What is Federalism and How Does It Relate to State Governments and Other Forms of Governance?

Federalism has evolved throughout American history. At different points in time, the balance and boundaries between the national and state government have changed substantially (resulting in the dual federalism, cooperative federalism etc.). Dual federalism which can also be referred to as divided sovereignty draws a clear distinction between federal and state governments, with the state government exercising the powers given to them without the influence of the federal government. It can further be supported by the Tenth Amendment which states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people.” Cooperative Federalism is defined as the cooperative functioning of the state, national and local governments. The American ensemble functions according to the New Dual Cooperative 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 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.

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 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.

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.

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 is a compound way of governing, with a central government, also known as a federal government, and a local government. Each government had their own powers, but to accomplish the bigger goals the key was to have cooperation and teamwork to solve the issue. The federal government’s powers were solely focused on war, money and relations with other countries and states outside of the United States. In accordance, the local government took care of the more specific things going on in that certain state. For example, they took care of things such as elections, constructing schools, and passing laws for marriage and divorce. This helps to guard against having a government ruled over by a tyrant by having the more sizable powers given to the higher-up individuals in the government, and the locals governments dealt with the laws that pertained to their specific state. “In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments” (Document A). The governments are ruled this way because if one government had all the power, they would surely use it unfairly, as all that power would get to their head. “Hence a double security rises to the rights of the people” (Document A). This would in fact raise the rights that the people had because they would have a

The United States is currently governed under a federalist constitution and has a deep rooted history of setting up its constitution to accommodate transparency, checks and balance and prevent tyranny. The federalist system of government is divided into the co-dependent central and state government. federalism in the united states give states the power to create their own laws, constitutions, and government structures. As stated in the U.S. Constitution (U.S.), enormous reservoirs of political power are thus derived from the people who reside in the states themselves. (champagne 2017)

In this form of federalism, the power is returned to the states in an effort to decrease the dependency of the national government. This indicates that the states gain more power and money to make decisions in their domain and that the Federal government can’t impose certain standpoints and political “Red Tape” on controversial topics and legislation. This is made possible mainly due to Block Grants, large sums of federal tax money granted to the state with almost no restrictions on how to spend said money.

The national government’s original purpose was not to govern the states, but instead to monitor them and provide them with protection. During this time period the nation was run under the principle of Dual Federalism. Which meant that both the national and state government had an equal amount of power. However, over time the national government gained a grand amount of power while the states lost power, turning the once proud self-governed “countries” into nationally governed states.

Confederacies exist as a group of autonomous individual states, regions, or member components who form a national body, or centralized government, to represent their independent interests at a more regional and international level. The existence of the national government is derived from the consent of each governed autonomous state or region. The entities that submit to this central ruling authority are able to withdraw from the compact that binds them together. The national authority created is only bestowed with the powers, authority, and privileges which the independent components in the confederacy allow. If any member component feels its interests are no longer being served or the compact has interfered with its autonomy, then that entity of the confederacy can sever its ties with the national body. This can occur because the state, region, or member component has the supreme ultimate authority over its own affairs. As further examination and analysis will demonstrate there is no inherent authority invested into the national government as is the case of a federalist system.

The Articles of Confederation, a written agreement that ensured each state’s sovereignty, freedom and independence, led America to victory over the British centralized government. During the late eighteenth century, the empowered government terrified the Americans, hence the thirteen colonies decided to spread governance powers equally to all functional states. The states had absolute dominance over the Congress due to the Articles of Confederation. While the localized power of states seemed to be promising, the system posed great threat to the major components of a democratic government, which are coercion, revenue, and legitimacy (Lecture 1 - The Roots of Government). The system of localized power did not ensure legitimacy, which referred to people’s recognition of national government. Congress’s lack of power to control each state’s actions caused great chaos. Eventually, national government’s lack of power and inability to unify the states exposed multiple flaws in the Articles of Confederation; consequently, a new supreme law, the Constitution was established by the founding fathers. The new supreme law successfully altered the imbalanced system into a novel democratic government.

Federalism was an inevitable and paramount mechanism to creation the of the Union. Therefore, it is acceptable that its governing principles would define and refine a majority of the nation’s history. Shaping the government, laws, and politics of the current and future generations during the creation of the Constitution, federalism permanently altered the life of every American. Federalism and the Constitution were derived from a similar ideal: endurance of free society had to be preserved by a sense of unity that acted as a safeguard against prevalent dangers, advanced the common good while still maintaining responsiveness to the diversity of the nation (Wechsler, 1954). The Constitution established a central government that possessed the capacity to interpret its

like Europe.  With too much power on a state level, a main government could not