Words: 1220
The general intention of the Farmers seems clear – Federalism was a device to protect personal liberty. The Founders attempted to balance order with liberty, they identified several reasons for creating a federalist government which included avoid tyranny, allow more participation in politics and to use the states as test center for new ideas and programs. In their checks and balance federalism was to prevent a person from taking control of the federal governments even though they may/could take control of the State level.
The Civil War settled one part of the argument over national supremacy versus states’ rights. The wars outcome made it clear that the national government was supreme, its overseeing derived directly from the people, and the states could not lawfully separate from the union (Wilson, Dilution and Bose, 2014). What is Federalism? According to (Wilson, Dilution and Bose, 2014) Federalism is a political system in which ultimate authority is shared between a central government and sate or regional governments.
Federalism refers to a political system in which local territorial, regional, provincial, state, or municipal units of government, whose existence is specifically protected as well as a national government, make final decisions on some governmental activities. Each level of government has its own area of powers. No level acting alone can change the basic division of powers the constitution makes between them. Each level operates through its own agencies and acts directly on the people through its own officials and laws.
Federalism allows local and state governments to make laws about certain things and the national government to make laws about other things. Let’s say that the national government has made a law saying that everyone has the right to vote at age 18 and it is no different in any state. Conversely, he states have the power to determine the speed limit in their state and the national government has no say on what the speed limit should be in any of the states (Wilson, Dilution and Bose, 2014).
How Federalism Has Evolved At different points in time Federalism has evolved over the course of American history, the balance and boundaries between the national and state government have changed substantially. In the twentieth century, the role of the national government expanded dramatically, and it continues to expand in the twenty-first century. Under the New Federalism during the time frame f 1 969 to present, political leaders and scholars of the New Federalism school have argued that the national government has grown too powerful and that power should be given back to the states.
The national government remains extremely important, state governments have regained some power. Richard Nixon began supporting New Federalism during his presidency (1969-1974), and every president since Nixon has continued to support the return of some powers to state and local governments. Although political leaders disagree on the details, most support the general principle of giving rower to the states. For instance, the 1996 welfare reforms gave states the ability to spend federal dollars as they saw fit.
Supporters claim that local and state governments can be more effective because they understand the circumstances of the issue in their state. They argue that a one-size-fits-all program imposed by Washington cannot function as effectively. Another instance Americans often want a single seat of power for some tasks. Competing local and state governments can cause more problems than they solve, especially during emergencies. Remember the terrible hurricanes of 005 that led residents Of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama to demand a better, more unified national response. Ivied in Tennessee where we took on a lot of the residents from Mississippi and Alabama and also seen first-hand the slow response from state and federal level. We felt the devastation from the hurricanes (Separateness Editors, 2010). The Supreme Court has played a New Federalist role by siding with state governments and one of the most well-known case is the United States v. Lopez 1995, in which the Court ruled that Congress had overstepped its authority in creating gun-free school ones. More controversially, in 2000, the Court struck down parts of the Violence against Women Act 1994, for much the same reason as in the United States v.
Morrison. In other cases, the court has ruled that state governments cannot be sued for violating rights established by federal law. Overall, the Supreme Court in the sass reduced the power of the federal government in important ways, particularly in relation to the commerce clause (Separateness Editors, 2010). What Factors Shape Political Behaviors In the political culture no Americans think alike, you have conservative that ends to vote republican, some are liberal that tend to vote democratic, some have negative attitudes toward public officials than others.
Bottom line these attitudes determine how Americans participate, whom they vote for and what political parties they support. There are many factors including family, gender, religion, race and ethnicity, and region that contribute to American political attitudes and behavior. Let’s take a look at family, the Bush family shows that politics runs in the family, George Bush Sir. Was a Congressman, then President of the United States, George W. Bush was the Governor of Texas before being elected President in 2000, and EJB Bush is the Governor of Florida (statutory. Org). Gender-women have voted strongly in recent elections for Democratic. It is believed that women think the Democrats more so than Republicans strongly support women’s issues, on issues such as equal work, equal pay, and equal legal rights. Polls indicate that many issues about which women feel most strongly, such as education and health care, are more favorably addressed by the Democratic party (statutory. Org). Region-it appears that people on both sides of the coast tend to be more Democrat and the Midwest tends to vote Republicans.
The Republicans are voting strongly in the southern states giving the Democrats a competitive run for the presidential elections. When everything is said and done Americans are influenced by a wide range of factors when they cast their secret votes on Election Day (statutory. Org). Relationship between States and the U. S. Federal Government States’ rights have endured a debatable topic for more than 200 years. Americans are divided about which laws should be federal, and which should e reserved to the states.
The federal-state relationship has shifted more and more toward national supremacy. But some observers today believe that over the past twenty years, the balance of power is beginning to tilt back toward the States. According to the statutory. Org Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush tried to slow down the growth of the national government under the banner of “New Federalism. ” The Reagan administration’s budget and policies drastically altered the relationship between the federal government and the states.
For the first time in many ears federal aid to states declined, and Reagan pushed to consolidate qualified grants into block grants, which had few strings and much broader categories, such as education or highways. Richard Nixon also contributed significantly to the expansion of government and bureaucracy during his tenure in office (1969-1974). President Nixon instituted wage and price controls in 1971 and 1 973, showing that he was no believer in limited government or economic freedom.