Why is it important for state governments to work well with the federal government?
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In the United States, the government operates under a principle called federalism. Two separate governments, federal and state, regulate citizens. Show
 Present in human populations for thousands of years, Polio reached epidemic proportions in the United States after 1894 (History of Polio, College of Physicians of Philadelphia). Franklin Roosevelt, the 32nd President, was diagnosed with the disease in 1921 at age 39 and it shaped the rest of his private and public life (FDR and Polio, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum). However, other researchers contend that he suffered from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, not polio. The 1952 Polio Epidemic was the worst in U.S. history - 58,000 cases, 3,145 deaths, 21,269 left disabled (Polio Fact Sheet, Pennsylvania Department of Health). In 1955, a polio vaccine became available following the efforts of many researchers. Jonas Salk led an effort (funded by the March of Dimes organization) to inject 2 million children in the United States. His vaccine proved effective against the disease as did a competing oral vaccine developed by Albert Sabin and tested in the Soviet Union. Vaccinating schoolchildren for the Salk trials was an unprecedented undertaking, noted historian David M. Oshinsky (2005), requiring the cooperation of 14,000 principals, 50,000 teachers, and untold numbers of family members to vaccinate 1.3 million youngsters in a single year. Local parent/teacher groups held meetings with nurses and medical professionals while movies and film strips emphasized the importance of the research. As with COVID-19 vaccines today, there was skepticism and outright disinformation. Walter Winchell, a national radio personality, said the Salk vaccine may be a killer - spreading fear and vaccine hesitancy. Many families withdrew from the trials. Still the trials went forward to success. You can watch Unconditional Surrender, a 1956 film about the Polio vaccine on YouTube. Polio was declared eliminated in the United States in 1979. Nevertheless, it is still strongly recommended that children receive polio vaccines at 2 months, 4 months, and 6-18 months of age and a booster shot between 4 and 6 years-old. A Brief History of Vaccinations and InoculationsVaccinations and inoculations as a public health policy are not new historically in this country. In the 1720s in colonial Boston, the religious leader Cotton Mather campaigned for inoculation against smallpox, and faced threats including an attempted bombing of his home. Mather had learned about smallpox inoculation from Onesimus, a enslaved man from West Africa who received a small dose of the disease as a way to gain immunity from it. In the 1730s, as smallpox swept through Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin lost his young son to the disease. He became an outspoken advocate of inoculations (see Benjamin Franklin & Inoculation clip from Ken Burns). During the Revolutionary War, George Washington required soldiers in the colonial army to get a smallpox vaccination. In 1809, the town of Milton became the first Massachusetts community to offer free smallpox vaccinations. The town of Milton’s action was followed that same year by a state law requiring smallpox vaccination, making Massachusetts the first state in the nation to promote the use of vaccination as a public health policy. Since then, advances in medical science have enabled physicians to use vaccinations to treat previously incurable diseases, including Avian Cholera (1879); Rabies (1885); Polio (1955); Measles (1963), and Mumps (1967) (Vaccine History: Developments by Year, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia). In a landmark case, Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905), the Supreme Court upheld the authority of states to enforce compulsory vaccination laws, confirming the "state's duty to guard and protect . . . the safety and health of the people." Wrote the Court, “Upon the principle of self-defense, of paramount necessity, a community has the right to protect itself against an epidemic of disease which threatens the safety of its members” (quoted in Face-Covering Requirements and the Constitution, Price & Diaz, American Constitution Society, June 2, 2020). Today kindergarten through 12th grade students in every state and the District of Columbia are required to be vaccinated for measles, mumps, and rubella; children in Massachusetts must be immunized with DTaP/Tdap, polio, MMR, Hepatitis B, and Varicella vaccines. Mandatory vaccinations for public school students are based on a 1922 Supreme Court ruling in the case Zucht v. King. Religious and medical exemptions are granted to individuals and families in a small number of cases. Masks and Face-CoveringsMask-wearing is and has been a contested public policy. During the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, there were mask-wearing ordinances, particularly in states in the western part of the United States, including the cities of San Francisco, Seattle, Oakland, Sacramento, Denver, Indianapolis, and Pasadena. Masks were of poor quality by today's standards; people wore gauze or other similarly light fabrics (learn more: The Flu in San Francisco from PBS American Experience). Though enforcement of mask-wearing rules was relatively lax, there were citations and fines. There was also organized resistance, including the Anti-Mask League of 1919. For more on this hidden history, explore "The Mask Slackers of 1918," The New York Times (August 3, 2020). In 2020, opposition to mask-wearing became a centerpiece of Donald Trump's unsuccessful campaign for a second term as President. Groups across the country opposed mask-mandates - citing disruption for businesses and violations of personal liberties. In some places, reactions were extreme - there were credible threats against the life of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer for her responses to the pandemic in that state. Can the President or Congress enact a nationwide mask mandate? The independent Congressional Research Service concluded Yes (August 6, 2020), each branch has authority to do so, although the political will may not be there for this to happen. At present, mask-wearing essentially depends on people's willingness to cooperate with requests to do so. As of December 2, 2020, 37 states have mandated face covering in public - meaning both public indoor and outdoor spaces. Left undecided is what to do with those who choose not to comply with mask mandates. There could be fines for individuals not wearing face covering or fines and suspensions for businesses that serve customers without masks. Such penalties exist already for individuals caught not wearing seat belts or not observing smoking bans or businesses who sell alcohol or cigarettes to underage buyers. Media Literacy Connections: Trusted Messengers, the Media and the PandemicSince the power of governments to compel vaccination is limited, public health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical advisor to the President, began emphasizing trusted messengers as a way to combat the spread of COVID-19 by increasing vaccinations among unvaccinated groups. A trusted media messenger is a person or organization that people respect, believe, and will follow its recommendations. In July, the 18-year-old actress and singer Olivia Rodrigo joined the President to urge young people (at the time only 42% of those 18 to 24 were fully vaccinated) to get their shots. People do listen to someone they trust, including family members, friends, local community leaders, pastors or priests, celebrities, doctors, and even television or radio personalities. But there is no single source of trusted information about the virus and vaccinations whose advice most people will follow. Who are your trusted messengers about the pandemic? In this activity, you will examine the media messages of different individuals and organizations in your school and community to assess how they are seeking to influence people’s thinking and behaviors. Then, you will propose ways to deliver trusted messages to young people.
