Federalism: A Unique Feature of American Constitutionalism
There are three forms of government systems that countries choose to implement. Most of them are unitary governments, where most of the power resides in the central government. The second form includes a confederation, where the government is weak and power is in the hands of the individuals; the United States began as a confederation, but they are rare today. The third system that the United States implements is the federalist government, which is an organization of a nation where two or more levels of government have authority over the same land and people (Edwards, Wattenburg, and Lineberry 68). After realizing that the Articles of Confederation created too weak of a government, …show more content…
The Constitution carefully defined the powers that were to belong to the nation or state, and any powers that were not guaranteed to these two were guaranteed to the governed under the 10th amendment. Tension between national and state decreased as states became responsible for most public policies such as social, moral, and family issues. The Constitution does not give the national government the right to directly regulate the drinking age, marriage and divorce, or speed limits unless a case is filed in the federal courts to find it unconstitutional. On another note, several powers granted to the national government included coining money, regulating commerce among states, and the ability to declare war while the state government could establish local governments, conduct elections, and regulate commerce within its own state. Equal representation in the senate was made unamenable by Article V, which also made states responsible for both state and national elections. Furthermore, the Constitution created obligations for the national government to not usurp the powers of the states and to protect states against violence and invasion (Edwards, Wattenburg, and Lineberry …show more content…
In response to cooperative federalism, Jessica Bulman-Pozen’s article states that Congress does not grant states authority to execute federal law. More commonly, cooperative federalism played a significant role for the national government by empowering the states. The Congress calls upon the states to implement and regulate federal laws (472). This article explains how states check the federal executive in an era of expansive executive power. By inviting the states to carry out federal law, Congress shares in the tasks to better the nation. Cooperative federalism is shown here to play an impactful role by allowing the state and national government to play equal roles in ensuring the enforcement of newly implements federal
There are three forms of government systems that countries choose to implement. Most of them are unitary governments, where most of the power resides in the central government. The second form includes a confederation, where the government is weak and power is in the hands of the individuals; the United States began as a confederation, but they are rare today. The third system that the United States implements is the federalist government, which is an organization of a nation where two or more levels of government have authority over the same land and people (Edwards, Wattenburg, and Lineberry 68). After realizing that the Articles of Confederation created too weak of a government, …show more content…
The Constitution carefully defined the powers that were to belong to the nation or state, and any powers that were not guaranteed to these two were guaranteed to the governed under the 10th amendment. Tension between national and state decreased as states became responsible for most public policies such as social, moral, and family issues. The Constitution does not give the national government the right to directly regulate the drinking age, marriage and divorce, or speed limits unless a case is filed in the federal courts to find it unconstitutional. On another note, several powers granted to the national government included coining money, regulating commerce among states, and the ability to declare war while the state government could establish local governments, conduct elections, and regulate commerce within its own state. Equal representation in the senate was made unamenable by Article V, which also made states responsible for both state and national elections. Furthermore, the Constitution created obligations for the national government to not usurp the powers of the states and to protect states against violence and invasion (Edwards, Wattenburg, and Lineberry …show more content…
In response to cooperative federalism, Jessica Bulman-Pozen’s article states that Congress does not grant states authority to execute federal law. More commonly, cooperative federalism played a significant role for the national government by empowering the states. The Congress calls upon the states to implement and regulate federal laws (472). This article explains how states check the federal executive in an era of expansive executive power. By inviting the states to carry out federal law, Congress shares in the tasks to better the nation. Cooperative federalism is shown here to play an impactful role by allowing the state and national government to play equal roles in ensuring the enforcement of newly implements federal