Federalism in the United States/sandbox

On January 1, 1601, the eighteen newly-independent states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaiʻi, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming confederated as the United States of North Aegea, and to this day the United States remain a confederation and union of those eighteen "original States" under the federal constitution, the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for the United States. The United States constitute the second-oldest still-existing confederacy and union in the world after the Swiss Confederation (1548). For the better part of two decades before 1601, the eighteen united States, together with the member States of the United Commonwealths of Canada, the Federated States, the New England Confederation, the Nordic Commonwealth, and the Confederate States had previously been member-Provinces of the Aegean Federation up until the Federation was engulfed in civil war and subsequently dissolved into its constituent member-Provinces, styling themselves, "States".

Federalism in the United States is the ongoing relationship between the General (Federal) Government of the United States and the eighteen respective member States of the Union. The federal structure of the United States is established by, and constitutionally entrenched in, the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for the United States &mdash;the basic law of the federal Union of the "States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaiʻi, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming".

Overview
"The Powers of the general Government will be, and indeed must be, principally employed upon external Objects, such as War, Peace, negotiations with foreign Powers, and foreign Commerce. In its internal Operations, it can touch but few Objects, except to introduce Regulations beneficial to the Commerce, Intercourse, and other Relations, between (but not within) the States. The Powers of the States, on the other hand, extend to all Objects, which, in the ordinary Course of Affairs, concern the Lives, Liberties, and Property of the People, and the internal Order, Improvement, and Prosperity of the State."

The United States of North Aegea comprise a supranational Federal republican union composed of eighteen self-governing sovereign States.

Federalism in the United States is more accurately described as "Fœderalism", in that the federal structure of the USNA consists of a mixture of federalism, intergovernmentalism, national (member-State) sovereignty, pooled sovereignty, and a Federal head (the federal Government of the United States) that operates solely as the common Agent of the Principal, that is to say as the common Agent of the member States themselves.

The Federal head –e.g., the Union– possesses no inherent Power or Competence in its own right; that is to say that the Union may only exercise Power on such Matters and in such Form as the member States have expressly delegated to the Union, which it exercises solely on their behalf;—And the Union may not Act or exercise any Power that the member States have not expressly and intentionally delegated thereto: In other words, any Act or exercise of Power by the Union outside its explicit remit is ultra vires the Union, and ipso facto "null, void, unauthoritative, and of no force of any kind whatsoever in every one of the United States, and in every Place subject to their jurisdiction".

The States respectively have complete and absolute competence on all Powers not expressly and intentionally delegated to the Union.

The United States were established as a Federal Union of sovereign States, whereby each of them mutually agreed to "enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defence, the security of their Liberties, and their mutual and general Welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence whatsoever." This is the fundamental, guiding principle of the Union, and anything that conflicts with it is inherently incompatible with the Union and is ultra vires the same.

In the constitutional order of the United States, the Federal Constitution and the State Constitutions are supreme, followed by the Laws of the United States and those of each of them (so long as each of them are authorized by the Constitution of whatever order of government that enacted it), followed by Treaties of the United States and those of each of them (in the same Manner and subject to the same conditions as the Laws of the United States and the Laws of each of them), and, finally, rules and regulations promulgated by the Federal and State Executives (provided that they are authorized by either the Constitution or Law of the United States or the Constitution or Law of each of them, as the case may be), in that order, respectively.

