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What is Federalism? As a country that is more than 200 years old, the United States of America has become known as the cornerstone of democracy within the world today. When the forefathers of the country came together to create what would become the democratic government today, they instilled a number of political values that are still functioning today. Federalism is one of these ideas. While it has its roots in Colonial America and beyond, it still has a place and can be seen in this country in 2014. The Cornell University School of Law defines Federalism in the following way: “Federalism is a system of government in which the same territory is controlled by two levels of government” (Cornell, 2014). In basic terms this means that the country's government is broken up into parts that handle various levels of concern. For example, the United States of America has developed a government that functions on the local, state and federal level. Since the layout of the government is broken into these three sections, then American can be considered an example of a country that is run by Federalist principles. With that in mind, there are a number of examples of how this ideal, which can be considered dated, is still functioning within the world today. The development of a federalist type of government allows the national level to deal with issues of national concern, while the states tend to deal with issues within their own borders. “The U.S. Constitution grants the federal government with power over issues of national concern, while the state governments, generally have jurisdiction over issues of domestic concern” (Cornell, 2014). What this means is the National level of the US Government has the ability to do such things as declare war, levy taxes and mint money. On the other hand, states have the powers that are not provided to the highest level of government.

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