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The role of federalism
Essays on history & principles of federalism
Essays on history & principles of federalism
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Federalism was majorly influenced by Alexander Hamilton, who was the dominant author of the Federalist Papers. Hamilton did not want to repeat the mistake that Great Britain made and believed that spreading the power to multiple sources of government, along with checks and balances would abolish tyranny. Furthermore, it would aid the people to be heard and their concerns to be resolved faster and with attention from their government. Federalism is when a nation has two sources of government instead of one, the two levels are national and state/local. Similar to many American qualities, having a federal government has its advantages and disadvantages. Three positive factors of federalism are that there is a more orderly system to dispute and …show more content…
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. Some of the advantages of having a federal government are that the national level of government can work on the bigger picture tasks while the state government solve the local and specific issues, so that each departments time can be used wisely and efficiently. Furthermore, if citizens took their everyday problems to the national level, then the national government would be over worked and the citizen might have to travel far to even reach the states capital. Each side of the …show more content…
Furthermore, a local resident can travel to their local government, city hall, and file a complaint about the public school having brown water, they would help the resident faster and with ease to produce a cleaner environment. However if that same resident went to their local government but was in a high poverty state, they would not have the money to improve the situation for a public school without the money. For example, the elementary school in Albuquerque fixed their brown water problem before the school year (Goldsmith, News 13), but the Miami Sunset Senior High School had unacceptable conditions from water to the school lunches and the safety of the students, their problems took much longer and took viral pictures to get the attention of their local government to fix their
On September 28, 1787 Confederation Congress sent out the draft of the Constitution. This was the first time in history for the people to debate, discuss, and decide with a vote for how they wanted to be governed. There were two groups that debated the thought of the Constitution. They were called Federalists and anti-Federalists.
This passage places emphasis on one of the three arguments James Madison makes in Federalist 10. Madison explicates the deficit of factions specifically factions that could cause nothing but “mischief” for the United States. In this particular passage, he explains how factions are inevitable in our country, however, controlling the effect of factions would diminish their “mischievous impact.” Thus, prohibiting factions assists in reducing the probability of “[a] weaker party or an obnoxious individual” from gaining power over the minority. These smaller factions that Madison hopes to avoid are a direct result of “pure democracy” that he accounts as have “general[ly]…short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.” Therefore, this particular fragment from federalist 10 serves as the precedent to the introduction of a mixed Constitution of a democracy and republic, in this case, a large republic.
Eric Foner claims the definition of Federalism refers to the relationship between the national government and the states. Unlike the Constitution, the Articles of Confederation came with many weaknesses. Some provided by our powerpoint include that the Federal government had no power to make the states obey the Articles and laws that were passed by the legislature. The states also had the power to tax, and the opportunity to print their own money. Our powerpoint focuses on the $10 million Congress owed to other countries, as well as the $40 million it owed to the American veterans. The Constitution differed. Foner states that not only did the Constitution enhance national authority, but it also permitted Congress to levy taxes, conduct commerce, confirm war, deal with the foreign nations and Indians, and rent and help the “general welfare”. According to the powerpoint, Federalists focused on the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
Politics and its inner working can be described as the activities that determine the governance of a specific area, country, or continent. Imagine living in the United States during the 1800’s when there were two political parties, namely Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Personally, I would choose to join the Democratic-Republican Party. As compared to the Federalist Party, the Democratic-Republicans had their policies centralized. They emphasized on agrarian interests that protected the rights of every single individual living in the United States of America. I would be very focused on promoting these facts to my best friends.
The Federalist wanted to ratify the Constitution while the Antifederalist despised the idea entirely. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay eventually compiled 85 essays as the Federalist Papers. These supporters of the Constitution believed that the checks and balances system (a system in which the different parts of an organization (such as a government) have powers that affect and control the other parts so that no part can become too powerful )would allow a strong central government to preserve states' rights. They felt that the Articles of Confederation was too weak and that they were in need for a change. The Articles of Confederation had “errors” that needed to be corrected argued the Federalist. Ratifying the Constitution lead to an improved more advanced country.
