Assignment 1: The Australian Federal System

Federalism is a government system where both the national and state governments share power inside the exact political system. The national government has express powers and implied powers. For example, the national government can make laws. The state governments have reserved powers. For instance, they can carry out the great majority of public services, and are responsible for certain health duties. There are two models of federalism: dual federalism and cooperative federalism. Dual federalism involves national and state governments that are independently run with each government level having its own powers. On the other hand, cooperative federalism deals with national and state governments that both take part in some tasks that used to

To introduce, Australia was country solely owned and run by Britian until 1901, the year of Australian federation, from 6 separate self-governing colonies to one, on the 26th day of January 1901. ’While Federation was not perfect, it was a system (of both laws and beliefs) that enabled Australia to flourish.’ The question itself represents the states coming together as one uniting nation. The laws, the beliefs, the privileges and the embellishment of the phrase gives you a sense of welcoming into the history of Australian federation.

Australia 's Federal System is dynamic and the division of lawmaking power between the Commonwealth and State since 1901 has changed dramatically; Critically discuss, focussing on the major reasons for those changes.

Where there are problems, they are often with the way the Australian federal system operates, rather than with federalism itself. Rather than criticising our federal system, we should be working to make better use of its advantages
in order to improve our prosperity. In particular, the reform of the allocation of powers and responsibilities between the Commonwealth and the States, and reform of fiscal federalism, are desperately needed. (Twomey and Withers, 2007)

Australian federation was a main turning point in Australia’s history, not so much for it’s camaraderie and sprit, but to legislate and retaliate against three main concerns that had arose in our developing nation; Australia’s defence, immigration and trade. With the introduction of Federation to Australia, all three problems were fixed, and much more.

The Australian Constitution The founding fathers of Australia could never have predicted the society that was to come. However, the constitution- the most important document of the land- stands today with only 8 changes to the words after over 100 years of use. The constitution is not without flaws; the rights outlined in the document are far from clear, which hampers the knowledge of the public about their rights. However, this does not mean that the rights are not upheld in Australia.

How does federalism keep government closer to the people? Is state government necessarily more responsive to the people than the federal government? Date: Introduction Federalism is the political structure in which national government and local units of government make final decisions with respect to some governmental activities and whose existence is particularly protected. Both state and local forms of government have them own sovereign powers and some powers that have common characteristics. As a result, this makes the two share authority (Kozlowski, 2010, p.1).

The different levels of government have different responsibilities, the federal government is responsible for things that affect the entire country, the provincial/territorial government is responsible for areas of law listed on the Constitution Act, 1867 including education, healthcare, and road regulations, and the municipal government is in charge of local matters such as libraries, local police, and community water systems. These responsibilities can sometimes bleed into each other, as the provincial government shares some responsibilities with the federal government and the provincial government defines things such as the structure and finances of the municipal

Whilst in theory there should be a distinct division between the three arms of government, in practice the Australian political system makes evident overlaps. The overlapping nature of government often arises as an issue over which parties are to exercise what kinds of power. Essentially however, each head or group is designed to keep the others in check.

“Federalism is a political system in which regional governments share power with the national government… A system in which central and regional governments share sovereignty” (Bond, pgs. 74, 76) There are three different political systems but scholars have come to the conclusion that in a way federalism is the best way of government. As the other political systems, Federalism has its pros and cons. Some of its advantages are: dispersal of power, Accommodation of diverse interests and policy experimentation. (Bond pgs. 78, 79) Dispersal of power: by dispersing the power central government can be kept away from abusing its power, that way tyranny can be prevented. If the entire power was given only to central government only a few would be in control of the entire nation leading it only in a

A federal state is one that brings together a number of different political communities with a common government for common purposes, and separate “state” or “provincial” or “cantonal” governments for the particular purposes of each community. The United States of America, Canada, Australia and Switzerland are all federal states. Federalism combines unity with diversity. It provides, as Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first Prime Minister, said,

A characteristic that a federal system possesses that sets it apart from other systems (unitary, confederation) is that powers within the federal system are divided between the national government and state governments; however, even though power is divided the national government reigns supreme (Evans and Michaud 2.1). A federal system of government has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Both the state and national government have distinct powers and responsibilities they carry out and execute. Having the split between the two means that the powers of both will be checked and make sure they are not abusing their power. That is why a federal system, in the national government there are powers that are granted to the three branches of government

A federal system in this context is defined as a system of government whereby power is constitutionally dived between the central government and the State. There are more than a dozen countries world wide which have adopted a federal system, Canada, The United States, Mexico and Germany are a part of them. A federal system is necessary when a country has many geographically distinct regions that require

Federalism plays an integral part in the growth and development of the United States of America and is a key factor in determining the basis of power in this country. Clearly, the term federalism can be understood in many different ways pertaining to each person's view, but it can be more broadly defined in terms of the separation between the state and federal government. Thomas E. Patterson defines federalism as, “the division of sovereignty, or ultimate governing authority, between a national government and regional (that is, state) governments. Each directly governs the people and derives its authority from them” (Patterson 74). He then goes on to give a more basic definition with, “American Federalism is basically a system of

Callie Harvey declared that only under the condition that separation of power can be maintained between parts of government, the democratic civilisation can be justly ruled. In fact, the legal system in Australia is divided into three branches, which are based on the doctrine of separation of power, with the main ambition that it works independently and cooperate to maintain the fairness principle. According to the Constitution, the power will be authorised in the Queen, while the Governor-General exercises and elects members of Parliament, which is given the legislative power to make laws. In the Parliament, there is delegation of power between Commonwealth government and State government; while under the Constitution, there is branches of power such as exclusive, concurrent and residual power that have to follow when making laws. Because of the differences in characteristics about demographic, living standards, etc. Therefore, each state can make laws, regulations depending on state’s elements and increase the effectiveness of laws in daily life. Secondly, Governor-General also appoints Ministers and form the Cabinet, which has the power to put laws into action, called executive power. Finally, the last branch is Judiciary,