New Federalism is a political philosophy of devolution, or the transfer of certain powers from the United States federal government back to the states. Unlike the eighteenth-century political philosophy of Federalism, the primary objective of New Federalism is some restoration of autonomy and power that the states lost as a consequence of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. It relies upon a Federalist tradition dating back to the founding of the country, as well as the Tenth Amendment.
As a policy theme, New Federalism typically involves the federal government providing block grants to the states to resolve a social issue. The federal government then monitors outcomes but provides broad discretion to the states for how the programs are implemented. Advocates of this approach sometimes cite a quotation from a dissent by Louis Brandeis in New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann : "It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country."
Louis Brandeis
Brandeis' opinion in New Ice Co. set the stage for new federalism.
From 1937 to 1995, the United States Supreme Court did not void a single Act of Congress for exceeding Congress's power under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. They held that anything that could conceivably have even a slight impact on commerce was subject to federal regulation. It was thus seen as a (narrow) victory for federalism when the Rehnquist Court reined in federal regulatory power in United States v. Lopez (1995) and United States v. Morrison (2000).
The Supreme Court wavered, however, in Gonzales v. Raich (2005), holding that the federal government could outlaw the use of marijuana for medical purposes under the Commerce Claue even if the marijuana was never bought or sold, and never crossed state lines. How broad a view of state autonomy the Court will take in future decisions remains unclear.
The Supreme Court wavered, however, in Gonzales v. Raich (2005), holding that the federal government could outlaw the use of marijuana for medical purposes under the Commerce Clause even if the marijuana was never bought or sold, and never crossed state lines. How broad a view of state autonomy the Court will take in future decisions remains unclear.