State Vs Federal Government Essay

State versus Federal Government In the United States, there are two types of laws: state laws and federal laws. While many different states have different opinions on how their local governments should be run, they all follow federal laws. For example, in New York, you must be 21 years old if you want to buy cigarettes in Suffolk County. But in Onondaga, you only have to be 19. But that’s a state law only. The federal law on the other hand states that you must be at least 18 years old to purchase cigarettes. The states can decide for themselves if they want to raise this minimum, but the U.S. government doesn’t allow it to be any younger. The Federalists wanted the U.S. government to hold most of the legal power, while the Anti-Federalists argued that the states should have more power to decide what laws would be enforced throughout the country. In my opinion, I believe that the federal government should have more …show more content…
The states will look after their own interests before those of the rest of the country and that can conflict the safety and welfare of the nation. The federal government’s role instead makes sure that systems involving finances and businesses are regulated under one system. According to David Baron in his essay “Federalism,” on the pros and cons of federalism, he wrote:
…the federal system helps prevent factions from gaining too much control and causing tyranny of the majority. States are much more likely to be taken over by these factions, since they are much smaller and more homogeneous. This control by special interests occurs frequently and must often be broken up by the federal government. . . It is much easier for special interests to dominate in state politics than it is in federal politics, because many special-interests are related to industries that cover small parts of the country.