Federalism

Abstract

This chapter, written for the Cambridge Companion to the United States Constitution, charts the course of American constitutional federalism from the Founding to the present. Part I discusses salient developments in American constitutional federalism between the ratification of the Constitution and the Civil War. Part II examines the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on the federal equilibrium, particularly with respect to the domain of civil rights. Part III explores the intricate body of constitutional doctrine that the post-Civil War Court constructed to address the complex governance issues presented by a rapidly integrating and industrializing economy in a federal system, and the disintegration of that body of doctrine during the crisis of the Great Depression. Part IV analyzes the evolution of American constitutional federalism in the post-New Deal era.

Keywords: Federalism, U.S. Constitution, Supreme Court