| Abstract: | In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court's federalism jurisprudencehas shielded states from certain aspects of Congress's policymakingand enforcement authority. Through its interpretations of theinterstate commerce clause and of the Tenth and Eleventh Amendments,the Court has reminded Congress that its power to govern haslimits. This article presents the major federalism cases ofthe 1990s, focusing on Alden v. Maine, the most important federalismdecision of the 19981999 term. It concludes that theCourt's interpretation of the Eleventh Amendment and the sovereign-immunitydoctrine, which has constrained the federal government's powerto authorize private suits against states for violations offederal law, poses a threat to a fundamental principle of therule of law: "where there is a right, there is a remedy." |
