Understanding the Dynamics of American Federalism

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Federalism is what the United States government is based on with governmental power divided between several individuals. Federalism is the structure of government that allows two or more individuals share control over the same geographic region. Every person in the United States of America is subjected to the laws of that county, city, state, and our federal government. The history of American federalism has fluctuated between three different types, dual federalism, cooperative federalism, and new judicial federalism. Dual federalism began roughly in the late 1700’s and went through World War II. It refers to the concept of the national government and the state governments have sovereign power. There is a distinct line of authority and do not over lap and one should not intrude into the other’s authority. Each government is supreme it’s own …show more content…

National, Local, and State governments work together cooperatively to solve common problems rather than making separate polices. They work more on an equal level to get things fixed. This type of federalism is hard to tell where one type of government ends and the next one begins. National and state governments are independent and interdependent with an overlap of functions and financial resources. It is difficult for one to accumulate absolute power with this type of federalism. New judicial federalism started after cooperative federalism. There have been arguments that the national government has grown all to powerful and some of the power should be given back to the states. Yes, the national government is very important, state governments have gained some power back. Nixon was president during this time and supported new federalism. Every president since Nixon has continued to support the return of some power to states and local governments. Many people liked the idea of new federalism because of its emphasis on state and local

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