...the power to regulate interstate commerce is reserved for the federal government. Clarified the commerce clause Unitary system: central government has main power. Most national governments are unitary. Contrasts with federal system Block grants: federal grants given to states or communities to fund programs for community development and social services. Provide money for general programs rather than specifics. Conditions of aid: rules connected to grants states receive from federal government. States must follow the conditions to receive aid. Dual federalism: National and state governments have separate spheres. States can function without interference from federal government. Grants in aid: Federal grants given to states...
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...Abraham Lincoln, the democratic government is one “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” The factions (parties or interest groups) contribute to the democratic process in that they use the theory of pluralism, and unite through shared interest to influence public policy. Because of the wide spread of power in our democratic government, these factions are capable of causing change only through the influence of a branch of the government, or through the people. Through the lens of the elitist theory, it could be viewed that certain factions have more pull because of their...
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...United States is a complex and ever changing network of relations between National, State, and Local Governments. The National Government has expressed, implied, and inherent powers given to them through the Constitution. The State Government’s role in the Federal System is no less important than the role of the National Government given the fact that they have reserved powers that are not given to the National Government. The Local Government can regulate activities, collect taxes and provide services for their citizens. The National Government was given through the Constitution expressed, implied and inherent powers. Expressed powers is the power to raise and maintain armed forces to declare war and collect taxes. Implied powers are not expressly stated in the Constitution but are reasonable suggested. An example of implied powers would be it has prohibited racial discrimination in such places as restaurants, theatres, etc.. It is been more defined as necessary and proper laws. Inherent Powers belong to the National Government because it is the National Government of a sovereign state in the world community. Inherent powers are powers that were inherited over time. They have the power to regulate immigration. Theses powers exist only because the United States exist. The State Government has reserved powers which the Constitution does not grant to the National Government. States have the power to forbid persons under eighteen to marry or those under twenty-one to buy...
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...Federalism and limited government. The case set a sort of precedent about the powers that the National Government holds, stated or otherwise. The outcome of this case was justified because the state of Maryland (MD) had no right to tax instruments of the national government because it interferes with the execution of national powers. The main people involved in the case are James McCulloch, a cashier from the Baltimore Branch of the second National Bank, the state of Maryland, and Chief Justice John Marshall of the Supreme Court. The case originated in Baltimore, Maryland. The case began in 1816 when Congress established the second National Bank. The banks were found in each state and many of the states worried that a National Bank would compete with local banks. Many of the worried states believed that Congress's decisions to establish the National banks was an unconstitutional exercise of power. Additionally, the National Bank chains were issuing bank notes against Maryland law. As a result, the state of Maryland decided to impose a $15,000 tax on the Baltimore branch of the...
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...How has federalism evolved? Federalism is defined as state and federal governments sharing power meaning that the exercise of power is by at least two levels of government within the same country. In the case of the United States of America, power is shared between the national government and the subsidiary government. Federalism has been constantly changing especially through the twentieth century until the present day with power shifting between state and the national government. Such free-flowing shifts of power is often critically debated as some states may resist national policy that does not affect their citizens favourably. For example, people living in mountainous and extremely rural areas often blame the federal government for their economic woes as national economic policy is not flexible enough to cater for the great diversity across the country and so would prefer for more power to lie with the state. The argument against more state power however is the case of ensuring civil rights for all, as in the 1960s the national government introduced civil rights for blacks which was heavily resisted by the Southern states. A positive feature of federalism is that constant shifts allows more pragmatic policy making. If proposers of a policy feel it will not be accepted at state level it will be decided at a national level and similarly the opposers of a policy may prefer using state veto to prevent it being passed. This explains why throughout the twentieth century, federalism...
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...State and national government both had power and authority; which needed to be separated and distributed properly. The Articles of confederation obviously ended poorly by giving too much individual power to the states that interfered with each-other. So this is where the founders adopted Federalism. The founding fathers realized that by 1789 the Articles of Confederation was putting the new nation in critical danger. As a constitutional structure, the Articles served as a loose union between the different states and a centralized national government. Unfortunately, the states were so distrustful of a centralized authority, the national government was extremely limited in its capacity to govern. Although the national government could make war and negotiate treaties, it lacked the fundamental power to tax. Without the 'power of the purse' the national government was essentially held captive by the individual state governments. In addition, the powers the national government did have were...
