FEDERALISM

“States and the federal government are inseparable partners in creating a strong economic future for our country.”

—Delaware Gov. Jack Markell and Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, in an essay for Roll Call in February 2013. Markell is past chair and Fallin is the current chair of the National Governors Association. “(States) are the ordinary governments of the country; the federal government —President Woodrow Wilson, in Constitutional

“In the search for enlightened public policy, individual States and communities are free to experiment with a variety of approaches to public issues.”

—President Ronald Reagan, in executive order 12512 in October 1987.

“(T)he States can best govern our home concerns and the general government our foreign ones.”

—Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Judge William Johnson in 1823, as quoted in We Still Hold These Truths.

“At a time when Washington can’t or won’t act, states are stepping up and launching ambitious, sophisticated new experiments.”

—Mark Muro, policy director for the Brookings metropolitan policy program, in a January 2013, Stateline.org article about New York’s establishment of NY Green Bank to spur

is its instrument only for particular purposes.”

renewable energy investments. Government in the United States.

“The allocation of powers in our federal system preserves the integrity, dignity, and residual sovereignty of the States.”