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Constitution strengths and weaknesses
Federalism US Constitution
Federalism US Constitution
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Constitution strengths and weaknesses
Federalism US Constitution
Federalism US Constitution
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In the early years, after winning independence from Great Britain, the American colonies set up their government in accordance with their first constitution, the Articles of Confederation. This means that the majority of the power laid in the hands of the states and Congress, “the only institution of national authority” (Brinkley 151) at that time, had very little power. This distribution of authority was the manifestation of the American’s fear of a strong, central government. However, as time passed, more and more people came to agree that the national government was too weak and needed to be strengthened.
Assessment Question #1: In Letters from the Federal Farmer to the Republican, by Richard Lee, Lee declares that the states had more power so that they could prevent “usurpation [illegal grab of power, authority or sovereignty]”(746) from the national government. Before the Articles, the colonies were ruled by the British crown where the national government had all the power and its power did not have to be justified. At first, the articles appeared very attractive to the Framers because of this change in polarity- from extreme monarch to extreme state independence. However, years after the system took off, the framers realized that this system of government was not working because the national government had very little, if any, power.
It is 1787, and the Framers of the Constitution have a daunting decision to make. The United States of America is a free nation, but a new system of government needs to be established. The first attempt has already failed; the Articles of Confederation has proven to be too weak to govern the nation and deal with its problems. This new government should be strong enough to rule over all the States while allowing each of the States to maintain sovereignty. Eventually, the Framers decide on a federal government, which divides power between the central government and regional governments.
Shaylee Olney, We the People, Unit Two, Question 1 In the book, A More Perfect Union, author William Peters stated, “A major goal of the drafters of these state constitutions was to create governments so structured that the power of those entrusted with governing might never encroach on the liberty of the governed.” There is a challenge in both empowering and limiting the government. Although a strong government is necessary, a line needs to be drawn for the powers they have, which have been laid out in our Constitution over time. Both the government and the governed need to be in check.
Having a strong government in fact would limit the state power. I personally believe the constitution is the perfect balance between liberty and power. This can be seen with the checks and balances system that we have lived by
One outside source that exemplifies and explains these powers is the annotated constitution provided by the federal government. The website starts by citing the part of the constitution it was taken from, and explains the purpose behind it. “The principle, that it can exercise only the powers granted to it, would seem too apparent. That principle is now universally admitted.” The choice to list the enumerated powers divided amongst the federal and state governments prevents one group from gaining more power.
“The accumulation of all powers..in the same hands, whether of one or many (is) the very definition of tyranny.” (James Madison, Federalist Paper #47, 1788) ( Background Essay) This quote explains the reasoning for one of the framers, (B) Separation of Powers. The framers of the constitution were created to prevent tyranny and create a stronger government that would hold the nation together. Tyranny ultimately means harsh, absolute power in the hands of one individual-- like a king or dictator. The constitution guarded against tyranny in 4 ways: (A)Federalism, (B)Separation of Powers, (C)Checks & Balances, and (D)Small State-Large State.
a. The author in the first test excerpt expresses concern for limiting federal power because he is concerned that there won't be the development of an organization that would monitor the goals of the individual state governments. The author expresses this concern because the individual state governments would gain access to more power with the decrease in power of the federal government. b. The author within the second excerpt expresses support for limiting federal power because he believes that all the power the federal government holds is taking too much power away from local and federal governments. The author supports the idea of dividing the federal government into three separate co-equal orders because he believed the federal government
Read this excerpt from James Madison's Federalist No. 45 and answer the questions. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State. The operations of the federal government will be most extensive and important in times of war and danger; those of the State governments, in times of peace and security. As the former periods will probably bear a small proportion to the latter, the State governments will here enjoy another advantage over the federal government.
The powers given to the states include: setting up local governments, establishing schools, holding elections, passing marriage and divorce laws, and regulating in state business. Federalism gives the states and the central government equal power to guard against tyranny. Another reason why it guards against tyranny is separation of power.
2. The central government was designed to be very, very weak. The Articles established “the United States of America” as a perpetual union formed to defend the states as a group, but it provided few central powers beyond that. But it didn’t have an executive official or judicial
I believe the framers view of our system of checks and balances between state and federal governments would take on different opinions. The original style of government that our founders wanted the government to use was a traditional system, where the federal and state government had powers to operate but had a clear line between each other’s authority. Today, they may view us as having a stronger federal government than what the original system intended with the lines between the federal and state government blurred. I feel that there are advantages and disadvantages to our system. One advantage would be the federal government’s ability of regulation and implementation of laws and policies.
Due to precautions put in place to prevent them from interfering, the Federal Government can only exert a certain amount of authority in a court of law. In most cases, the first consideration is whether something exceeds the stated powers of the national government rather than whether it infringes on someone's
This country was founded with the attempt to separate the federal government and the state government, known as federalism. The goal of federalism is to divide the power of state and federal governments, protect the rights of the state, and prevent tyranny of the majority. Throughout the years, federalism turned into dual federalism where the state and federal government were completely independent of each other and only shared a dependency on the Constitution. The united states suppressing now to cooperative federalism, the national government has assumed even more power, overruling the states with Supreme Court decisions and actions, and executive Orders. Furthermore, the Federal government should grant their state governments more power, due to the connection the state governments hold with their local people.
Not only is there a federal government, but there are also state and local governments. Furthermore, there are forms of government that function on a higher basis than local governments, but on a lower basis than state governments. Although the federal government has overall control on how the country functions, the other forms of government have a considerable impact on the laws of each area. All states have varying laws that lie along the same lines. For instance, the age to get a Driver’s license is not the same from state to state, but they are around the same age.