Introduction
“Our constitutional structure is conventionally depicted two-dimensionally: horizontally, power is dispersed among the federal branches; and vertically, power is dispersed between the federal and state governments.”(179, Rubenstein) Both the federal and state government are very influential in different areas. Each level of government has it’s own set of powers and responsibilities. The federal government takes on a lot of these responsibilities and between the two, is the more superior level of government. Whatever tasks and activities that the federal government does not take control of, is left to the state and local governments to handle. Nonetheless, the federal and state government are relatively alike in many ways. For
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For instance, during the Great Depression the economy was at an all time low and there were different problems spiraling out of control. The domino effect of the economy and stock markets being down caused a very high rate of unemployment. Since unemployment was so high there were a lot of people who fell into poverty. In need of some kind of change, the president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, created the Social Security Act. This act was created to assist and protect citizens who were in need during this where the unemployment rate was at its highest and poverty had struck millions. Often times these people were elderly, or they had recently lost a member of their family that may have been the person that usually provided for them or they were just simply unemployed. This kind of government assistance impacted so many lives. Later, unemployment rates and stock markets proved that because of the New Deal approaches like the Social Security Act, there was a decreased amount of people who were in need compared to the amount there was before the act was created (The Great …show more content…
People not only have to follow state laws but they also have to follow the federal ones. Sometimes this can cause certain jurisdiction to be ruled for many different crimes. There have been many cases where someone follows one or the other and there are consequences for all offenses. A specific example of the kind of confliction that can take place in the jurisdiction of court cases is the Mapp v. Ohio case of 1961. Ohio policeman went into a woman named Dollree Mapp’s house and told her that they were looking for a specific criminal who had reported to have some sort of bomb. They showed her what they said was a warrant, which turned out not to be and proceeded to search her home. The “criminal” wasn’t found but there were other incriminating things found inside the house that were pointing at Mapp. In Mapp’s home they found “explicit” items such as photographs, and books. Having things like this at the time in Ohio meant that Mapp violated a state law. Yet, even though she may have violated the state’s law, the Ohio policeman violated federal laws. They didn’t have an authentic warrant to search the home in the first place. Therefore, the judge in charge of the case later issued the verdict that they must all abide by the exclusionary rule and dismiss the incriminating evidence found in Mapp’s home. This entire case is a prime example of the Supremacy Clause in the constitution. This
A public policy is the body of principles that underpin the operation of legal systems in each state. In this paper I am going to talk about federal along with state policies. I will discuss each of the policies and how they are similar and how they are different. Federal and State policies are made to help keep our Country running smoothly. If there were no policies then keeping our Country safe would be a hard task. Policies are principles that are set to help make our Country operate on a daily bases. I like to think of it as rules that are set to keep our Country safe; because if there were no rules then everyone would be doing their own thing which could cause for a very disorganized situation.
Federalism is defined in our book as: “the relationship between the centralized national government and the individual state governments” (Berman and Murphy 92). Federalism is a very important government system that is frequently discussed and argued, even today. The topic of federalism has become a topic of argument because many people believe the federal government should have more power, and yet some other people believe the states should have most of the power. One of the ways that federalism is in our government is in our Congress, and indirectly through Congress to the difference in laws between the states. We can look at all the different speed limits in all of the individual states; they are not all the same. This is because the residents of any certain state and the representatives of that state can choose whatever they deem fit to set as limits. Another
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.
Each state has their own specific unique laws established individually for their state. In conjunction with those laws that exist over the people in their specific state there are also federal laws that govern the states as well as the people who live in them. These laws that govern the people are known as state laws and federal laws. The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land in the United States. “It creates a federal system of government in which power is shared between the federal government and the state governments. Due to federalism, both the federal government and each of the state governments have their own court systems (Comparing
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
The US Constitution defines the federal government as “The Supreme Law of the land”, known as the Supremacy Clause. Article VI, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution states that, should the federal government exercise their rights enumerated in the Constitution, they would prevail over any conflicting state implementation of power. The clause ensures that the federal laws take precedence over state laws and ensures that state judges uphold these laws. The Supremacy Clause checks the power of the local governments by
The first and most fundamental division of our government is “federalism or the constitutional allocation of governmental powers between the federal and state governments” (24). Throughout the years federalism has changed from what it was first described in the constitution. Contemporary federalism is what is used in our modern government, and with the dilemmas that we have now a more centralized government has been used, which was not planned when our government was created. The second division is separation of powers. This division has a major impact on public policies. The constitution “distributes the powers of the federal government among three branches, each capable of applying checks and balances to the other two” (29). These three divisions can either work together, which makes policymaking smooth and able to get things done, or they can veto each other which makes policymaking harder and nothing gets done. The third division is subgovernments, or can also be described as iron triangles. This division has three actors involved the first is interest groups, the second is congressional committees or subcommittees, and the third is the administrative agency (31-33). These actors work off each other to help get policies implemented. These three division help compose our public policies in the United States.
