Constitutional Law and the Protection of Subnational Governments in the United States and West Germany

In Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority (1985),the U.S. Supreme Court concluded in a 5–4 decision thatthe Tenth Amendment does not protect state and local governmentsfrom federal intervention into their "traditional governmentfunctions." The Court majority insisted instead that the protectionof state and local functions lies in the political process and,thus, reversed the previous majority decision in National Leagueof Cities v. Usery (1976). Constitutional provisions in WestGermany grant the states a general protection rather comparableto the Tenth Amendment. These provisions also give explicitprotection to local governments. In spite of the apparent differencesthat suggest greater legal protection for their autonomy, Germanstates and local governments are now sharing most of their protectedfunctions with the federal government in a complex system ofintergovernmental relations. The Federal Constitutional Courthas allowed numerous federal and/or state incursions in localgovernment decisionmaking based on considerations of the commongood.