The Blessings (and Curses) of Federalism – The Wall Street Journal

Recent weeks have provided a crash course on the advantages and disadvantages of federalism. In U.S. politics, the powers of local governments are delegations from the states, but the powers from the state arent delegated from the national government. Rather, they exist independently, as secured by the Constitution. The line between federal and state powers is sometimes contested, but in many matters its clear.

For example, the 15th Amendment gives the federal government the right to enforce the equal right of every citizen to vote, regardless of race or color. But other parts of the ConstitutionArticle I, Sec. 4 and Article II, Sec. 1assign states the principal role in determining the rules for electing the president as well as members of the House and Senate.

These constitutional realities were the crux of Sen. Tom Cottons refusal to join a dozen other Republican senators in challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election. The Founders entrusted our elections chiefly to the statesnot Congress, Mr. Cotton said. They entrusted the election of our president to the people, acting through the Electoral Collegenot Congress. And they entrusted the adjudication of election disputes to the courtsnot Congress.

To be sure, the Electoral Count Act of 1877 provides Congress a mechanism for challenging slates of electors under certain conditions, but these conditions have not been met this year. No state has sent dueling slates of electors to Congress, and every state met the legal deadline for certifying its results.

If the Constitution had established a unitary system for administering presidential elections, the two months since this years election could have played out very differently. Rather than pressing governors, legislators, secretaries of state and state electoral commissions to alter their results, President Trump could have tried to suborn a single national institution, with better prospects for success.

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The Blessings (and Curses) of Federalism - The Wall Street Journal