Essay On Federalism

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The term federalism can be describe as a system of government in which sovereignty of a nation is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units which can be states or in other cases provinces. Federalism is a system of governance based upon democratic rules and institutions in which the power of governance is shared between national and provincial/state governments, thus the creation of what is often referred to as a federation. During the drafting of the U.S.A constitution, the federalist party were in support of a stronger central government, while the anti-federalists opted for a weaker central government. The Constitution of the U.S.A was drafted as a reaction to the articles of confederation, upon which the United States became a loose confederation comprising of a weak central government. The American government has evolved from a system of dual federalism to one of associative federalism. In the Federalist No. 46, James Madison had asserted that the states and national government were in fact but different agents and trustees of the people, which are constituted with different powers. But Alexander Hamilton, who wrote in Federalist No. 28, had suggested that the both levels of government would actually exercise their authority for the citizens' benefit: In case of any of their citizen’s rights are invasion by either, they can make use of the other as the instrument of redress. The federal government has certain express powers which are powers that are spelled out in the Constitution, which include the right to collect and declare taxes, declaration of war, and regulation of interstate and foreign commerce. The Necessary and proper clause grants the federal government the imp... ... middle of paper ... ...ts, mosquito districts, public benefit corporations, authorities of industrial development , transportation industry, port, workforce investment boards, redevelopment institutions and emergency financial managers. The cities and municipalities have been reduced to the level of one more constituency group to be ignored rather than an integral part of economy shaping in their own rights. They are not enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and are subsequently absent from state law, which created and safe guards municipalities, counties,cities,villages and townships , and yet provision is made for the metropolitan areas of which they are a part of. Metros are not governed by a single executive but rather it’s a cluster by overlapping business networks, nonprofit, and elected leaders. Thus making them less powerful politically but more powerful economically than states.

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