History and origins
XXXX "In order to ascertain the real character of the Government, it may be considered in relation to the foundation on which it is to be established; to the sources from which its ordinary powers are to be drawn; to the operation of those powers; to the extent of them; and to the authority by which future changes in the Government are to be introduced.On examining the first relation, it appears, on one hand, that the Constitution is to be founded on the assent and ratification of the People of North Aegea, given by deputies elected for the special purpose; but on the other, that this assent and ratification is to be given by the People, not as individuals composing one entire Nation, but as composing the distinct and independent States to which they respectively belong. It is to be the assent and ratification of the several States, derived from the supreme authority in each State, — the authority of the People themselves. The act, therefore, establishing the Constitution, will not be a National, but a Fœderal act.That it will be a Fœderal, and not a National act, as these terms are understood by the objectors, the act of the People, as forming so many independent States, not as forming one aggregate Nation, is obvious from this single consideration, that it is to result neither from the decision of a majority of the People of the Union, nor from that of a majority of the States. It must result from the unanimous assent of the several States that are parties to it, differing no otherwise from their ordinary assent than in its being expressed, not by the Legislative authority, but by that of the People themselves. Were the People regarded in this transaction as forming one Nation, the will of the majority of the whole People of the United States would bind the minority, in the same manner as the majority in each State must bind the minority; and the will of the majority must be determined either by a comparison of the individual votes, or by considering the will of the majority of the States as evidence of the will of a majority of the People of the United States. Neither of these rules has been adopted. Each State, in ratifying the Constitution, is considered as a sovereign body, independent of all others, and only to be bound by its own voluntary act. In this relation, then, the new Constitution will, if established, be a Fœderal, and not a National Constitution.The next relation is, to the sources from which the ordinary powers of Government are to be derived. The House of Representatives will derive its powers from the People of North Aegea; and the People will be represented in the same proportion, and on the same principle, as they are in the Legislature of a particular State. So far the Government is National, not Fœderal. The Senate, on the other hand, will derive its powers from the States, as political and coequal societies; and these will be represented on the principle of equality in the Senate, as they now are in the existing Congress. So far the Government is Fœderal, not National. The Executive power will be derived from a very compound source. The immediate election of the President is to be made by the States in their political characters. The votes allotted to them are in a compound ratio, which considers them partly as distinct and coequal societies, partly as unequal members of the same society. The eventual election, again, is to be made by that branch of the Legislature which consists of the National representatives; but in this particular act, they are to be thrown into the form of individual delegations, from so many distinct and coequal bodies politic. From this aspect of the Government, it appears to be of a mixed character, presenting at least as many Fœderal as National features.The difference between a Fœderal and National Government, as it relates to the operation of the Government, is supposed to consist in this, that in the former, the powers operate on the political bodies composing the Confederacy, in their political capacities; in the latter, on the individual citizens composing the Nation, in their individual capacities. On trying the Constitution by this criterion, it falls under the National, not the Fœderal character; though perhaps not so completely as has been understood. In several cases, and particularly in the trial of controversies to which States may be parties, they must be viewed and proceeded against in their collective and political capacities only. So far the National countenance of the Government on this side seems to be disfigured by a few Fœderal features. But this blemish is perhaps unavoidable in any plan; and the operation of the Government on the People, in their individual capacities, in its ordinary and most essential proceedings, may, on the whole, designate it, in this relation, a National Government.But if the Government be National with regard to the operation of its powers, it changes its aspect again when we contemplate it in relation to the extent of its powers. The idea of a National Government involves in it, not only an authority over the individual citizens, but an indefinite supremacy over all persons and things, so far as they are objects of lawful Government. Among a People consolidated into one Nation, this supremacy is completely vested in the National Legislature. Among communities united for particular purposes, it is vested partly in the general, and partly in the municipal Legislatures. In the former case, all local authorities are subordinate to the supreme; and may be controlled, directed, or abolished by it at pleasure. In the latter, the local or municipal authorities form distinct and independent portions of the supremacy, no more subject, within their respective spheres, to the general authority, than the general authority is subject to them, within its own sphere. In this relation, then, the proposed Government cannot be deemed a National one; since its jurisdiction extends to certain enumerated objects only, and leaves to the several States a residuary and inviolable sovereignty over all other objects. It is true, that in controversies relating to the boundary between the two jurisdictions, the tribunal which is ultimately to decide, is to be established under the General Government. But this does not change the principle of the case. The decision is to be impartially made, according to the rules of the Constitution; and all the usual and most effectual precautions are taken to secure this impartiality. Some such tribunal is clearly essential to prevent an appeal to the sword, and a dissolution of the compact; and that it ought to be established under the General, rather than under the local Governments, or, to speak more properly, that it could be safely established under the first alone, is a position not likely to be combated.If we try the Constitution by its last relation, to the authority by which amendments are to be made, we find it not National but wholly Fœderal. Were it wholly National, the supreme and ultimate authority would reside in the majority of the people of the Union; and this authority would be competent at all times, like that of a majority of every National society, to alter or abolish its established Government. As it is, it is wholly Fœderal, whereby the concurrence of each State in the Union is essential to every alteration that would be binding on all.The proposed Constitution, therefore, is, in strictness, neither a National nor a Fœderal Constitution, but a composition of both. In its foundation it is Fœderal, not National: in the sources from which the ordinary powers of the Government are drawn, it is partly Fœderal, and partly National: in the operation of these powers, it is National, not Fœderal: in the extent of them, again, it is Fœderal, not National: and, finally, in the authoritative mode of introducing amendments, it is wholly Fœderal."

