Essay On Dual Federalism

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

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 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.

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.

The federal government began to gain power, and in Article I section 8 says, “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imports, and excises, to pay the debts and provide the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imports and excises shall be uniform through the United States; to borrow money on the credit of the United Staes; to regulate commerce with foreign nation, and among the several states, and with the Indians Tribes… to establish post offices and post roads .” The following quote describes how the national government has different kinds of power compared to federal government. Article IV section 1 says, “full faith and credit shall be given in each states to the public acts, records, and judicial proceeding of every other state. And the Congress may general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved… ” In simpler words, the state government has to follow laws just like a ordinary

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. 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 would be the future of America. As it was expected to be, federalism has had an impact on the American politics even as far as elections are concerned. There were some key reasons that

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.

This article, "The Necessary and Proper Clause" also known as "The Elastic Clause," gives Congress the power to broaden its powers and keep Federal balance. Supreme Court Justice Marshall presents an argument that supports Congress' regulation over all commerce. He clearly says, "It is the power to regulate; that is, to prescribe the rule by which commerce is to be governed. This power, like all others vested in Congress, is complete in itself, may be exercised to its utmost extent, and acknowledges no limitations other than are prescribed in the Constitution." Where the Constitution states, "Congress shall have power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the several States, and with the Indian tribes," the word "among" means intermixed with. Commerce may concern more than one state, therefore Congress needs to act "within the territorial jurisdiction of the several states" The Supreme Court held that the power of Congress includes navigation within its limits in every State. Any state activity that attempts to regulate interstate commerce is completely unconstitutional because in dealing with interstate commerce, it can be inferred from the Constitution that the Federal government must regulate interstate commerce. The Constitution did not provide states with the power to regulate commerce between states so it is imperative that the federal government intercedes. Although the only

Federalism is a way of organizing a nation so that two or more levels of government have formal authority over the same area and people, ensuring that one does not become too powerful and aids in the separation of powers. Liberty is a state of freedom within a society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one 's way of life, behavior, or political views. Although these two political science terms are different, they correlate and interact with one another in the American Government and are still relevant to contemporary policy issues faced today. James Madison 's The Federalist No. 47 doctrine exemplifies this: "In order to form correct ideas on this important subject, it will be proper to investigate the sense in which the preservation of liberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct."

Also in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution the commerce clause is stated. In the expressed powers, it says that Congress can ‘regulate Commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with Indian Tribes.’According to the article on Cornell Law School, the actual word “ commerce” is not clarified anywhere in the Constitution so this clause can also be manipulated depending on the

The Constitution safeguards citizens of the U.S. from disputes by diving powers between the central and state governments. As stated by James Madison, in “Federalist Paper #51, 1788” (Document A) “central government can, “regulate trade,

Federalism is a system of government in which the power is divided between a central government and regional governments and it is established in the 10th Amendment, Article I, Section 8, Article I, Section9, Article IV, Section 1, and Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution. The main difference between Dual and Cooperative federalism is that Dual federalism has a narrower interpretation of federal powers and strict separation of federal and state functions while Cooperative federalism has a broader interpretation of federal powers and overlapping of federal and state functions. There have been some factors that have made American government shift toward cooperative federalism and many of those have been cases including: Wickard v. Filburn (1942) which concluded that only intra-state commercial activity may be substance to federal rule under the commerce clause if it has a considerable effect on interstate commerce. Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States and Katzenbach v. McClung (1964) which resolved that the non-discrimination provisions of the 1964 Civil Rights Act are a legal exercise of congressional power under the commerce clause, even when it is applied to businesses not directly engaged in interstate commerce. Lopez v. United States (1995) states that the commerce clause may not be used to control activities that are entirely non-commercial and don’t have a direct effect upon interstate commerce. Printz v. United States (1997) established

It also prohibits the government from favoring any specific religion. With today’s issues of equal rights, religious freedom, and terrorism things get a little hairy. A few hundred years ago, the Constitution seemed to answer all the questions and everything seemed so black and white, but things are changing and as Abraham Lincoln taught us, things aren’t always black and white. This is where Federalism comes in. Federalism says that state and federal powers are supposed to be shared, meaning they were meant to work together kind of like a marriage. Marriage is when two people promise to work together as equals for the good of both parties. Many marriages today, sometimes like our government, are one party dominant, but this is not the best way. Other marriages today, sometimes like our government, are driving around town for two hours trying to decide where to eat because neither party can please the other. Again, this is not the best way. For our country to succeed we must work together for the good of the individual and the good of the

Our founding fathers built this country around our beliefs in the Lord and the principle of freedom. One of the ways that they put a safeguard in place to keep the states and the federal government’s power balanced is the commerce clause. This paper will discuss what the commerce clause is, how it affects business activity as well, as how the states have power to regulate commerce and the balance of power between state and the federal government.