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.
To define the terminology of federalism to a simplistic way is the sharing of sovereignty between the national government and the local government. It is often described as the dual sovereignty of governments between the national and the local to exert power in the political system. In the US it is often been justified as one of the first to introduce federalism by the ‘founding fathers’ which were developed in order to escape from the overpowered central government. However, federalism in the United States is hitherto uncertain where the power lies in the contemporary political system. In this essay I will outline and explain how power relationship alternates between states and federal government. Moreover I will also discuss my
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.
Amid the Great Depression, the role of the government altered enormously. Prior to the Depression hit, the government did close to nothing or nothing at all to assistance individuals monetarily. This was not seen as something the administration should do. With the Depression came an adjustment in this discernment. President Roosevelt's New Deal made government in charge of peopling from numerous points of view. These courses run from ensuring that they would not lose cash they had stored in banks (FDIC) to guaranteeing that they would have cash to live on after they resigned (Social Security). When all is said in done, the New Deal brought on another part for government, one in which the legislature did significantly more to help people monetarily.
Indirectly, or directly, one can argue, public schools are controlled by the federal and state governments. Several issues have emerged, because of the conflict between federal and state requirements for education. “Under the Tenth Amendment, any authority not given specifically to the federal government is reserved to the states. Thus, the federal government has no authority to regulate education directly; that belongs to the states” (Underwood, n. d., p. 2). To get around this, the federal government controls the schools through funds for complying with certain initiatives, procedures, and policies (Underwood, n. d.). Ironically, both the state and federal levels of government hold the district liable for implementing different agendas and legal obligations. The federal government, however, can ensure that no citizen is denied their rights or privileges, even in a private institution, because of the Bill of Rights and other amendments. Failure to comply by these amendments or statutes can lead to the loss of federal funding and legal reproductions for schools.
Throughout the history of this nation, the Constitution, from the formation to the execution thereof, has set forth the precedent for the demonstration of excessive federal power that is clearly illustrated by history and modern America. Sufficient documentation to back up this premise includes primary documents such as James Madison’s Federalist No. 10, the Constitution of the United States, and other historical pieces. Ample consideration should be given to the paramount decisions of America’s elected officials in critical moments as well in the very construction of the American system of government that favors federalism.
Certain interests do not change over time in our society. Over 200 years ago, the prominent concern that led to the framing of the Constitution regarded the establishment of a government that was “for the people and by the people.” The framers of the Constitution, with concern of an over powering central government in mind, provided a basis for the structure of the federal government of the United States. The powers of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government are laid out strategically in a way that no one branch can have more power than the other. The national concern of maintaining a legitimate government has not shifted since the initial days of the framers. Although the capacity of the government has grown over time, the system of checks and balances that was adapted in the framing of the Constitution allows for the structure and powers of the federal government to remain in order today. Other than providing a structural map for how the government will operate, however, the additional aspects of the Constitution fail to administer practical framework for addressing 21st century interests. This document was written over 200 years ago and it has not been altered substantially since then (Lazare). While certain Amendments have been added to assist the Constitution in staying relevant, such as the abolishment of slavery and the addition of women’s right to vote, there has been practically nothing added to help in applying the framers’ intentions
As we look at the relationship between the state and federal in the United States, we have a system that called as “federalism” where the central national government does not hold all the power, but they share the power with responsibility for governance of the sovereign states. As the definition of “federalism” is a political system in which power is divided between a central authority and constituent political subunits. Therefore, both state government and the federal government had become more intertwined to cooperation with all the rules of the law to adjust every state that they need for their own life in America. Instead, the state government and the federal government share with the certain powers such as setting and collecting all