Examples Of Federalism In America

Federalism in America When most think of the government, they picture the central federal government dictating laws and regulations. While this is true to an extent, it is more complex than that. The power of creating laws that affect one’s life is shared by national, state, and local entities. This sharing of power is called federalism. The United States practice of federalism dates back to the Articles of Confederation. Following the Revolutionary War, the Articles gave almost all power to the states, leaving a very weak central government. This created numerous problems for the young nation. Disagreements over taxation, interstate trade, and numerous other issues set the stage for a new government that shared power between all levels

The federal government has a steady and reliable revenue stream due to federalism. Dual sovereignty is also a stronghold of federalism. While the national government can govern states, the individual states also have the right to govern what they feel works best for them. The leaders of a state generally know what is best and most beneficial for their state. For example, California needs very different laws than Wyoming due to the different in population size, geographic location, diversity of people, etc. Federalism also allows states to experiment laws for the national level. One instance is when Colorado passed a bill allowing the recreational use of marijuana. This can act as a test to observe what would happen if a similar bill was passed on the national level. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has even stated that she wants to wait and see the long-term effects in Colorado and other states before acting on a national level. Here in Kansas, Brownback implemented his controversial tax policy. When introduced, he called it a “real live experiment”. These state-level experiments can cause a state to benefit or suffer. This allows other states and the national government to look at the states and decide what path is the best to