Judicial Power and the Restoration of Federalism

In: The annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Volume 574, p. 52-65

Abstract

A series of decisions by the US Supreme Court raises the question of whether the federal judiciary will help to induce a major shift toward decentralization. Despite the ambitious hopes of some observers & the desperate fears of others, there are reasons to doubt that the Court will implement such a program. The justices are unlikely to persist in protecting states' rights in part because of their own ambivalence & in part because the idea itself is too self-contradictory to support a consistent interpretive agenda. Even if the Court were to overcome these problems, it lacks the capacity to control the relevant behaviors & attitudes. The main potential political allies in a states' rights campaign -- state officials & populist dissenters -- are unlikely to have interests compatible with judicial norms or to be effective voices for federalism. In fact, general social & cultural conditions seem to favor further centralization. 16 References. Adapted from the source document.