Federalism Essay

First, the Constitution guards us from tyranny by dividing powers between the central and state governments otherwise known as federalism. The Constitution expressly granted broad powers to the federal government, but not to the states. For instance, the Constitution includes the Necessary and Proper Clause, which allows Congress to make any law they deem appropriate to fulfill its duties. Instead of showing how much power that states have, the Constitution stressed what the states couldn 't do. The addition of the Bill of Rights, including the Tenth Amendment, helped to correct some of this imbalance. The Tenth Amendment reserved to the states or the people all powers either not specifically delegated to the national government or specifically denied to the states. This meant that the central and state

Federalism has evolved throughout American history. At different points in time, the balance and boundaries between the national and state government have changed substantially (resulting in the dual federalism, cooperative federalism etc.). Dual federalism which can also be referred to as divided sovereignty draws a clear distinction between federal and state governments, with the state government exercising the powers given to them without the influence of the federal government. It can further be supported by the Tenth Amendment which states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people.” Cooperative Federalism is defined as the cooperative functioning of the state, national and local governments. The American ensemble functions according to the New Dual Cooperative Federalism.

George Washington himself wanted to avoid a party system in America. Unfortunately, even when saying this he was part of the beginning of one of the first parties in United States politics. There have been many different parties surface since the beginning of the American political system. They all have different thoughts, policies, and motivations. Each party has come and gone, some have made significant contributions and others have not. The first split, and beginning of the party system, came with the differentiation between the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans. These two parties were extremely different in thought, design, and status of people involved. This paper, will deal with

In “Federalist #10”, Madison describes the dangerous effects that factions can have on Republican government and on its people. Madison defines a faction as a group of citizens who unite under a shared cause, and work against other groups in order to achieve their means. Their means of achieving their goals may achieve adverse effects upon the rights of other citizens. Put in more modern terms, a faction could be reasonably compared to a special-interest group. The sort of faction that most endangers the liberty inherent in United States society are factions that contain a majority of the whole. The weakness of a popular government is its susceptibility to the effects of factions. However, a well-constructed Union provides numerous

“The powers not delegated to the united states by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” The purpose of the tenth Amendment is to define the division of power between the federal government and state governments.

In the United States Constitution it is stated that “No single section of the constitution deals with federalism. Instead, the provisions dividing power between the states and the national government appear throughout the constitution. Most of the constitution is concerned with establishing the powers of the national government. National power is also based on the supremacy clause of article VI, which says that the constitution and laws made in accordance with it are “the supreme law of the land”. This means that when national and state laws conflict, the national laws will be followed. Article I, section 9 limits the power of the national government over individuals. The tenth amendment the constitution also limits the state powers in Article I, section10 and denies the states certain powers” (Keeping the

It all started with the Declaration of Independence. Under British rule, the 13 American colonies were incredibly displeased with the governing of the king and his tyranny. Consequently, Thomas Jefferson and a group of four other men (Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston and John Adams) gathered to compose a document declaring the colonies’ independence from Britain. The Declaration states that everyone is born with a set of natural rights, or rights that a person is born with and cannot be taken away by the government, and if any government infringes upon these rights, the people have the right to “alter or abolish it”. These words became the basis of Republican Ideals, or standards the people

Liberty. This word means many things to many people. There is no way to distinctly define the term without leaving someone's crucial point of view out of the equation.

Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist The road to accepting the Constitution of the United States was neither easy nor predetermined. In fact during and after its drafting a wide-ranging debate was held between those who supported the Constitution, the Federalists, and those who were against it, the Anti-Federalists. The basis of this debate regarded the kind of government the Constitution was proposing, a centralized republic. Included in the debate over a centralized government were issues concerning the affect the Constitution would have on state power, the power of the different branches of government that the Constitution would create, and the issue of a standing army. One of the most important concerns of the

The early years of the Constitution of the United States were full of political strife. The two prominent political ideals were complete opposites. The Jeffersonian Republicans were focused on giving power to the people and maintaining a pastoral economy, while the Federalists supported the control of the government by the elite class, and maintaining “positive” democracy. Both parties feared the influence and effect the other party would have on the public. In Linda K. Kerber's article, “The Fears of the Federalists”, the major concerns Federalists held in the early 19th century are described. Ever since the war with and separation from England, the citizens of America were seen to be continually drive to “patriotic rebellion” as a way to

For the Constitution to become the nationally followed series of rule, nine of thirteen states would have had to approve it. To gain this approval, the people of America had to be convinced that a stronger government was needed to create a successful country; while being assured that this government would not take away their liberties and would not give power to only those who were more privileged than others. Small states, who approved the unity, were the first to ratify the Constitution unlike large states who found the individual governments adequate.

The Federalist Papers Number 10 is written by James Madison and explains the necessity of the Constitution to protect our country from factions. A faction is “a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent aggregate interests of the community (Publius, 72).” Publius states that there are two ways to get rid of factions. The first way to eliminate a faction is to take the Liberty away from all of the people in the faction. The other way to cure a faction is to give everyone the same opinion. Both of this solutions are not possible

The Constitution, when first introduced, set the stage for much controversy in the United States. The two major parties in this battle were the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Federalists, such as James Madison, were in favor of ratifying the Constitution. On the other hand, the Anti-Federalists, such as Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, were against ratification. Each party has their own beliefs on why or why not this document should or should not be passed. These beliefs are displayed in the following articles: Patrick Henry's "Virginia Should Reject the Constitution," Richard Henry Lee's "The Constitution Will Encourage Aristocracy," James Madison's "Federalist Paper No. 10," and "The Letters to Brutus." In these

My thesis is that the plan was to amend the articles of confederation, but there was too much wrong with it, because it gave too much federal power. The Federalist wanted a strong central government, and the Anti-federalist wanted more power in the states. The articles of confederation are the original constitution of the US, ratified in 1781, which was replaced by the US Constitution in 1789(p.48-49). The Federalist are the supporters of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. The Anti-Federalist are the opponents of ratification of the U.S Constitution in 1787 and 1788. The biggest compromise that was made would be the federalist including agreeing to include bill of rights in the Constitution. We need a new constitution because of inequality because in the 1st amendment it say there is freedom of religion and speech, expression, assembly and the right of petition. But I doesn’t give freedom on access. Also, because it was outdated was written in 1787. The concerns the Anti-Federalist had were on Article II of the Constitution. Article II “established an entirely new concept in government—an elected executive power.”(p.575) Also the Constitution did not equally divide all power with the three branches of government. The Federalist didn’t have any concerns, but what they wanted was for the Constitution to pass. Another thing they wanted was a strong government. The plans that were involved with the compromise were the

The United States began as a weak, newborn nation that grew into a large, self-supporting country with a governing body unique to this time period. As the government grew and the nation prospered, the rise of leaders and political figures came about and with this, conflicting principles and ideology spawned, thus creating the first of the political parties; the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. Although the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans ideology and stances on the power of the federal government, domestic economic policies and the group of constituents they represented differed vastly, members of both parties often compromised their own beliefs for the nation’s best interest as a whole.