Powers Of The Federal Government Essay

3.) Federal government had the power to tax, regulate commerce, control currency, and pass laws

Separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism are ways the government doesn't have too much power. Separation of powers makes sure no one gets too much power. Checks and Balances makes sure the three branches can monitor each other. Federalism is a system of government where the states government shares power with the national government. The founders of the constitution included the principles of separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism in order to prevent the government from being too powerful.

States have always been sensitive about the amount of power they have; the federal government has always had to step carefully around the demands of the states. This has been true since the beginning of the United States. But both believe that they should have the most power when it comes to certain things. Individual states have different values and as such tend to implement different laws about certain topics; such states want their state laws to reflect these individual values instead of a blanket law from the federal government. States should have less power compared to the federal government when implementing laws dealing with topics such as the legalization of marijuana, gay marriage, and abortion.

In the making of the United States, there were many events that are important. This paper intends to highlight a few of those events including; Magna Carta, Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation and the Federalist Papers. Many events in America’s history helped to establish the United States as a free and independent country. The Declaration of Independence in particular explains the rights and freedoms that Americans. Each document is like a stepping stones that leads to the next and building upon the pervious document.

Chapter one of American Public Policy, by B. Guy Peters, gives an in depth explanation of what American public policy is. The definition that Peters gives of Public policy is the” sum of government activities whether pursued directly or through agents, as those activities have an influence on the lives of citizens” (4). This definition of public policy can be categorized into three levels that will make differences in citizen’s lives. The first level is policy choices. This level is when, “decisions made by politicians, civil servants, or other granted authority that are directed toward using public power to affect the lives of the citizens” (4). All of these choices that are made by the president, congressman, or others can evolve into a

The United States government system is very interesting and complexly designed. The state and federal government is a mirror of each other when it comes to the generics of the executive branch, legislative branch, and judicial branch, however, internally the state government has major differences on how the branches are conducted. Throughout this paper we will discuss the greatest difference between state and federal, which is the state cannot change or remove laws passed by the federal government but they could change how they execute the federal laws to their liking as long as it is constitutional.

Congressional authorization is the ability to empower and allocate funds, which supports Congress with an effective tool for omission and authority of intelligence activities. Congress is expected to have more power than the President and the Supreme Court. Its powers are also known to be Constitutional as well as evolutionary (ushistory). After the Senate as well as the House of Representatives approves a bill or proposed law, it then becomes an actual law. These two houses also share other powers, that involve coin money, the power to declare war, establishing rules of naturalization as well as immigration, raise an army and a navy, regulate commerce, and set up the federal courts along with their jurisdictions (ushistory). Although Presidents can have authority to act without Congressional authorization when necessary for the nations security, it would be better if they did seek Congressional authorization before acting or making any important decision regarding the nations security, in order to preserve Constitutional checks and balances, as well as make the right decisions and protect the President politically.

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.

After the Constitutional Convention in 1787, the United States Government was reorganized under the Constitution. This gave the federal government far more power than did the Articles of Confederation, which invested power within the states. Basically, the Constitution created three branches of government (Executive, Judicial, and Legislative) which would work together to run the government. To make sure that there was an equal balance of power among the branches, a system of checks and balances was devised so that each branch could limit the power of the others. It is important to note that "the doctrine of separation of powers is not established by any constitutional provision [but] rather it emerges from he framers'

But WHY? Why has the power of the federal government expanded so significantly? Was this shift in power from state governments to the federal government necessary?

In the 1900s - 1940s the federal government enacted many new policies and acts that caused the growth of their power. In this time, the expansion of the government's power proved to be more beneficial than harmful to the majority of American lives.

These include the right to build and maintain a military that can be used to protect citizens from threats both foreign and domestic. The government is sworn to uphold and protect the rights of everybody. They also have established a court system as well as appellate courts and in some cases the Supreme Court hears cases that involve the issues that involve the Constitution. They also have established copyright laws and patents that are intended to protect and promote ideas and inventions. (conservatives4palin.com, 2011) They also have the unique obligation to print money which can be recognized by all. The Confederacy tried to adapt their own currency but was not recognized by the federal government. The government can establish post offices and other services to help deliver packages from one place to another. We also have a nationalized unit of weights and measures. And the final duty is to raise taxes as mentioned earlier to perform services and functions.

The Legislative Brach of the federal government is made up of two Chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate. These two bodies draft and pass laws that, if signed by the President of the United States, govern the United States and it's citizens.

What is Public Policy? According to (Merriam-Webster 2015), Public Polices are the governing policies that cover citizens, and are policies that can allow the government to stop any action that is contrary to the public good.