American Federalism

Feven Goitom Professor P. Eaton POL110 U.S. Government Winter Quarter 2014 American Federalism Federalism is a system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and constituent political units, such as states or provinces. Thus, power is shared between national and provincial governments. Historically, the United States has had an evolving relationship between national government and states, with federalists advocating for a stronger central authority. Federalism has the virtue of retaining local pride, traditions and power, while allowing a central government that can handle common problems. The basic principle of American federalism is fixed in the Tenth Amendment (ratified in 1791) to the Constitution which states: The development of federalism in the American political system can be traced as the impact of how the nation became the United States. The nation with 50 states and a federal district became the United States of America following the gradual unification of independent state territories. Federalism and the federal system define the basic structure of American government. There were many disagreements at the constitutional convention. Many delegates feared a national government that was too strong and many delegates feared that state’ right would merely continue the weak form of government under the articles. The constitution created a federal system of government federalism as a compromise. Under federalism, power is shared and divided between national and state governments. Each has specific powers unto themselves while they also share certain powers. Bothe levels have their own agencies and officials and directly affect the people. The founding fathers really had no other choice except federalism. The weak union created under the article would not work yet people did not want to give all the power to a national government. Federalism was the middle ground compromise a way to distribute authority between the states and…