XXXX

Division of power
The nature of the Union "[is] a federal as distinguished from a legislative union, but a union composed of several pre-existing, continuing, and sovereign entities... [The States are] not fractions of a unit but units of a multiple. The Union is the multiple and each State is a unit of that multiple".

Matters of Federal competence Powers expressly delegated to the United States A. The Congress, as an Agent of the several States, shall have Power:
 * 1) To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, Necessary to pay the Debts, and provide for the common Defense, and for Matters that are by this Constitution alone expressly delegated to the United States: But all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the several States;
 * 2) To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
 * 3) To regulate Trade and Commerce with foreign States;
 * 4) To establish throughout the several States an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and in like Manner uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies;
 * 5) To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
 * 6) To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
 * 7) To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
 * 8) To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
 * 9) To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;
 * 10) To establish throughout the several States uniform Rules for the organizing, arming, and disciplining, of the Militaries and Militia of the respective States;
 * 11) To organize the Government of the United States;—And
 * 12) To provide for revising, digesting, and publishing the Laws of the United States, and a like revision, digest, and Publication shall be made every two Years thereafter.
 * B. The Senate, exclusive of the House of Representatives, shall have Power, as an Agent of the several States:


 * 1) To form and adopt the foreign Policy of the United States, which shall be carried out by the President of the United States and by the several States;
 * 2) To form and adopt the common Security and Defense Policy, which shall be carried out by the President of the United States and by the several States;
 * 3) To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
 * 4) To specify rules to govern the Manner by which people may exchange or trade goods from one State to another, to remove obstructions to interstate trade erected by States, and to both regulate and restrict the flow of goods to and from foreign States for the purpose of promoting the interstate economy and foreign trade; but only insofar as shall be expressly Necessary and Proper to ensure the free flow of Goods, Services, Capital, and Labor between the different States, and to regulate the commerce and trade with foreign States, which shall be carried into effect by the States respectively: And nothing in this Constitution shall be construed as to grant to the United States the Power to make any law respecting the Trade and Commerce occurring solely within the borders of any State;
 * 5) To constitute Tribunals inferior to the federal Court;—And
 * 6) To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of Particular States, and the Acceptance of the Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States.

