Overview

Early Americans were suspicious of centralized authority and executive power. Casting away the yoke of England and its king, the founding fathers shared in this distrust as they set out to pen the Constitution. Weighing a need for consolidated leadership with a demand for states' rights, they established a large federal republic with limited dominion over the states, leaving most of the governing responsibility with the former colonies. With this dual system of federalism, the national government held the powers of war, taxation, and commerce, and the ability to pass the laws necessary to uphold these functions. Although the federal role has grown substantially since then, states and local governments continue to perform most of the duties in civil and criminal law, business and professional licensing, the management of infrastructure and public services: roads, schools, libraries, sanitation, land use and development, etc. Despite the critical roles of state and local governments, there is little awareness--or understanding--of the nature and operations of the federal system. This Very Short Introduction provides a concise overview of federalism, from its origins and evolution to the key events and constitutional decisions that have defined its framework.

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Mark J. Rozell is the founding dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government and the Ruth D. and John T. Hazel Chair in Public Policy at George Mason University in Virginia. He is the author of numerous studies on US government and politics, including The President's Czars and, with Clyde Wilcox, God at the Grassroots 2016. Clyde Wilcox is professor of American government at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in Qatar. He is the author of numerous books on comparative and American politics, including Onward Christian Soldier, Women and Elective Office, and Interest Groups in American Campaigns. He also participates in the diplomatic training of US State Department officials and foreign diplomats. Peter Lerman is a narrator from the heart of New York City: Brooklyn born and raised. Manhattan and Brooklyn were suffused with the flavors and sounds of the entire world. He tasted it all and heard it all. When you come of age in NYC, nothing is foreign. When you hear a low grumble in his voice on occasion, it is authentic. His first wife told him that he loved her not nearly as much as he loved the sound of his own voice. This made him wonder if other people might love the sound of his voice as well. And so, a narrator was born. Also, an amateur thespian, a trade show presenter, a lecturer, an off-key cabaret singer, and an inveterate teller of jokes one does not tell in mixed company. Peter has been a professional photographer in New York City, owned a model and talent management company, and knocked around from Brooklyn to Manhattan and back again only to wind up in Connecticut. His breath control is fabulous because he is also a board certified respiratory therapist. He has appeared onstage as Horace Vandergelder in Hello Dolly, Gangster #2 in Kiss Me Kate, Bobby Gould in Speed-the-Plow, the Governor of Texas in Best Little Whorehouse . . ., Jonathan Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace, and Lenny in Rumors. The voice is deep and resonant. Sometimes formal, sometimes not. Never stale. Always eminently listenable.

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