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The Impact Of Federalism

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Federalism can be said to be the defining feature of all forms of American politics. Even as a literary characteristic feature, America was the first nation to adopt federalism as a concept. Federalism is a system of government whereby political power is divided between a national government and other smaller political constituents such as states (Platt, 2014). Federalism, although not mentioned exactly in the constitution, was supposed to be a concept that addressed the errors of the confederation (Platt, 2014). It was also supposed to be the lay the groundwork for what the future of American politics by defining the type of government to be practiced. As it was expected to be, federalism has had an impact on the American politics even in …show more content…

Dual federalism had been destroyed by the Civil war (O’Connor et al, page 75). Also, the 1920’s great depression created the need for a strong national government as the nation wanted a central figure to look on for solution. Over time, a strong national government was created, which had to work with the state government to solve the problems brought about by the depression. As such, cooperative federalism, which as it sounds, means the national and state governments cooperate together in running the nation. However, the national government was still supreme in power. This meant that executive branch, which is a branch of the national government, gained more power and …show more content…

Another example of this would be the election and in particular, the Electoral College. The system of the Electoral College is one that portrays federalism i.e. share of power between state and national government. The Constitution provides the framework of the system. Federal statutes stipulate aspects of the process and give directions to states regarding the time of the election and certification of the electoral vote. Federal statutes also give directions to Congress concerning the counting of the electoral vote, and they provide a process for objections to the vote. Since each state is important because it has to conduct its own election at the same time with other states, the laws of each state specify the time and place of the meeting of the electors as well as other election provisions. Together, these two governments, together with the constitution, create the Electoral College system (Edwin C. Kisiel, III, page 12-13). Since laws at both the national as well as the state level govern the Electoral College, it can be said that its foundation is rooted in

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