Lack of Central Leadership The second series of limitations that the Articles of Confederation had to contend with deal with was the lack of central leadership it provided. As detailed earlier, the Articles placed sovereign power in the hands of the state. Most critically, this led to economic troubles, but it also led to a leadership deficit. Lack of national leadership took various forms. 1. No independent judiciary The Articles of Confederation offered no system of courts in the jurisdiction of the national government. This meant that the entire judiciary branch was dependent on the states. According to Article IV, “Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to the records, acts, and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of every other State." 8 Consequently, states could overturn national actions that they found objectionable. Since Congress had no means to enforce its laws, the states could simply ignore national laws without fear of retribution. Also, since there was no national court system, individual persons or states could not file complaints against the national government. The states could always ignore anything they disagreed with, but if a citizen had a grievance with the national government there was no system in place to hear the lawsuit.

Lack of Central Leadership The second series of limitations that the Articles of Confederation had to contend with deal with was the lack of central leadership it provided. As detailed earlier, the Articles placed sovereign power in the hands of the state. Most critically, this led to economic troubles, but it also led to a leadership deficit. Lack of national leadership took various forms. 1. No independent judiciary The Articles of Confederation offered no system of courts in the jurisdiction of the national government. This meant that the entire judiciary branch was dependent on the states. According to Article IV, “Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to the records, acts, and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of every other State." 8 Consequently, states could overturn national actions that they found objectionable. Since Congress had no means to enforce its laws, the states could simply ignore national laws without fear of retribution. Also, since there was no national court system, individual persons or states could not file complaints against the national government. The states could always ignore anything they disagreed with, but if a citizen had a grievance with the national government there was no system in place to hear the lawsuit.