The websites below examine the underlying ideas that form the ideal of federalism, including the ideals of liberty and republicanism (representative government). They examine political philosophies that converged into American federalism and provide commentaries about the meaning of this structure of government. Explore these websites and then write an essay on the relationship of federalism to liberty, and explain how federalism and liberty are relevant to contemporary policy issues. What is your opinion with respect to this topic? Explain fully.
There are three major systems of governments practiced in the world today. A federal government is one major system practiced in most countries that include the United States of America, Australia, Canada, and Brazil among other countries. Federal ism in the governance context implies the division of power and functions among and between state governments, also called federal governments, and the national government (Gerston, 2015). In a federal system, the national government wields substantial power, although the smaller political units or states also hold some power. In the American political context, there is the idea of constitutional limitations of power. There are both vertical and horizontal divisions of power to both governments. The national government holds power strong enough to enable it to perform certain important functions, but then again it has checks and balances so that they do not become an obstacle to the freedom and liberties of the citizens. Most importantly, federalism in the American setting convey expresses the nation’s respect for the individual , local, and regional diversity. These diverse backgrounds are varied but when respected have the consequence of rallying a nation to be united.
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Before federalism came into existence, the United States was a collection of smaller states under the British colonist’s unitary government. When the American Revolution began to take shape and the push for independence heightened, the United States became a confederation of states, a system that proved unsuccessful. In the advent to federalism in America, there was a push to have laws that would govern the people as opposed to being governed by men. During this period, most colonists had bought the idea of drafting laws that would limit the powers of men that ran the government. This push led to the drafting of several laws that took precedence from their European colonists.
Federalism has changed quite a bit since it was first implemented in the United States after the American Revolution of 1787. From then to date, two major types of federalism have dominated the political landscape of the American system. There have been dual federalism, a system that held the federal government and the other state governments as equals and autonomous units in the governing system. Then there has also been cooperative federalism that gave the national government superior powers over other states (Yackle, 2014). Though not completely dead, for the most part of its existence, dual federalism has been slowly bypassed by cooperative federalism, the system that works in the modern United States.
Regardless of the type of federalism in practice currently, the current constitution has given specific powers and functions to both state and federal government in the exercise of their mandates. Those powers are separated into three distinct categories as reserved powers; powers that have been specifically left for the states’ governments, and consist of the police and fire protection, licensing, and education amongst others. There is also granted powers that are expressly listed in Article 1, Section 8 of the US constitution. They include powers to make currencies and make treaties and wars with other nations amongst other functions. Lastly, are concurrent powers that are shared by both the state and the central governments at the same time. Among other functions, they give both governments the power to tax the citizens, maintain and construct roads, and general welfare (Bowman, & Kearney, 2017).
As stated earlier, federalism is a system of governance where state power is devolved to the lower units, also called states. Under this arrangement, the government is able to respond faster to the needs of its citizens as fast as could be possible. This also gives the citizens the liberty to enjoy service delivery resulting from the diffusion of sovereign authority to the regional or lower governments. Federalism as is exercised in different countries also shields the liberty of the citizens within a State by guaranteeing that laws enacted by the central government are not oppressive in nature and cannot directly control an individual’s actions.
Federalism and liberty are relevant in the contemporary policy issues that affect the lives of ordinary citizens on a daily basis. Federalism allows the modern citizen to get government services closer to them, those services that would have otherwise been provided by the central government (Diamond, 2017). The principle behind the establishment of the federal system of government was for individual liberty. It was argued that two competing centers of power can offer service delivery better than one centralized system. True to that principle, most services that are devolved to the state governments have been steadily delivered and the federal government only steps in to assist where there are failures or emergencies. As envisaged in the US constitution, service delivery is a function of government. be they security of an individual or the nation at large, healthcare, education, transport or emergency services. Whichever way they choose to deliver them, the ordinary citizen should be their customer who holds the final view on the subject. And yes, federalism has brought liberty to the ordinary American citizen as they enjoy faster and better services from either level of government that is concerned with such according to the constitution.
References
Bowman, A. O. M., & Kearney, R. C. (2017). State and local government . London: Nelson Education
Diamond, M. (2017). The federalist . In American Political Thought (pp. 125-144). New York NY: Routledge
Gerston, L. N. (2015). American federalism : A concise introduction .: New York NY: Routledge
Yackle, L. (2014). Competitive Federalism: Five Clarifying Questions. BUL Rev. , 94 , 1403.
