Federalism

Federalism

Federalism is a type of government system which distributes powers across at least two political units. From the perspective of the U. S, power is distributed by their constitution between the federal and state governments, and each has some independent authority and power(William et al. 2010). Unitary and confederalsystems are the types of government systemsthat are used internationally.  According to William et al. (2010), the unitary government is a system in which the national government has authority over a state. Most governments across the world have this type of authority. On the other side, confederal is a type of government where the federal have powers to control a limited centralized government.  Under the article of confederation, this type of government was first used in the United States. However, unitary are common than federalism because federalism is associated with frequent disagreements, especially on the division of state powers.

The U.S constitution has quite a lot of rules that are used to distribute powers and direct the operations of U.S. federal government and state governments. Some of the provisions outline the role of the national and state governments, while others pose some restrictions.In the American constitution under Article 1, section 8, it defines the enumerated powers where the national government has authority (The Texas Constitution). First, the national government is responsible for providing the general welfare of the public through taxation, borrowing of money, regulating interstate and foreign business, and protecting property rights. It also has responsibilities of providing common defense to the people, and it has powers to raise and support armies as well as declaring war.

Additionally, it fosters national unity and integration, both national and international. All these powers and responsibilities show the jurisdictional areas where the national government has authority.Although the state government also shares much of the powers given to the national government. They include; taxation power, state spending, and borrowing of money. According to the Texas Constitution, the Tenth Amendment of the American constitution outlined expansive authorities and powers of the state government. The state government has the authority to control the operations of its judicial systems, providing public services to its people like education, health care, safety, and security. They are also entitled to regulating property rights, charter corporations, controlling state laws like criminal laws, laws on environmental protection, zoning laws as well as blue laws; in most cases, they are referred to as reserved powers..

One of the reasons why federalism was formed was that it helps in protecting the state against tyranny(Dietze2019). It distributes powers into (three functional branches); thus, it does not encourage centralization of power. The system also encourages citizen participation with the government in making laws and other responsibilities. It is more efficient and promotes the power of innovation in laws and policies through numerous states. Despite the above advantages, federalism also has some limitations where it supports the aspect of inequality between states. The states can block policies and laws from the national government. According to Dietze(2019), federalism is associated with some negativities such as “racing to the bottom,” where states reduce taxation on business so that they can attract more investors from other states. One issue in American politics that is impacted by federalism is the legalization of marijuana. For instance, in Washington and the state of Colorado, marijuana is legalized but subjected to regulations from the state. But the federal law prohibits it through the administration of President Donald Trump, which has not enacted the federal laws on drugs in the two states. Still, the action on enforcing laws on drugs can be imposed at any time.

References

The Texas Constitution.Article on: Federalism: A Division of Power. Retrieved from:https://dlc.dcccd.edu/txgov1-2/federalism-a-division-of-power

Dietze, G. (2019). The Federalist: a classic on federalism and free government. JHU Press.

Stepan, A. C. (1999). Federalism and Democracy: Beyond the US model. Journal of Democracy, 10(4), 19-34.

William T. Bianco, David T. Canon, (2010). Federalism. Retrieved from: https://wwnorton.com/college/polisci/american-politics-today2/full/ch/03/outline.aspx