Pt1420 Unit 4

1. a) Federalism is a system in which national and state governmental share power in order to govern the people. They share powers in regards to law making, the execution of laws, and how the laws are carried out. b) The table above demonstrates the principle of federalism because it shows how each type and level of government expands as it becomes more localized. This is why there is only one national government, but 35,356 local government districts. The powers are devolved throughout the types of government. c) The data in the table above facilitates effective policy making in the US because the national government may not be able to make effective policy making for everyone. As the governments become more localized to the people,

When the national and local governments have different policy opinions towards an issue, it is hard to formulate a sufficient policy solution. An example of this is when the national and state governments have taken different sides in the issue of marijuana. It is hard to find a solution when the national government finds it illegal, but certain states find it legal.

2. a) Two regulations that Congress has passed in order to regulate PACs is limits and restrictions placed on the amount individuals can contribute to PACs, and that PACs have to disclose the people that donate to the PAC. b) Congress passed a regulation to impose limits on how much individuals can contribute to PACs because the FEC wants the elections to have a fair opportunity for both candidates. If one side receives unlimited money, it becomes more difficult for the other candidate to win.
Regulation has been placed to makes PACs disclose donors in order to prevent illegal activity with the money. If the donors are not disclosed, it is impossible for the FEC to regulate the money and its

This was upheld in two Supreme Court cases. In Buckley v. Veleo, the Supreme Court established that individuals cannot be barred from donating because it is protected speech. In Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court established that corporations cannot be barred from donating. These justify the activities of PACs because it is the individual rights of the people to have freedom of speech.
The second argument that justifies the activities of PACs is that activity of the PACs allow citizens to influence policy making. By deciding where they make contributions, individuals can influence the policy making and policy creation process.
3. a) A function of congressional standing committees is to develop specific regulations and restrictions with legislation within their fields of specialty. For example, a committee in congress specializing in the rights of seniors will develop legislation that protects the rights of seniors. Another function of congressional standing committees is their role to research specific problems within their specialty. An example of this would be the committee of agriculture researching the impact of genetically modified