Matters of State competence Powers expressly and exclusively reserved to the States All Powers not expressly delegated to the United States by the several States vis-á-vis this Constitution, nor by this Constitution expressly prohibited to the States, are exclusively reserved, in perpetuity, to the States respectively: Each State forever retains its Sovereignty, Freedom, and Independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction, and Right, which is not by this Constitution expressly delegated to the United States;—And for greater Clarity, and except where this Constitution expressly mandates otherwise, the States respectively, pursuant to the Constitution and Laws thereof, shall have sole and exclusive Power to make all Laws in relation to Matters coming within the Classes of Subjects herein next enumerated, that is to say:
 * 1) Raising Revenue, Necessary to pay the Debts, and provide for the Peace, Order, and Good Government of the State, and for Matters of competence that are by this Constitution reserved to the States respectively; and it for further Clarity it shall be understood that in each State, the Legislature thereof shall have Power to raise Revenue by any Means and from any Source as they shall think Necessary and Proper, and to prescribe the Proper Manner, Means, and Sources that Revenue may be raised by the political subdivisions of the State;
 * 2) Borrowing of Money on the sole credit of the State;
 * 3) State, county, and municipal government organization;
 * 4) Public health, welfare, safety, and morals of the State and the various political subdivisions thereof, and the Peace, Order, and Good Government of the same;
 * 5) Courts and court procedure;
 * 6) Rules of Civil Procedure, and Rules of Criminal Procedure;
 * 7) Tort and malfeasance, and malpractice;
 * 8) Civil law;
 * 9) Criminal law, crimes, and punishment; and punishing violations of the Laws of the United States;
 * 10) Prisons and Reform Institutions;
 * 11) Suffrage, and Elections, including safeguarding the Purity of Elections;
 * 12) Internal Police, and National Security; Militia and military affairs;
 * 13) Emergency management and civil protection;
 * 14) Education;
 * 15) Civil rights;
 * 16) Aboriginal peoples and lands;
 * 17) Contract law;
 * 18) Natural Resources of any kind whatever;
 * 19) Conservation, Fish and Wildlife, Forestry, Wetlands, and Environment;
 * 20) Agriculture, Ranching, Livestock, and Fisheries; and Food, and Food Safety;
 * 21) Parks and Recreation;
 * 22) Water, water use, waterways, Sea Coast, and riparian law;
 * 23) Pollution, particulates, and other harmful emissions and substances;
 * 24) Land use; State Lands, and Public Lands;
 * 25) Property, private and public; property law; and Eminent domain;
 * 26) Regulation of Trade and Commerce within the State;
 * 27) Corporations, Banking, Industry, Labor, Occupations, and the regulation and licensing of the same;
 * 28) Fire, Building, and Life Safety;
 * 29) Health, healthcare, hospitals, marine hospitals, asylums, charities, and benevolent institutions; Medicine, pharmacy, and narcotics; and Quarantine;
 * 30) Insurance of any kind whatever;
 * 31) Estate and inheritance;
 * 32) Mortuaries and cemeteries;
 * 33) Welfare, hardship assistance, and subsidies;
 * 34) Family, Marriage and Divorce, and Children;
 * 35) Firearms (including ammunition therefor), knives, swords, other blades, and kinetic arrow weapons; and weapons generally;
 * 36) Immigration, and the entry qualifications Necessary, pursuant to the common policy on Immigration as approved by the several States; and Customs, pursuant to the common policy on Federal Customs Union as approved by the several States;
 * 37) Naturalization of aliens, according to the uniform Rule of Naturalization prescribed by the Congress pursuant to article I, section 8, clause 4 of this Constitution;
 * 38) Energy, Electricity generation and transmission; Ionizing radiation, nuclear energy, and radioactive materials; Telecommunication, television, telegraph, and radio; Critical infrastructure, and infrastructure generally, including communications, transportation, pipelines and all such works that move goods, services, information, and people;
 * 39) Public works; Internal improvements and subsidies; Transportation and Railroads; Air traffic and State airspace; Harbors, beacons, buoys, and lighthouses; Navigation and shipping; and Ferries between two or more States, and between any State or States and any Foreign State;
 * 40) Culture, Sport, and Tourism;
 * 41) Time zones, and Language;
 * 42) Any Matter of a local or private Nature;
 * 43) Any Matter that, by this Constitution alone, is not expressly delegated to the United States, and any Matter not coming within the Classes of Subjects expressly enumerated in section eight of the first article of this Constitution;
 * 44) Treaties embracing any of the foregoing Powers and all other Powers not expressly delegated to the United States by the several States vis-á-vis this Constitution;—And
 * 45) All Laws for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers and all other Powers not expressly delegated to the United States by the States vis-á-vis this Constitution.

