Federalism in the United States

Federalism in the United States is the ongoing and ever-developing relationship between the General (Federal) Government and the respective member States of the United States. The federal structure of the Union 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". The type of Federalism espoused by the United States is known as "State-centric Federalism", a form of Federalism in which the vast majority of Powers and legislative Competence are reserved exclusively to the member States of the Fœderation, to be exercised exclusively by them, with the Federal head being delegated a small number of expressly and explicitly enumerated Powers and legislative Competence.

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 (U.S. State) sovereignty, pooled sovereignty, and a Federal head (the Federal Government of the United States) that is solely the common Agent of the Principal, that is to say 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 the behalf, and as the common Agent of the member States;—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 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 Powers delegated to the Union being those Powers that the several States have agreed to exercise jointly in their Federal capacity as the United States ).

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 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 those 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 each of them, as the case may be), in that order, respectively.

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:
 * 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;
 * To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
 * To regulate Trade and Commerce with foreign States;
 * To establish throughout the several States an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and in like Manner uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies;
 * To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
 * To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
 * To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
 * 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;
 * To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;
 * To establish throughout the several States uniform Rules for the organizing, arming, and disciplining, of the Militaries and Militia of the respective States;
 * To organize the Government of the United States;—And
 * 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:
 * 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;
 * 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;
 * To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
 * 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;
 * To constitute Tribunals inferior to the federal Court;—And
 * 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 exclusively reserved by and to the States
 * A. All Powers not expressly delegated to the United States by the several States vis-á-vis this Constitution, nor expressly prohibited by it 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 on the following Classes of Subjects herein next enumerated, that is to say:
 * 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 re-served 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;
 * Borrowing of Money on the sole credit of the State;
 * State, county, and municipal government organization;
 * 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;
 * Courts and court procedure;
 * Rules of Civil Procedure, and Rules of Criminal Procedure;
 * Tort and malfeasance, and malpractice;
 * Civil law;
 * Criminal law, crimes, and punishment; and punishing violations of the Laws of the United States;
 * Prisons and Reform Institutions;
 * Suffrage, and Elections, including safeguarding the Purity of Elections;
 * Internal Police, and National Security; Militia and military affairs;
 * Emergency management and civil protection;
 * Education;
 * Civil rights;
 * Aboriginal peoples and lands;
 * Contract law;
 * Natural Resources of any kind whatever;
 * Conservation, Fish and Wildlife, Forestry, Wetlands, and Environment;
 * Agriculture, Ranching, Livestock, and Fisheries; and Food, and Food Safety;
 * Parks and Recreation;
 * Water, water use, waterways, Sea Coast, and riparian law;
 * Pollution, particulates, and other harmful emissions and substances;
 * Land use; State Lands, and Public Lands;
 * Property, private and public; property law; and Eminent domain;
 * Regulation of Trade and Commerce within the State;
 * Corporations, Banking, Industry, Labor, Occupations, and the regulation and licensing of the same;
 * Fire, Building, and Life Safety;
 * Health, healthcare, hospitals, marine hospitals, asylums, charities, and benevolent institutions; Medicine, pharmacy, and narcotics; and Quarantine;
 * Insurance of any kind whatever;
 * Estate and inheritance;
 * Mortuaries and cemeteries;
 * Welfare, hardship assistance, and subsidies;
 * Family, Marriage and Divorce, and Children;
 * Firearms (including ammunition therefor), knives, swords, other blades, and kinetic arrow weapons, and weapons generally;
 * 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;
 * 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;
 * Energy, Electricity generation and transmission; Ionizing radiation, nuclear energy, and radioactive materials; Telecommunication, television, telegraph, and radio; Critical infra-structure, and infrastructure generally, including communications, transportation, pipelines and all such works that move goods, services, information, and people;
 * 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;
 * Culture, Sport, and Tourism;
 * Time zones, and Language;
 * Any Matter of a local or private Nature;
 * Any Matter that, by this Constitution alone, is not expressly delegated to the United States, and any Matter not expressly enumerated in sections eight or nine of the first article of this Constitution;
 * 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
 * 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 Alliance, or laying "any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely Necessary for executing its inspection Laws."

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 New Adana, 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 New Adana, their immunity may be revoked only by their home State; but as to a Federal Official, his immunity may be revoked only by an Order countersigned by the Executive Authorities of no less than two-thirds –e.g., 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.