Federalism is a legal concept that is centered around the concept that law is best handled as a two layered responsibility. Federalism is also built on a belief that sharing power with the local government is key to a successful governance. According to the text book, “the United States was the first nation to adopt federalism as its governing framework” (pg83). The following are a few examples of some advantages, as well as disadvantages of Federalism.
I believe that the advantages that Federalism provides far outweigh those of the anti-federalist movement. Our founding fathers wisely perceived that the idea of a centralized government was a big concern for abuse of power. Federalism represents many of the values of modern Democracy and grants individual states the power to make decisions that best suit their needs. Local government understands local issues better than a centralized government that often sees the nation as one big piece of land instead of smaller areas, each with distinct demographics and problems. For instance, issues concerning illegal immigration in Texas would be best handled by local authorities rather than by someone in Kansas, a non border state. By the same token, representatives of communities with different aspirations, ethnicity and cultures should be handled locally as the federal government might overlook the needs of these groups. One perfect example of the above mentioned scenario is the public school system. In a federalist system the local government decides what kind of schools will operate. Therefore, they might make better decisions when it comes to opening schools among large immigrant populations, perhaps creating a few bi-lingual schools to fulfill the population’s needs.
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... more powerful than today, thanks to Supreme Court rulings in light of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the vision of our forefathers was always to divide the power and share responsibilities.
Overall, the benefits of the federalism far exceed the anti-federalist movement’s causes. Federalism provides a much more organized and uniform government and promotes harmony between states and the central government by allowing them to work together. Sharing the burden between both federal and state authorities allows each governing body to handle their respective priorities more efficiently while at the same time sharing power to avoid having one ruling body that has so much power and opportunity to become tyrannical. I believe that if the founding fathers were alive they very day, they would pat each other in the back and acknowledge the progress that has been made.
Federalism is the federal principle or system of government. In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered the people is first divided between two distances government (states and federal), and the portion allotted to each subdivided among distance and separate departments. In their attempt to balance order with liberty, the founders
One of the most important concerns of the Anti-Federalists were concerned that the new form of government would strip the states of their own power. The Anti-Federalists feared by combining the previously independent states. under one government that, ".the states, once sovereign. would retain but a shadow of their former power. "(Main 120).
Republicanism brought change to America, but called into question was the way this change was brought to America. James Madison through the Virginia Plan proposed a republic nation. The formation of the Republican opposition in the 1790’s continued the legacy of the American Revolution. Even though a republican government meant everyone in America would be under the same government it took away the “individual” freedom they fought for in the revolution but this government is representative of the people. Madison had a vision of an “extended republic” that would include everyone, however he would need a lot of support in order to get this republic. “Over the course of 1790’s, Jefferson and Madison would help turn their objections to Hamilton's
The arguments that the federalist team pushed for the most were the failure of the Articles of Confederation to lay the foundation for a proficient economy, and to give the federal government executive power. The first of these problems can be solved in our Constitution without placing state governments under the federal government. If, following the ratification of the Constitution, states weren't divided by population issues, they would soon realize that a common currency and lack of tariffs would be in their best interests. The decision to could be made by the representatives in a slightly more decisive Congress without the need of a super-majority, which even advocates of decentralized government could agree to. The federalists argued with the preconception that our side was not willing to change from the Articles of Confederation other than in name, which isn't true. Anti-federalists felt that the Articles had to be dismantled and only some pieces were valuable enough to become a part of the Constitution, mainly the level of autonomy given to state governments. While it is true that a weaker federal government could not enforce its own laws to the best extent, our arguments regarding the possible slide back into
After the establishment of the constitution, the Federalist administrations faces many significant challenges when dealing with the economics of the United States; much of the country was divided over issues such as how to raise money, establishing a public credit system, how to pay the national debt, and whether or not a national bank should be established. Leaders like Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison came to represent the ideas of the people and as these ideas became more solid, debate and opposition rose. The Federalists saw multiple ways to resolve these issues, and the resolutions established that leadership in the United States would be successful.
Even though there are pros and cons of federalism, this system of government makes America a free nation and separates us from many our nations.
PRINCIPLES Federalism: "A political system in which ultimate authority is shared between a central government and state or regional governments. "1 The first and foremost principality addresses the power of the federal and state governments. The framers of the Constitution never meant for the federal government to grow to today's tremendous size.
The evolution of power gained by the Federal government can be seen in the McCuloch versus Maryland (1819) case. This case des...
James Madison was a very intelligent man and was one of the forefathers for our country. In Madison’s Federalist Paper Number 10 he describes the need to control factions in the United States and how the government is to do so. The Federalist papers are a key point in describing how to control “factions” that are so dangerous to the young government, or so Madison feels. In Madison’s paper he clearly lays out his idea on the sources of factions, his feelings on democracy versus a republic, and how to control factions.
Most Federalist are elitist that own large amounts of land, educated and feel that they should govern to spare the republic from a democracy. Due to their education and experience with negotiations and treaties I feel that they are better suited to make decisions that will benefit the nation as a whole instead of each individual colony. With those in control that are educated and aware of the opportunities they can do what’s best for everyone by educating those that are unfamiliar with the opportunities that are available. A national government would strengthen the new nation as well as improve international trade for the benefit of all. This would not be possible with each colony being responsible for its own government without guidance. A strong national government relates to the economic development of the nation
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
Federalism is a political system in which authority is divided between different levels of government (Barbour and Wright, 75). Federalism has been around since 1787 in the United States of America. The divided powers between the state governments and the national governments are powers that are limited to a certain level so they do not depend on each other for power. The United States of America has a federal government in which the central government shares influence with the numerous smaller state governments. The idea was for a “more perfect union.”
In contrast, the Federalists viewed both levels of government to be responsible directly to the people, as creators of both their state and national governments. Moreover, Federalists believed that a large “extended republic” was the prescription necessary to save the republican experiment that had been fought for during the American Revolution and nearly lost during the critical period of the 1780s under the Articles of Confederation.
Federalism, by definition, is the division of government authority between at least two levels of government. In the United States, authority is divided between the state and national government. “Advocates of a strong federal system believe that the state and local governments do not have the sophistication to deal with the major problems facing the country” (Encarta.com).
How well has federalism worked in the United States? This is all a matter of opinion. Federalism has indeed been an active structure for government that fits in quite well with the changing American society. This particular system of government has been around for over two hundred years, and under all those years the separation of power under American federalism has changed numerous amounts of times in both law and practice. The United States Constitution does allow changes and amendments in the Constitution have assigned miscellaneous roles to the central and state governments than what originally intended. The suitable equilibrium between national and state powers is repeatedly an issue in American Politics.