Think American Government: The Federal System

The government of the United States of America is a federal constitutional republic. In layman 's terms, this means that the country 's national, central government and the smaller, unitary governments of the fifty states are co-equal in their power, and that the citizens of America have a say in public policies by electing representatives who voice their respective opinions. More importantly, both the central government and the state governments are subject to the supreme law of the Constitution. Under this document, the central government is set up into three branches (the legislative, executive, and judicial) that are meant to check each other and balance out power. Their cooperation insures that the national government 's control is appropriate, and does not infringe upon the rights of the average American citizen.

In the Unites States of America Federalism is the basic structure of the American government; it is the distribution and balance of powers between the National government and the States government. In order to obtain a compromise between those who wanted stronger state government and those who preferred a stronger national government the founding fathers arranged and settled for a federal system rather than the alternatives of a unitary or confederal system. While both National and State governments each have specific powers and authority, they also share certain powers and must be able to cooperate effectively with each other.

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.

The structure of our American Government, was founded in the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution was written to be the “supreme law of the land”, and creates a federal democratic republic, where citizens govern themselves (Our American Governement, n.d). The purpose of our government, is to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” (Our American Government, n.d.). For our country to achieve this purpose our Founding Fathers created three main principles, “inherent rights, self-government, and separation of powers” (Our American Government, n.d.). Government was developed to ensure order in society and protect its citizens, but with all systems there are strengths and weakness, let’s examine those strengths and weakness. Let’s first look at the strength and weakness of the U.S. Constitution.

From James Madison, Federalist Paper #51, It states that Federalism is the “division of power between central and state governments is known as Federalism.” In document A there is a venn-diagram that shows the powers that are only given to the states, like being able to establish schools. It also shows the powers that are unique to the central government, like the powers to print and coin money, plus being able to provide an army and navy. Lastly, they have shared powers like the power to tax. Federalism prevents tyranny by splitting central and state government’s power keeping one or the other from getting more

First Draft Throughout history, empires have arisen through tyrant leaders, tyranny being a cruel and unfair treatment by people with power over others, such an example would be the Roman Empire. Even though they began as a republic, they soon became under control of a series of tyrannical leaders. So, how has America, as a republic itself, been able to avoid any tyrant takeovers? The answer lies in our constitution.

Federalism is a system of government in which the states and the federal government share power. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote the Federalist papers. The Federalist papers were a series of essay is to convince the states to ratify the constitution. Doc A excerpt #51 written by the James Madison in 1788. According to Doc A,”In the compound republic of America,the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct government, and the portion allotted (given) to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments.” The authors explain how the country’s power is divided between the states and the federal government. After the power is split into the states and the federal government, they are divided again into 3 branches called the legislative, the executive, and the judicial.This guards against tyranny because the power is divided between different levels of

This compound government is called federalism. As shown in the diagram in Document A, some of the powers given to the central government include: regulating trade, declaring war, and making immigration laws. The federal government makes laws that will affect all American citizens. As shown in the diagram in Document A, Some of the powers given to the states: establish schools, pass marriage and divorce laws. Local and state governments make laws that will affect the community and citizens in the state.

The powers they share include taxing citizens, setting up courts, creating laws, and enforcing laws, which prevents the Central Government from seizing complete control(Doc A). Federalism gives the power to both the state and federal governments, preventing tyrannical rule by the Central

Federalism is a mix of the central government and the states into one political system. The central government would have one role while the states have another. Additionally, federalism allows the central government and the states to share their powers. (Doc A) Federalism ensures the separation of powers and prevent tyranny. Even if one were have all the power of the branches of the federal government, federalism ensures that the central government and the states would still function independently. The central government would be the one that regulates trade while the states would be the one that establishes the schools. No matter what, the central government and the states help fulfill the needs that can benefit the nation in whole. Dividing powers and giving different responsibilities between the central government and the states is one way that the Constitution did to prevent

Federalism is a system of Government made up between the States and the Federal Government to share equal power in America. In the thirteen colonies the citizens were made up of two genres the Federalist, whom strongest agreed with an national system and the anti-federalist, who loved the Articles of Confederation. In the government it was between the powers given to central and powers given to State governments and the main difference was that our National government has the power to can declare war and conduct foreign relation as in State governments they have the power to establish schools and set up local governments.[Doc A is an expert from Federalist papers #51 written by James Madison in 1788. Later the Constitution was written by Alexander Hamilton and John Jay wrote news articles on how amazing the constitution was and reasons on why states should ratify the Constitution] According to Doc A, “ The different government will each control each other at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.” James Madison explains how our two governments power will be shared and divided, while at the same time checking up on one another. *The constitution guards against tyranny, between our Federal Government and our States Government powers that were shared in Madison's compound

Going again what i just said but in a different way it shares power between the legislative,Executive,and Judicial branches of the government Legislative makes the laws Executive enforces the laws

Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress did not have enough power over the states. Things were not well thought out, it was a big mess. Luckily, the United States Constitution came to the rescue and replaced the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution divided power equally among the National and State government. The Federal government was divided into three branches: Legislature, Executive, and Judicial. The Legislature branch is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Both have incredible power. They are the ones that create the laws. The House of Representatives can raise taxes, put officials on trial, elect the President in case of a tie. While the Senate decides on impeachment, approve treaties, court appointments. The Executive branch is the President and his team. They set up the budget, enforce laws, set foreign policy, veto bills. The Judicial branch is the Supreme Court. It is above any other court in the United States. Not all court cases make it to the

Federalism is a system of government that divides power between a national government and a regional government with the use of a constitution. Throughout the United States history, federalism has played a significant role in the constitution and the system of government adopted by the United States of America. Federalism has also changed throughout the course of America's history to fit the constitution and the government.

The American system of government is democratic. Democracy is a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting. In America, elections are held at the local, state, and federal levels. In elections, voters choose from one of several candidates from various political parties for open office positions. The United States has two major political parties: Democrat and Republican. There are more political parties, but with the way the electoral process works, most third parties will not succeed, since they will not get sufficient popular vote. However, for the office of President and Vice President, the popular vote does not determine the President and Vice President the Electoral College does. Many eligible voters have decided to “protest vote,” meaning not voting at all or voting third party, because these voters value voting for a candidate who most aligns with their beliefs rather than voting for a candidate that is likely to be elected. Protest voting is a controversial action, with positive and negative aspects, but it does affect the outcome of the election. This is because major parties care about what third-party voters think and may change their platforms accordingly. Protest voting is a significant liberty that Americans can use to express their democratic right.