Federal System: Government Vs States

In the Unites States of America Federalism is the basic structure of the American government; it is the distribution and balance of powers between the National government and the States government. In order to obtain a compromise between those who wanted stronger state government and those who preferred a stronger national government the founding fathers arranged and settled for a federal system rather than the alternatives of a unitary or confederal system. While both National and State governments each have specific powers and authority, they also share certain powers and must be able to cooperate effectively with each other.

People have been arguing for years about who should have more power, either the federal government or the state. People arguing that the states should have more power than the government because they care more about the people. Then other people will say that the federal should have majority of the power since they oversee everything the states do. I believe that the federal government and the state government should have shared power, but I think the federal government should have the powers such as declaring war and things to help the people as a whole. Then the states should have the power to do what they think is the best things for the people of their state.

There are a variety of differences and similarities between federal, state, and local governments. This includes, but is not limited to, the responsibilities, size, and staff of the administration. The machinery of government is intended to better the quality of citizen’s lives. Ultimately, federal, state, and local governments were established to work together in bettering programs and laws (Berkley & Rouse, 2009, p.32).

The federal government and state governments have had a long history of powers struggles. The struggle goes back and forth between who has the right to make decisions and if there is a problem who should fix it. Sometimes it is better for the federal government to fix issues and during other situations it is better for the state or local governments to fix other issues. In the PBS special of the United States Constitution, Peter Sagal travels around the states documenting the various roles and impact the government has on the country as a whole and on the individual states.

The relationship between the Federal government and the states is well stable. The Federal government has powers given by the Constitution as well powers or privileges are given to the states which promotes a balance between the two so that our country is not ruled under one specific party or group. The question now is that, are the states rights more than well protected in the current constitution and the political practice.

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 and the checks and balances of the three branches of government prevented any abuse of power to rise in the new government. The division of responsibilities and the flexibility in the Constitution allowed for an effective and efficient way of regulating the system. The Constitution gave the people what they wanted in the first place from breaking away from Great Britain through a Bills of Rights and amendable Constitution, a system that served the best interest of the people. Because the Constitution provided a barrier against power abuse, was effective and efficient, and served the best interest of the people, it should be

Federalism was the first guard against tyranny. The central government and states both had their own powers but also shared a few. They had trading, conducting foreign relations, declaring war, making immigration laws etc. Local state governments got elections, establishing schools, passing marriage and divorce laws, and regulating in-state business. “The different governments will control each other and at the same time it will be controlled by itself,” said James Madison in the federalist paper #51.

Federalism guards against tyranny by dividing the power between central and state governments. Some powers given to the central government are to regulate trade, to declare war, and etc. Powers given to the state government are to hold elections, establish schools, and etc. Both the state and central governments check each other to make sure one doesn’t get too much power.

Federalism has played a large role in our government since the time that the Constitution was ratified. It originally gave the majority of the power to the states. As time went on, the national government gained more and more power. It used the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution to validate its acts, and the Supreme Court made decisions that strengthened the national government creating a more unified United States. Finally, the recent course of federalism has been to give powers back to the states.

The Federal government needed more power in order for the United States to function successfully. In the letter from James Madison to George Washington, “the national government should be armed with positive and complete authority in all cases which require uniformity; such as the regulation of trade” (Document 1). This letter is explaining how the government was not working when there was fourteen (thirteen states, national government) different ways of life between the states. For example trade was difficult because there were fourteen ways of trading. Since the states were given more power than the Federal government in the Articles of Confederation, the

The idea of Federalism is that power is shared between a federal and state governments. Under the Articles of Confederation, there was a federal government but the federal government was so powerless when compared to the power of the states. Politically, the articles were weak because of the experience with England. They intentionally created this weak government.

Federalism creates a layered system of the states and national government. They had the powers that were shared. They had taxes. They needed to make laws so that the people can follow the rules. They had to enforce laws. Powers were also given to the central government. They conducted to the foreign relation. They provided an army and also provided a navy. The central government made the immigration laws.The argument endorcing federalism. The benefits from having the two-tiered system of governed tyranny. The states served as checks and balances of the powers. Powers are reserved to federal and the state government incommon.

When the government first achieved independence from England there were thirteen individual governments. They had an agreement called the Articles of Confederation that specified how each would interact with the others and manage the states. Despite the ratification by every state the agreement soon became problematic. What ensued was the meeting of state delegates, known as the Constitutional Convention, who planned to revise the problems. As a result the U.S. Constitution was fashioned to take its place. The idea was to ultimately federalize the States. That means each State remains an individual government but also agrees to be part of a Union. Thus created a federal government that would handle those things that are best controlled by a central government, which acts on behalf of the many States. An example would be the Navy and Army. The Federal Government has the right to raise and maintain a full time standing military. The Federal government is not limited to just the enumerated powers granted to Congress. It was also arranged that the national government would have powers not specifically stated in the Constitution, called implied powers. Although popular

Federalism is the division of powers between state and national governments. Federalism gave lower levels of government power that they did not have. The purpose of federalism is to give the people a sense of power, and essentially more liberty. However, it also allows a balance of power by giving states the rights to make their own laws, all while still recognizing the national government as superior.