Federalism

6 Pages 1484 Words

After the Revolutionary War the United States of America was a new nation free of the power of the British King. The country’s leader wanted a government whose powers rested in the hands of the people and not the national government. They did not want to live in a country where one ruler dictated what the nation was going to do and how they were going to do it. They decided that a federal government based on federalism would be the government for their new country. Federalism is a two level, or more government that specific powers are specified in the constitution for each level. #
Federalism has been through changes since the Constitution of the United States was written in 1787. Our forefathers started this country on a dual federalism, in which the state and national governments have separate areas of authority. Under this type of federalism the national government had only the powers enumerated to them by the Constitution. The powers to coin money, regulate foreign and interstate commerce, establish a post office, declare war, and to spend the money necessary to promote the common good of the people of the United States were all stated in the Constitution.#
The State government’s powers were strictly written in the Constitution under the Tenth Amendment , which reserved all other powers “ to the states respectively or to the people.” These reserved powers written in the Constitution allow the States to have more powers on the general welfare of the citizens of this country. The States have the Power to administer the election process, conduct most court trials, operate the public school systems, and to maintain most of the public services in America. #

# Harrigan, John J. & Nice, David C. Politics and Policy in States and Communities. Eighth Edition.
Pearson and Longman, 2004.


# Keefe, William J. Parties, Politics, and Public Policy in America. Eighth Edition. Congressional
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