Difference Between Federalism And Federalism

The government of the United States of America is a federal constitutional republic. In layman 's terms, this means that the country 's national, central government and the smaller, unitary governments of the fifty states are co-equal in their power, and that the citizens of America have a say in public policies by electing representatives who voice their respective opinions. More importantly, both the central government and the state governments are subject to the supreme law of the Constitution. Under this document, the central government is set up into three branches (the legislative, executive, and judicial) that are meant to check each other and balance out power. Their cooperation insures that the national government 's control is appropriate, and does not infringe upon the rights of the average American citizen.

Federalism is a form of government in which the power to make laws and other specific responsibilities are divided across the national, state, and local governments. How that power is divided has been a constant source of conflict as each level has some degree of autonomy. That is, each level has the capacity to carry out some policies without interference from the others. The national government is responsible for things of national common interest such as, national defense and foreign policy, as well as, responsibilities through implied powers that are inferred in the Constitution. The national government also has the power to declare war, coin money, control interstate commerce, borrow money, manage the postal service, and anything else

The United States is currently governed under a federalist constitution and has a deep rooted history of setting up its constitution to accommodate transparency, checks and balance and prevent tyranny. The federalist system of government is divided into the co-dependent central and state government. federalism in the united states give states the power to create their own laws, constitutions, and government structures. As stated in the U.S. Constitution (U.S.), enormous reservoirs of political power are thus derived from the people who reside in the states themselves. (champagne 2017)

Federalism is a compound way of governing, with a central government, also known as a federal government, and a local government. Each government had their own powers, but to accomplish the bigger goals the key was to have cooperation and teamwork to solve the issue. The federal government’s powers were solely focused on war, money and relations with other countries and states outside of the United States. In accordance, the local government took care of the more specific things going on in that certain state. For example, they took care of things such as elections, constructing schools, and passing laws for marriage and divorce. This helps to guard against having a government ruled over by a tyrant by having the more sizable powers given to the higher-up individuals in the government, and the locals governments dealt with the laws that pertained to their specific state. “In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments” (Document A). The governments are ruled this way because if one government had all the power, they would surely use it unfairly, as all that power would get to their head. “Hence a double security rises to the rights of the people” (Document A). This would in fact raise the rights that the people had because they would have a

Why is government necessary? In the words of Alexander Hamilton, “Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint” (Federalist No. 15 137). Men have a sin nature and must have an authority set in place to keep them from falling into anarchy. America has federal and state governments with a system of checks and balances for exactly this reason, but one sector of the government has overstepped the bounds that were set for it in this country’s infancy. In order to answer the question of whether more power should be put into the hands of the federal or state government, three things must be considered: the history of state’s rights in America, the differing types of government, and the constitution itself.

The structure of our American Government, was founded in the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution was written to be the “supreme law of the land”, and creates a federal democratic republic, where citizens govern themselves (Our American Governement, n.d). The purpose of our government, is to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” (Our American Government, n.d.). For our country to achieve this purpose our Founding Fathers created three main principles, “inherent rights, self-government, and separation of powers” (Our American Government, n.d.). Government was developed to ensure order in society and protect its citizens, but with all systems there are strengths and weakness, let’s examine those strengths and weakness. Let’s first look at the strength and weakness of the U.S. Constitution.

According to the book, a government is a public institution with authority to formulate, adopt, implement, and enforce public policies for a society (book). Since I am included in the society, the government has a great influence on my daily life. Even though I am not a U.S. citizen, the U.S. government still affects me directly because I live on U.S territory. The government that affects me and my family the most is not the White House or the Congress, it is the local government; Counties, municipalities, school districts, and other special districts that provide a range of services, including rural roads, city streets, public education, and protection of persons and property (book). Local government is responsible

Federalism is a concept of a system of self-sustained units of governments and was considered to be the main idea of the U.S. Constitution. Vincent Ostrom’s The meaning of American federalism gives the definition of federalism as “a system of government where authority is exercised concurrently by a national government and state or provincial governments”.

The anti-federalists were a group that had many issues concerning the ratification of the Constitution. They had a large number of diverse authors who all had similar ideas on the ways the government should be. Those against the 85 Federalist Papers, wrote down all their issues and their side of things that soon became known as the Anti-Federalists Papers.

Two political groups emerged during the debate over whether to pass a new constitution or not after the Articles of Confederation failed. These two political groups were the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The two political groups had very different ideas and opinions about government. The Federalist group was in favor of a federal system with a strong national government. The Anti-Federalist group however, opposed the constitution and the strong national government it would create.

You are to develop a well reasoned discussion thread in which you discuss James Madison's design of an extended republic as a safeguard of liberty. Please consult Federalist papers 10 and 51 found in the appendix of your text to gain a better understanding of his arguments. I want a detailed outline of the contents of both papers. Read each paper taking extensive notes. Create a detailed outline from your notes and reread the paper looking for information you may have missed. Include this information in your outline. In your discussion you should include information about the Federalist and Anti-federalist positions regarding the proposed Constitution.

Implied powers are powers that are given to Congress by the Constitution in which they have the power to make any law that is necessary and proper for conveying the foregoing powers. Reserved powers fall under the tenth amendment, and their purpose is to reserve powers to the states. Concurrent Powers are the powers that both the national and state governments have such as the power to retain power for the regulation of commerce.

The Constitution defines three types of powers which are: National powers (Enumerated), State powers (Reserved), and Shared powers (Concurrent). I am going to start off Enumerated powers and then afterwards in the next two paragraphs are going to be about Reserved powers and Concurrent powers. Enumerated powers are specific powers granted to Congress by the United Sates Constitution. This includes the power to coin money, regulate interstate, and foreign trade, maintain the armed forces, and create the federal courts. They used coin money because they wouldn't be able to print money. They also maintained armed forces to protect the country and its citizens from attack. Enumerated Powers are legal rights inferred from other legal rights that

The Framers of the Constitution were worried that providing such a narrow definition would result in the government being unable to adapt to change (Patterson 78). Thus, the implied powers are stated in the Constitution under Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 better known as the Necessary and Proper Clause, and gives Congress the power “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers.” This clause allows Congress to adapt to change and implement laws which are necessary given the time. The remaining powers are then given to the states by the Tenth Amendment. Federalism outlined in the Constitution allows for a separation of powers and provides specifics for each level, which ultimately allows for a more balanced form of government.

The term "federalism" describes the changing relationship between the national and state governments as they sort out their roles and responsibilities within the federal system. America has a decentralized government; there is no single source of power or center of government. Federalism goes well with pluralism, because of the multiple centers of power that exist in the government, and also the many divisions of power. There are several levels of government including the federal government, the 50 states, county and city governments and independent school districts. However, the major players are the national and state governments. The tensions between the two are clear when it comes to civil rights, money, and power.