The major function of the federal government is to ensure that they allow some level of sovereignty to the states as they work towards centralizing the government affairs that affect the entire country. Federalism allows the state and the national government to have their means of handling politics. However, the federal government is given authority over issues such as ensuring national security, international relationships, war and foreign exchange and making of money (Hamilton et al., 2007). The state governments are given authority over issues such as education, traffic regulation and many more other factors that directly affect the citizens. Although the states might have independent from the federal government, they still are subject to its rule.
Supremacy Clause
In a country like the USA, the federal system has allowed for the division of responsibilities and authority between the state and national governments. This is apparently contained in the USA Constitution in Article VI (Supremacy Clause) that describes the US Constitution, federal treaties and laws as the only supreme laws that can govern the country (Vile,2006). In section 8 of the same article, it has granted the Congress enumerated powers. These capabilities allow the Congress to have the authority over a list of items that have been set forth by the Constitution. However, all the remaining powers belong to the state. Powers such as the concurrent are shared between the states and federal regimes. Concurrent powers comprises of powers to build roads, spend, tax and borrow money. This is because the state governments have their judicial systems that regulate property rights and even offer public education. The constitution also outlays other powers known as reserved "police powers." These powers give the states the authority to regulate and legislate laws that protect the safety, health, and morals of their citizens (Bardes et al,2009).
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Federalism Eras
Over the years, federalism has evolved in American history making the balance and boundaries between the state and national government to change substantially. In the twentieth century, the federal government's role expanded widely, and it is expected to continue growing as time goes. Some of the eras through which federalism has to evolve in the USA include;
Dual Federalism (1789–1945)
This type of federalism occurred during the initial 200 years of the US existence as a nation through to World War II. The constitution clearly outlines the existence of two types of governments; national and state. During this time, the federal government had control over foreign relations, national defense and economic growth whereas the state governments dealt with matters such as criminal law, local issues, and economic regulation. During this era, the different levels of responsibility rarely overlapped (Zinn, 2005).
The Civil War (1861–1868)
Federalism played a major role in the eruption of civil war in America (1861-1865). The Southerners would argue that the states had more authority when it came to making important decisions such as slave trade legality. During this era, the state governments had more power than the federal government since they had ratified the constitution that brought forth the existence of federal government. Following this, the southern wanted to opt out of the Union. However, the Northerners and Lincoln maintained that the Union had to be supported. And after the civil war, the federal government regained power over the States (Zinn, 2005).
Industrialization and Globalization (1865–1945)
In the late 19th and 20th century, the political environment in the USA took a turn. The national government was able to amass more power as a result of industrialization and globalization. As a result of industrialization, the economies of most states overwhelmed the state governments leaving the national government with the ability to handle the change. Globalization allowed the USA to become an economic giant allowing the federal government to assume a more economic role towards the business of the countries as it started trading abroad.
Cooperative Federalism (1945–1969)
This type of federalism allowed for the integration of the state and national government responsibilities. This made it very hard to determine which of the two had power over the other. The state government had the responsibility of undertaking some of the federal programs thus depending on the national government's funds for them to support their initiatives
New Federalism (1969–today)
After the 1970s, most scholars argued that the federal government had too much power that the state government. However, state governments have been able to gain some powers. Richard Nixon during his reign as president was a huge supporter of New Federalism (Bloch and Jackson, 2013). This was later followed by successive presidents who have worked towards returning some powers to the state and local governments. Supporters of New Federalism argue that it is the state and local governments who have the capabilities to understand what issues the people are going through and what they need. If Washington takes all the powers, it will not function effectively.
Proper Distribution of Powers
Despite the power between the federal, state, and local governments not being equally distributed, it does not indicate that the federal government should have the same federal powers equally to them. Powers that are centrally placed are more efficient when it comes to running the fifty states instead of having each state competing for its power. The reverting of powers to the states as per the constitution would not benefit democracy. Having an equally distributed power does not imply that the people will have more freedom nor rights. The state governments have themselves at times come up with unconstitutional laws and still have been able to get away with them. An example of such is the John Scopes’ case laws and segregationist laws of the 1950s (Burlingame, 2004). This is because each state has different communities thus they would make laws that favor the majority and leave the minority groups out of the equation. This is the primary reason why the national government should govern the entire nation as a whole and not distribute its powers evenly powers.
Conclusion
When it comes to "balance of power," most people think that the federal and state government should have equal authority. The United States Constitution has been able to clearly outline how the powers should be divided between the two entities. However, over the years, there has been a shift in the level of authority between the two entities with the state governments at some time being stronger than the national government. However, as time progressed, the federal government was able to gain control over the nation. There are still many people who feel the federal government should give more powers to the states as per the Articles of Confederation. This would, however, be catastrophic to the entire nation as each state will most likely focus on the majority individuals when formulating laws.
References
Bardes, B. A., Shelley, M. C., & Schmidt, S. W. (2009). American government and politics today: The essentials . Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth.
Bloch, S. L., & Jackson, V. C. (2013). Federalism: A reference guide to the United States Constitution . Santa Barbara, Calif. [u.a.: Praeger.
Burlingame, D. (2004). Philanthropy in America: A comprehensive historical encyclopedia . Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO.
Hamilton, A., Madison, J., & Jay, J. (2007). The Federalist papers . Filiquarian.
Vile, J. R. (2006). A companion to the United States Constitution and its amendments . Westport Conn.: Praeger.
Zinn, H. (2005). A people's history of the United States . New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
