Cooperative Federalism Essay

“Federalism is the sharing of power between national and state governments.” (Monk, “Federalism”). Founded over 200 years ago, we use federalism in many ways even today. We use it to divide powers between the national and state governments, meaning that the national government does not have complete say over some of the states’ laws and regulations. Federalism was first created and founded by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and George Washington. Their goal was to try and balance order with liberty (Ushistory, “The Founders of Federalism”). Dual Federalism, was used from the years 1789-1901. During this time period, people believed for separate yet equally powerful levels of government (Levine and Yavorek, “Types of Federalism”). The power

Cooperative Federalism was most popular and well known in the 1930s and lasted up until the 1970s. It was the believe that all levels of government would work together as a whole to try and solve a common issue (Levine and Yavorek, “Types of Federalism”). The problem with this was a miscommunication, and the national government was not affordable in dire times of need. The central government was urgent to start a unified plan of action for the nation, so specific boundaries had to be crossed when it came to the state’s laws. (Levine and Yavorek, “Types of Federalism”). Regulated Federalism was known be more lenient when it came to giving more power to the government, allowing them to have direct control over statewide programs. The national government began interfering more with state programs, striving for a better nation, and get rid of the problems that were present at the time. The power of the states was weakened during this time, and often overlooked as well (Levine and Yavorek, “Types of Federalism”). New Federalism, grew to be popular in the 1980s with the election of Ronald Reagan. Rather than power being taken from the states, New