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The Pros And Cons Of Federation In The United States

2144 Words9 Pages

What are the pros and cons of the US being a federation?

Introduction
In this paper the United States system will be analyzed, the pros and cons for the federation will be explained as well as what a federation is. Causes for the founding of the federation will also be described.

Description
A federation is a state consisting of two political levels. The power is divided between the individual state governments and the national, or federal government, and then divided into three branches within the national government, the judicial, executive and legislative branch to prevent [tyranny], or the act of power from one single person. The government structure within a federation is called federalism, which can be considered the opposite of a …show more content…

Dual federalism was the first type of federalism in the United States. The constitution consisted of two governments, the state, and the national government. The national government usually dealt with foreign politics, national defense and fostering commerce, while the state governments dealt with criminal law, local matters and economic regulations. Another word for the term is layer-cake federalism because the national governments and the states each have their own different areas of responsibilities, just like a layer cake. The dual federalism is based on the tenth amendment which states, quote “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, not prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the …show more content…

Holding a governmental entity to the citizens and responding to the needs of the citizens of a state is crucial to benefit the state. However, the federalism allows unity because the national government does have the power to make binding decisions in the national interest that supports the needs of all citizens.

The national government does not make all the decisions. The federal system allows state local governments to each make their own decisions that can represents the interest, the wishes and the desires of the citizens. The federalism allows diversity because governments can respond to local preferences and it also allows diversity because it allows states to conduct social experiments, the kind of policy invasions, new programs, new policies, and new procedures that are not adopted at the national level but can be tempted, tried and experimented with, the two keys are important for the nation.

Political
By dividing the power between the national and state governments, which is the most important aspect of federalism, you prevent tyranny and runaway power. The system was designed the way it was because of the importance of preventing this matter. A tyranny in the country would have disastrous

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In other words, Federalism is power not held by the people being split into two; that is the powers of the central and state governments. Some of the powers given to the central government were the ability to regulate trade, conduct foreign relations, declare war and to print and coin money which created the national currency (Document A). Meanwhile, some powers given to the state were ones such as the ability to hold elections, establish schools and pass marriage and divorce laws (Document A). This compound government instills a double-security for the people within the nation because this method works so that the central and state governments could check each other’s power while still being able to independently control itself. Federalism protects from tyranny by making sure that power isn’t only vested by the government, but also by the people of

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