The Importance Of Federalism

When a case advances to the Supreme Court, the court asks a strange question: Is the law constitutional? The court is not overly concerned with the morality of the law. Admittedly, ethics are always a consideration, but when the time comes to make a ruling, the court bases its decision chiefly on Constitutionality. Amazingly, two hundred years after its conception, citizens of the United States remain fixated on the Constitution as the foundation of their society. And this happens on both sides of the aisle, on one side conservatives claim the second amendment provides them with a constitutional right to own an AK-47, while on the other, liberals argue that net neutrality protects their right to the freedom of speech. However, if the framers

Originally, after winning the Revolutionary War, the United States instituted the Articles of Confederation, which delegated most of the power to the states, only giving the federal government minor powers. However, without the ability to tax, among other weaknesses, the government was unable to do its job and the country quickly fell into a state of political and economic instability known as the ‘critical period’. Having experienced these problems, “[t]he framers understood that a strong and stable government was necessary…” That being said, many of the ‘founding generation’ were weary of giving the federal government too much power for two reasons: First, they found it “incompatible with the Declaration of Independence” . Additionally, Americans had just fought to break free of an oppressively strong national government – Why would they want to implement something similar? The original Constitution diffuses this worry by dividing power between the federal and state governments. This original division is where we get the original federal

While common belief dictates that direct democracy represents the most fair form of government, there exists a glaring weakness: majority rules. Now this would not be a problem if the majority always seeks the greatest good, but as Madison reminds us in Federalist 51, men are not angels. “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” According to Madison, human nature leads all social groups, even majorities, to act as factions because of their fidelity to their own self interests. For instance, what is to stop the majority faction from committing harm onto the minority for their own benefit? In this same way, a fifty-one percent majority could vote to enslave a forty-nine percent minority. However, Madison proposes solution to the problem of the ‘”majority tyranny”’ , which refrains from abolishing citizens’ liberty: “A republic… promises the cure for which we are speaking.” By breaking up legal power and placing it in the hands of many small factions, all attempting to better their own positions, the founders ensure representation for a far greater number of people. Because the United States (used in its original plural form) are so large and diverse when put together and represent so many people, a republic prevents any one faction from becoming oppressively