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...constitution in 1787. We firmly believe that Articles of Confederation are not sufficient to manage this great new country of ours nationally. We believe that new form of government is needed contrary to the government as defined in Articles of Confederation. We Federalists believe that Articles of Confederation provide much powers to state governments and not sufficient to the National Government. National Government...
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...Federalism: National and State Sovereignty A. The Argument for Federalism 1. Protecting Liberty 2. Moderating the Power of Government 3. Strengthening the Union B. The Powers of the Nation 1. Enumerated Powers 2. Implied Powers C. The Powers of the States II. Federalism in Historical Perspective A. An Indestructible Union (1789–1865) 1. The Nationalist View: McCulloch v. Maryland 2. The States’ Rights View: The Dred Scott Decision B. Dual Federalism and Laissez-Faire Capitalism (1865–1937) 1. The Fourteenth Amendment and State Discretion 2. Judicial Protection of Business 3. National Authority Prevails C. Toward National Citizenship III. Federalism Today A. Interdependency and Intergovernmental Relations B. Government Revenues and Intergovernmental Relations 1. Fiscal Federalism 2. Categorical and Block Grants C. Devolution 1. The Republican Revolution 2. Devolution, Judicial Style IV. The Public’s Influence: Setting the Boundaries of Federal-State Power Chapter Summary ...
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...American Government Test 1 1. Explain the three basic principles upon which the US constitution is based? The three basic principles which the U.S. Constitution is based on are federalism, separation of powers, and checks and balances. Federalism, or the federal system, is a method to divide the power of government between a strong national government and each of the states, with the national power being the most powerful. Separation of powers is basically a method of splitting up the power of government among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Checks and balances is a framework that gives each of the three branches some ability to oversee and control what the other branches do. 2. What were the principle weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and what prompted the desire for change? The principle weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation were Congress not having specific power to tax, Congress not being allowed to regulate commerce among the states or with foreign nations, no provision for an executive branch or judicial system to handle the ongoing conflicts among the states, and its failure to provide for a strong, central government. Alexander Hamilton and George Washington saw the nation in such disrepair and were interested in land expansion and trade that they saw how much the country...
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...Government What are the main principles embodied in the U.S Constitution? Here are a few principles embodied in the U.S. Constitution Federalism “Federalism is a system for organization government that is based on a geographic division of power (Volkomer).” Basically the national government has authority over the entire territory and the regional government has authority within its own area. Separation of Powers Divided powers of the state and the national government were separated into three branches. The first three articles made this possible. First is the legislative branch. According to article 1 “all legislative Powers shall be vested in a Congress of the U.S” (Volkomer). The second is the executive branch. Article II states “executive Power shall be vested in a president of the U.S” (Volkomer). The Judicial is the last branch. Under Article III “the judicial Power of the U.S. shall be invested in one supreme Court.” Checks and Balances Checks and Balances is a system for organizing the government and power is shared by the legislative, executive, judicial branches. Its main purpose is to limit the power of government by making the 3 branches process the same power over each other activities. Judicial Review Judicial review means the court has the power to declare legislative and executive actions unconstitutional. The Supreme Court can review the legislative and executive and determine whether the acts are within the Constitution. Popular Sovereignty Popular...
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...States of America learned from Great Britain’s government and used what they had learned to create the government that the United States has today. After the Thirteen colonies broke away from Great Britain, they needed a plan of government so, they made a document entitled the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation worked like a constitution would and it worked very well until the framers of our now Constitution realized that The Articles of Confederation would never work to suit the needs of the new blossoming country. Upon this realization, they made a whole new plan of government called The Constitution which protected the people’s rights, set out the rules of the government, and most importantly protected all the citizens from an abusive government otherwise know as a tyrant....
