Federalism and the Power Struggle

Federalism is a way of organizing a nation so that two or more levels of government have formal authority over the same land of people. It is a system of shared power between units of government. Categorical grants are the main source of federal aid to state and local governments. They can only be used for specific purposes and have increased federal power in regards to the state because they come with strings attached. Federal mandates direct states or local governments to comply with federal rules under threat of penalties or as a condition of receipt of a federal grant. States suddenly have to budget more funds for the project just to receive federal money, increasing federal government power. On the contrary, other types of grants help to increase state power relative to the federal government. Block grants are federal grants given more or less automatically to the states or communities to support broad programs in areas like community and social services. The Tenth Amendment also increases the power of the states in that it declares all powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, not prohibited to it by the states, are reserved to the states, respectively, or the people.