Suggested Learning Activity
Online Resources on the History of Pandemics and Vaccines
3. ENGAGE: What Single-Use Plastic Items Should Local Governments Ban to Help Save the Environment?In the article How Plastics Contribute to Climate Change, Claire Arkin commented “Plastic pollution is not just an oceans issue. It’s a climate issue and it’s a human health issue,” (Bauman, 2019, para. 2). The creation, use, and incineration of plastics has a significant impact on the environment, including using up finite fossil fuels, increasing greenhouse gas emissions, filling up landfills, increasing the number of pollutants in the air, and harming or killing animals. Experts, including the 2018 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, agree that urgent governmental action—nationally, internationally, and locally—is needed to try and reverse the effects of human impact on the environment. People, as well as governments, are concerned about climate change and global warming. A 2018 study by researchers from Yale University and George Mason University found that "seven in ten Americans (73%) think global warming is happening, an increase of ten percentage points since March 2015; six in ten understand it is human-caused" (Climate Change in the American Mind, p. 3). In response, local and state governments across the country are adopting laws intended to help save the environment. Establishing rules and regulations about single-use plastic containers is one place to begin addressing climate change. National Geographic reports that nearly half the plastic ever made has been produced since 2000 while less than a fifth of plastic trash is recycled (Parker, 2018). Worldwide, one million plastic bottles are purchased every minute, 91% of which are not recycled (Nace, 2017). In the United States, one billion toothbrushes (most of which are plastic and not biodegradable) are discarded every year (Goldberg, 2018). More than 300 communities in California, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa, and 55 countries have banned or charge fees for the single-use plastic bags (Funkhouser, 2019). New York State’s plastic bag ban will go into effect in March 2020. Other Government Actions to Address Climate and EnvironmentNational, state and local governments are taking multiple steps to respond to the climate and environment crisis:
Which of these actions do you think will be most effective and why? What other actions would you propose be taken? Media Literacy Connections: Environmental Campaigns Using Social MediaEnvironmental and climate justice organizations make extensive use of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and many other social media platforms to communicate their ideas for sustainability and change to wide audiences. For instance, take a look at The Majestic Plastic Bag video from Heal the Bay, which has nearly 3 million views, and the Shorty Social Good Awards, which feature several social media campaigns that successfully "promote, protect, and preserve our environment" (para. 1). However, while environmental and climate justice organizations put funding into media production and social media initiatives to create change and spread awareness, local and state governments rarely do the same. How can you help your local or state government promote one of their environmental policies so that it gains momentum? In this activity, you will serve as a digital media expert who is tasked with improving your local or state government's use of multimedia and social media for environmental policies.
Suggested Learning Activities
Online Resources for Environmental Action and Climate Justice
Standard 6.7 ConclusionThe nation’s federal, state, local, tribal and territorial governments have overlapping and sometimes competing goals and policies. INVESTIGATE examined the responsibilities of government at the state and local levels. UNCOVER looked at the history of Massachusetts state government efforts to mandate vaccinations. ENGAGE asked students to consider the roles local governments can and should play in reducing plastic consumption, waste, and pollution. CC BY-NC-SA: This work is released under a CC BY-NC-SA license, which means that you are free to do with it as you please as long as you (1) properly attribute it, (2) do not use it for commercial gain, and (3) share any subsequent works under the same or a similar license. Why is it important for the local state and federal government to cooperate?Cooperation between local, state, and federal government
Cooperation between the three levels of government is very important because it ensures that all the affairs of the country run smoothly. When the three levels of government cooperate successfully, the country becomes better for everyone.
What is the relationship between the federal and state government?Federal Versus State Government. What is the main role of states in the federal government?In the United States, the state government and federal government share power. The federal government makes policies and implements laws on a national level while state governments do the same for their region of the country.
Why is it important to have a strong state government in a federalist system?A strong state government empowers citizens in two ways. First, state governments are far more responsive to the needs of the residents of their state. If important issues are not addressed, voters can hold elections and vote for candidates they feel are better suited to handle the problems.
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