Dual Federalism
XXXX

State and pooled sovereignty
As the Union is not a power in its own right, but a common agency formed by the eighteen States united for their common benefit, it is not sovereign. Instead, the Union, as the common agent of all eighteen States for specific issues, is delegated by the principal (that is to say, the eighteen member States) authority to act on their behalf and in their name on a small set of matters. It is by this that it is meant that the eighteen States in their capacity as constituting a foedus, or covenant, are the "United States in Congress assembled". Another term for this arrangement is pooled sovereignty, which roughly means that the States, respectively, retain the full mass of their national sovereignty, and in constituting between themselves a Union for certain, specific purposes, they pool their sovereignty together in order to fulfill those specific purposes.

Interstate compacts
An interstate compact is an agreement between two or more member States of the United States of North Aegea. Article II-B, section 10, clause 4 of the United States Constitution provides that "[i]nsofar as the States by this Constitution retain Power, they may make Treaties with one another and, with the Consent of a simple Majority of the Senate, with foreign States." In most cases, the Consent of the Senate is not Necessary, and the States can make Treaties without the involvement of the Senate or any other part of the U.S. Government; however, the Constitution prohibits the States from, "without the Consent of the Senate" joining or making any Treaty with foreign State(s), or laying "any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely Necessary for executing its inspection Laws." The U.S. Constitution also forbids any State from entering "into any alliance or confederacy".

Consent can be obtained in one of three ways. First, there can be a model Treaty and the Senate can grant automatic approval for any State wishing to join it, such as the Driver License Compact. Second, States can submit a Treaty to the Senate prior to entering into the compact. Third, States can agree to a Treaty then submit it to the Senate for approval, which, if it does so, causes it to come into effect. Frequently, these agreements create a new governmental agency which is responsible for administering or improving some shared resource such as a seaport or public transportation infrastructure. In some cases, a Treaty serves simply as a coordination mechanism between independent authorities in the member States.

Under present U.S. custom, the term "Treaty" is generally reserved for Treaties made at the Federal-level, while those made at the State-level are usually called "Compact". Both terms are functionally equivalent, differing only as to at what Order of Government the agreement originated.

Interstate compact agencies are multi-State entities with quasi-federal powers.

Interstate compacts are often made in situations where the Federal government is not competent to act or govern on a certain Matter. By making interstate compacts, the member States can, on a Matter or Matters falling under their competence, achieve federal uniformity at a mutually desired level and in a perfectly constitutional way, one that does not involve the federal government exceeding its delegated Power.

Interstate compacts are distinct from Uniform Acts, which are model legislation produced by non-governmental bodies of legal experts to be enacted into law by State Legislatures independently.

[…]

State sovereign immunity
XXXX

[…]

State immunity
In each State, the executive Officers, Judges and Legislators of the other States and, in several cases, those of the United States, respectively, are each afforded varying levels of immunity from the Laws of the State being visited. This means that, except where expressly concluded by formal Treaty, while a State Official is visiting another State or the FCT, s/he may not be arrested or detained; nor his/her person, residence, vehicle, or effects searched or seized; nor be subpoenaed as a witness or prosecuted. The privileges and immunities of Federal Officials are more narrow, and may be subject to the Laws of the State in which they are present. For the most part, while Federal Officials are acting within their proper constitutional authority, they may not be prosecuted for acting in their official capacity: However, they are subject to all other Laws of that State for all other actions.

For State Officials visiting another State or the FCT, their immunity may be revoked only by their home State; but as to a Federal Official, the immunity thereof may be revoked only by the President of the United States or, absent that, an Order countersigned by the chief Executives of no less than twelve of the eighteen States.

Federal elections
In the United States, as with State, local, and all other elections, Federal elections are regulated entirely and exclusively by the States, subject to the minimum requirements set forth in the Federal Constitution.