, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks Congress enacted the Patriots Act giving the federal Government more power to investigate terrorism and other crimes, which has the potential to reduce individual liberties

⇒ Regardless of whether future Governments adopt a policy of being ‘big’ or ‘small’, the American Constitution afford them the necessary flexibility