Episode summary: David, Helen and Gary Gerstle discuss the impact of the pandemic on the fundamentals of American politics. What have we discovered about the strengths and weaknesses of the federal system? Are the states capable of learning from each other? What part will the Supreme Court play? And can the Democrats really persist with Biden? Plus we ask who has the ‘police power’ and what it means to use it. Talking Points: In the US, the experience of this crisis differs significantly from state to state. - For the first 100 years of US history, the power to address epidemics was exclusively in the hands of the states. - In the second half of the 20th century, the federal government acquired more power, including the power to deal with epidemics. - The National Public Health Service Act of 1944 vested the US government with the right to impose a national quarantine. (This power has never been utilized.) - But in the last 30 years, Republicans have been attacking federal power as illegitimate. - In this moment of crisis,…
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