Federalism

This weekend I taught a short course on policy in Xalapa. One of the discussion points was on federalism. There is a contrast between the US and Mexico. Everything in our history suggests that we have a robust system that moves governmental functions according to the ennumerated powers in Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution and also is guided by the 10th Amendment (which is the least litigated part of the Bill of Rights). Everything in Mexico's history suggests that their commitment to a federal system is marginal at best. For example, the Mexican Navy is headquartered in Mexico City. The President has the authority to remove a governor.

But here is the contrast. The American system seems to be going more toward a national system that Madison warned about in the Federalist Papers (#39). In the last couple of years we have adopted things like No Child Left Behind which increases the federal role in education (a role which cannot be found in Article 1, Section 8 and which was specificially rejected in the Constitutional Convention. At the same time the Mexican system, for a lot of reasons, seems to be slowly evolving into a real federal system. In the last couple of months I have worked with governors or their staffs in three states (and with more to come) each is interested in improving the balance between the DF (like our DC) and their state. These leaders cross party lines. (all three of the major parties are represented). Some of this comes from a fear of the coming election (where the PRD candidate is favored to win) but a lot more comes from the simple pragmatism of politicians who want to be judged on their results. Were it so in the US.