Federalism

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Recommended: Features of American federalism

Silvia Cohn Due 10/9/15 Polsci 110 Exam 1: C Federalism: “You can’t have your cake and eat it too” Federalism is essentially the system of government in which a constitution divides power between a central government and regional governments (Lowi, A48). It, by definition, does not necessarily favor dividing the power in a particular way that would give more power to either the states or the federal government. When first formed, the American central government was very weak. Though the Constitution strengthened it, the states still had most of the power. Over time more and more power has been given to the United States’ federal government. The revolutionary war was one fought against a strong central (though foreign) government …show more content…

Even the antifederalists recognized that “…a government without the power to raise money is one only in name.” (Brutus, No.5) A political group emerged in favor of a new constitution and wrote of their ideas in the federalist papers. The new constitution would strengthen the central government but allow for its power to be checked while protecting the rights of the people. These papers were written by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton and published in the late 1780’s at the same time as the anti-federalist papers published by a somewhat unknown “Brutus.” The federalists supported ratifying the new constitution while the antifederalists were mostly concerned with protecting the rights of the people and preventing the government from abusing power. A protection from abuse of power, established in the Constitution, is “the separation of power” which Madison writes about in Federalist Paper No. 51. Since the powers of the central government are separated into 3 branches, the executive, legislative, and judicial, no one branch can become too powerful without being checked by another. This protection is called “checks and balances.” In addition, the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution to protect the rights of the people, prevent governmental abuse, and to satisfy the antifederalists. Once both groups agreed, The Constitution was signed in

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