The Constitution of the United States was drafted at a time when our country was in dire need of many answers to political and social questions. In addition to many other things, the drafters of the Constitution were concerned with solidifying our central government and the Constitution was intended to provide a solid structure from which our burgeoning nation could grow. The Constitution gave explicit powers to the federal government and provided the states with the Tenth Amendment which states ,Powers not delegated to the United States, nor prohibited to the states, are reserved to the states respectively Of the enumerated powers given to the federal government by the Constitution, the interpretation of the Commerce Clause as prescribed in Article I, section 8, has caused political and legal controversy known to our nation. In part, Article I, section 8, gives Congress the power to regulate commerce between states, with other nations and with Indian Tribes. Two competing theories about federalism inform the political and legal debates that deal with the Commerce Clause provided to the Congress by the Constitution. Dual Federalism, a political theory that purports states rights, champions the view that federal and state powers, as prescribed by the Constitution, are mutually exclusive, conflicting, and antagonistic. (Ducat,p.271) This view suggests that the Constitution created dual sovereigns and that both levels of government had their own responsibilities. In order to understand what the legal ramification of dualist theory, one must first understand its interpretations of the Constitution. The dualist approach requires an exact and strict interpretation of the enumerated powers given to the national government by the Constitution and rejects the idea that the Necessary and Proper Clause should be used to enhance or augment the enumerated powers granted by the Constitution. Dual Federalism also relies on the notion that in a cour...
