State vs. Federal Power: How Identity Shapes American Democracy

Do you feel more Texan than American? If you had to choose, would you say you’re a Texan first and an American second? What about an Alaskan, a New Yorker, or a Californian? For much of U.S. history, people identified more with their state than the nation itself—and in many places, that state pride still runs deep.

But does state identity actually shape the way we govern? Can it influence trust in government, political engagement, and even pushback against federal laws? 

In this episode of This Constitution, host Savannah Eccles Johnston sits down with Dr. Emily Pears, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College, to explore how federalism and state identities continue to influence American governance. The discussion kicks off with a historical look at how early Americans identified more with their states than the nation, a dynamic the founders leveraged to balance power between state and federal governments.  

Dr. Pears explains that while state identities have weakened, they still shape political behavior—affecting trust in state governments and fueling resistance to federal authority in states like Texas, Alaska, and Utah. She highlights real-world examples, such as the legalization of marijuana in 24 states despite federal prohibition and Utah’s Sovereignty Act, which challenges federal intervention. Rather than outright rejecting federal laws, states are testing the limits of their authority, maintaining a delicate constitutional balance.  

Looking ahead, Dr. Pears foresees the need for civic education to help Americans understand federalism and engage more actively in state governance.  

Tune in for this fascinating conversation on how state identities continue to shape American democracy.

In This Episode

(00:00:03) Introduction to the episode
(00:00:15) The Constitution as a blueprint
 (00:00:27) Introduction to Dr. Emily
 (00:01:15) State identities at the founding
 (00:02:27) Federalism and state power
 (00:03:57) Relevance of state identities today
 (00:05:22) Personal state identity
 (00:05:55) State identity in Texas
 (00:06:27) State identity in Utah
 (00:08:06) Role of state identities in checks and balances
 (00:09:33) Impact of weak state identities
 (00:11:21) Partisanship and state identity
 (00:14:22) Examples of state pushback
 (00:15:42) State authority and federal intervention
 (00:16:29) Understanding nullification
 (00:17:12) Marijuana laws and state responses
 (00:18:33) Testing federal authority
 (00:20:01) Future of state power
 (00:21:39) Importance of federalism
 (00:22:08) Civic education and state awareness
 (00:23:56) State identity as a unifying factor
 (00:25:32) Engaging with state identity

Notable Quotes

• [00:01:22] "At the time of the American founding, there were these really strong state identities and almost no national identity. The citizens thought of themselves as Virginians, not as Americans." — Dr. Emily Pears

• [00:20:01] "Does the federal government have enough strong national identifiers who want to say no, it's important that we adhere to what the federal government says, even when it's a policy that we think is silly or, or sort of don't want to adhere to? " — Dr. Emily Pears

• What we found is that state identity can be a sort of cross-cutting identity. So in a political world where it seems like all that matters is your partisanship, we found that Democrats and Republicans are sort of equally likely to identify with their states. — Dr. Emily Pears