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...Assignment 1: What Is Federalism? Strayer University U.S. Government – POL110 November 16, 2014 This paper will be a discussion about federalism and how it has evolved to the American political system that is currently in place today. Based on the concept of federalism, this paper will also describe how political behavior has been shaped throughout history. Lastly, it will describe how U.S. policies are influenced by the relationship between the states and the Federal government. Federalism is the division of authority between two or more governments. Many countries (roughly 25) follow this type of split government in order to provide checks and balances (aka “double security”) for the rights of the people. Federalism is very important because it prevents any one form of government from becoming too powerful. American Federalism is the division of authority between the national government and the states. The United States constitution defines the powers that each of these two governments has the right to enforce. The national government has the powers to print currency, declare war, establish military, manage international treaties, regulate national and international commerce, manage postal, and make laws to enforce the constitution. The state government has the power to establish local government, issue licenses, intrastate commerce, conduct elections, ratify amendments to the U.S. Constitution, public health/safety, exercise powers neither delegated to the national government...
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...The Constitutional Convention was an important event because it is what lead us to the government we have now. The different compromises are what lead to the methods that were used and still being used nowadays The Constitutional Convention was a meeting that took place in Philadelphia in 1787. The purpose of that meeting was to rewrite the Articles of Confederation. There were fifty five men who were delegates, their purpose was to have the federal government strengthen. The delegates did not think that rewriting the Articles of Confederation would actually work out. Eventually they wrote the U.S. Constitution. George Washington was chosen to lead the convention. All of the delegates had to agree that every state would get one vote. They did not want anyone to know about what was going on during the convention meetings. The delegates made sure to keep everything a secret, anyone who was not a delegate were not allowed to attend any meetings. We have no written documents because they kept everything a secret of what had occurred during the meetings. The only details we have today is from a notebook that belonged to James Madison. However, James Madison is known as the “Father of the Constitution.” He had also helped write the federalist papers. At the Constitutional Convention James Madison had done a very good job. When the delegates had to decided to write the “Bill of Rights” he was against it. James Madison was afraid that the future people would just go by those...
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...relations between the national and state governments. 2. Today, an effort is underway to reduce national gov’t powers, giving more strength to the states; this effort is known as devolution. 1. Some proposals give states block grants in which states get money that they can spend in any way they want—as long as it is within broad guidelines set by Congress. 3. Federalism is the political system in which local units of government and a national government make final decisions with respect to at least some governmental activities and whose existence is specially protected; both local and national forms of government have their own sovereign powers and some powers that overlap, thus making the two share authority. 1. The United States, Canada, Australia, India, Germany, and Switzerland have federal systems. 2. France, Great Britain, Italy, and Sweden have unitary systems in which the national government can abolish local governments at will and have the final say in all important gov’t matters. 3. Federalism works in practice due to the people; the USSR technically had a “federalist” gov’t, but in reality, the Kremlin controlled the “states.” 1. It takes the commitment of the people to support a slightly independent local gov’t and the same desire from the Congressmen to allow local governments to exist. 4. The national government, while owning sweeping powers, actually exercises...
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...Assignment 1: What Is Federalism? What is federalism? Federalism is a political system where all levels government including state and national government make final decisions on at least some governmental activities. The concept of federalism is a principle the United States has been built on since the beginning of time and has also evolved with time. The beginning the style of government started off as what is called dual federalism. This version of federalism was used and implemented after the civil war, the deemed that the national government was supreme in its sphere and the states were equally supreme in theirs and these spheres should be kept separate. This Federalism style was popular from the 1790s to about 1930. As time change so does the federalism type cooperative federalism was most popular from the 1930s to 1960. In the style the federal government and state government shared functions and collaborated on major national priorities, this was during the time of the Great Depression and different style of ferderalsim was birth to create cohesiveness between the national and state governments to help the country proper. Creative federalism, also known as "picket fence federalism," became popular during the period of 1960 to 1980. This relationship was characterized by overloaded cooperation and crosscutting regulations. During this time the federal government provided aid to the states using grants, categorical grants, to block grants to revenue sharing. A categorical...
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