t of law, the Tenth Amendment gives the states enough support to declare unconstitutional any act of the national government that infringes on the reserved powers given to the states. Cooperative Federalism provides an entirely different view of the relationship between the federal and state governments. Federal supremacy is the hallmark of this ideology. Supporters of the cooperative federalist view prefer to employ a broad interpretation of the Constitution. The legal basis on which cooperative federalism has been argued is threefold: (1) Enumerated powers (e.g. Commerce Clause) should be interpreted in light of an expansive Necessary and Proper Clause (2) The Supremacy Clause, as prescribed in Article 6, paragraph 2, gives federal actions supremacy over state laws when made in pursuance of the Constitution and when they are made using implied and enumerated powers (3) The Tenth Amendment does not give states the power to contest federal laws. To suggest that that these two ideologies are contradictory is an understatement. To understand which theory best identifies with the correct interpretation of the Constitution, it is necessary to understand the circumstances that created the necessity for a Constitution and the political circumstances that motivated decisions contrary to the correct interpretation of the Constitution. The Constitution was drafted as a response to the perils of the weak central government created by the Articles of Confederation. The drafters instituted a system that was meant to empower the national government to make laws. Furthermore, the Constitution reinforced the supremacy of the national government by including the Necessary and Proper Clause. The Constitution merely provided states with reserved powers, a distinction that suggests a passive rather than active right. Supreme Court decisions that challenge the supremacy of the national government, when an action by the national government is made in pursua...