Philosophers that shaped and influenced the Federalist include Thomas Hobbes, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Montesquieu and John Locke. These philosophers believed in natural rights and built branches of government that would protect these natural rights. They believed that all men are instinctively selfish individuals and strive for self-preservation. From their viewpoint, balancing mans selfish desires and the desire to safeguard the community would be the ideal form of government for man. These philosophers built their ideas around the theory that too much liberty is bad for society. In order to avoid creating a strong central government comparable to Great B...
The Founding Fathers had multiple reasons on why they created a federalist government, the main reasons were avoiding a tyranny, more people participating in politics, and “experimenting” the states in order to find new government ideas and programs James Madison stated the Federalist Papers, The Federalist, No. 10, If "factious leaders kindle a flame within their particular states," the national, or federal government, can "conflagration through the other states." Federalism and the 10th amendment prevents one to take control of a state or the federal government, avoiding tyranny. The idea of having more people evolved in government came from the ideals of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson believed having both local (state) and national (federal) officials would increase participation in government.The last concept with using states as “experiments” comes from this concept: let us say that a state disastrous new policy, it would not be a disaster for everyone. In contrast, if one state 's new programs or policies work well, other states can adopt them to their own
The second positive that federalism produced was a more tailored policy. This is a good thing because member of a state could have policy that reflected the issues and needs of its state citizens. National government is much broader and cannot fit the needs of every citizen of the United States. With a more localized government the ideals of the citizens in each state can reflect the policies that are made, and represent their citizens
Talk about some of the advantages and disadvantages of federalism. Does this system serve the United States well? Why or why not? From my notion federalism has a more moral outlook on our country as a hold. They try to prevent a stronger power by distributing some essential power to the states which also gives the United States citizens more option. Different states have different policies which will attract citizen that concur with their laws. For instance gay marriage, some states in the United States support gay marriage and believe that people should marry who they want to marry no matter the gender. California is one of those states. According to an article written by Tamara Thompson, “States are strongly divided on same-sex marriage; thirty-three states prohibit same-sex marriage, including 29 states that have prohibitions in their state constitutions. With New Mexico, 17 states along with the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage; most states that have recently allowed same-sex marriage have done so through legislation.” With that said individuals who live in Georgia, where gay marriage is banned, are free to move to any other states where gay marriage is permitted. Legalization of marijuana in certain states but not in another can be a second example of why giving states power to make their own law can benefit us as citizens. If we don’t concur with one state law, we can move to a state with the laws we do agree with; therefore, giving states control is definitely a pro rather than a con. On the other hand, we have the cons and disadvantages of federalism. One disadvantage of federalism is the fact that states that have contradicting laws that is in the vicinity of each other can be affected by each other. For example states who legalize marijuana, which includes but not
One advantage of a strong state government is how states are more responsive to interests that are closer to them. It is easier to be heard by your local government than your national government. If you want your taxes to go towards one thing over another, you can vote in your local elections where the results will directly affect you. Another advantage of states having a strong role is having access to more problem-solving paths. If citizens have an issue that the government needs to solve, just like local governments can represent interest closest to them, they can address the problems as well. The higher government can be called upon if the specific problem needs more
Federalism or “federal” ties around a system of government. It controls armies, declares wars, coins money, and regulate trade between states and foreign nations, and treaties (Mrs, Crouse’s powerpoint pg:3 num:9). Specifically this was created to organize the powers that exist in the system of government so everything can be organized. It also divides the power among a central government and several regional governments (Mrs, Crouse’s powerpoint pg:2 num:8). More ever Since everything passes through one system it had to be divided into 3 sections: delegated powers, implied powers, and inherited powers.
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).
Madison, on the contrary, emphasizes the benefits of a federal government mainly because it creates balances of power, that is, emphasizes the value of the Member States. For him, federalism is an institution designed to protect States, and while recognizing that sovereignty ultimately lies in central government, federalism would not be compatible with the concentration of power in the hands of the state. He argues that a confederation would tend to reduce the power of the central government.
In conclusion Federalism is a big part of our country. Federalism does have its pros and cons but it’s safe to say that it has so far worked out fairly well. Still, we must keep in mind that federalism does affects our everyday lives and many times we take for granted that the individual in political parties will make the right decisions for the well-being of the public, though at times it is not always be the case. We must remember that for change to happen we must be involved and ready to learn and see and understand ways that we can make a difference, for at the end of the day it is our lives that are affected with every single decision that is made.
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.