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State officials make decisions every day that involve the relationship between state and federal authority. This online course provides a practical introduction to American federalism for state officials. Participants examine the constitutional foundations of federal and state powers, the role of state constitutions, and areas of overlapping authority. The course connects these foundations to legislative responsibilities such as lawmaking, budgeting, oversight, and evaluating claims about what federal law requires.
Through practical scenarios, decision aids, and an applied exercise, participants learn to trace requirements to their sources, distinguish legal obligations from funding conditions and administrative choices, and identify where state authority and discretion remain. A recurring four-part framework, Structure, Leverage, Options, and Tradeoffs, helps participants organize their inquiry, compare possible responses, and identify the institutions authorized to act. Topics include federal preemption, limits on compelled state administration of federal programs, grant conditions, agency authority, and options for inquiry, negotiation, legislation, and legal review.
Each module uses document packets drawn from realistic situations, with feedback that models the narrow, source-based conclusions the course asks for. A final applied exercise asks participants to produce a short diagnostic brief for a legislative oversight meeting.
The course is online and asynchronous, requires about three and a half hours, and is followed by a brief in-person session. Its emphasis is nonpartisan: asking precise questions, recognizing both authority and limits, and choosing workable responses that account for costs, public services, rights, and accountability.
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