Grant-in-aid
Grants-in-aid are federal grants which have become the primary way that the federal government circumvents Federalism, and systematically brings the states under the control of the National government.
Following the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment, grant-in-aid programs expanded significantly.[1][2][3][4]
History
Traditionally, grants-in-aid are as old as The Northwest Ordinance,[5] however, they were never used as an aggressive tool to dictate constitutionally protected state policy.
During the American Civil War, grant-in-aid packages were authorized as a part of the Morrill Act of 1862, leading to the creation of Land-grant universities.
Progressive weaponry
Following the passage of the sixteenth amendment in the Progressive Era, progressives discovered that they could use the seemingly never ending stream of money to cop-opt the states and push them all toward favoring an ever expansive, big government.[6]
Most inconspicuously, the grants first pioneered by the Presidency of Woodrow Wilson made their impact not in their volume, but in how they were implemented.[7][8] Wilson was the first to establish close national supervision of how grant money was being used, which had the chilling effect of reducing state policy discretion.[9][10]
Important early legislation:
- Smith-Lever Act of 1914[10]
- Federal Aid Road Act of 1916
- Smith-Hughes Act of 1917[11]
- Transportation Act of 1920
- Federal Water Power Act of 1920[9]
The first explosion of grants was seen during the New Deal,[12] and after the implementation of the programs of the Great Society, grant in aid programs exploded from just over 130 to just under 550.[13]
The states end up becoming dependent upon these Subsidies and in effect become agents of the federal government[14][15]
See also
References
- ↑ US Government & Politics
- ↑ State and Local Government
- ↑ Conflict and Consensus in American Politics, Election Update
- ↑ Congress: Facilitator of State Action
- ↑ The Irony of Democracy: An Uncommon Introduction to American Politics
- ↑ Federal Aid-to-State Programs, CATO Institute
- ↑ Ideologies and Institutions: American Conservative and Liberal Governance Prescriptions Since 1933
- ↑ How American Governments Work: A Handbook of City, County, Regional, State, and Federal Operations
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Politics and Administration: Woodrow Wilson and American Public Administration
- ↑ Encyclopedia of the American Presidency
- ↑ Federalism and the Making of America
- ↑ Dictionary of American Government and Politics
- ↑ Federal-State Relations Under Grants-in-Aid
- ↑ The Politics Today Companion to American Government
