What Is Federalism Examples How Federalism Has Evolved From Its Origins To The American Political System - Essay Example

What Federalism Is Provide three (3) examples of how federalism has evolved from its origins to the American political system in place today. Prior to understanding the evolution of federalism, it is quite essential to ponder on the grounds by which it came into being from the time when the states of America became united. After the War on Independence was triumphantly fought and the Declaration of Independence was signed and delivered in speech, the Articles of Confederation were ratified with the principal objective of forming a league out of sovereign states. The nation, however, observed and felt a great deal of inadequacies in the Articles of Confederation that it sought to nullify the latter and instead, draft a new Constitution that would make possible the existence of a federal government whose set of formal authorities ought to be shared within a setting that consists of a national government and a state government. While this system of governance is well identified with the principle of federalism, the governmental structure at the time was not bound to be the same over the course of U.S. history. Eventually, such federalism would be subject to undergo phases of development that had led to the current political weather of the American society and economy as a whole. As one instance of evolution, back in the span between 1789 and 1901, the original state of federalism turned into what had become known as ‘dual federalism’ whereby the states and their people fervently agreed on granting the central government a limited range of explicitly enumerated powers. Hence, rather than considering the capacity of both governments to exercise responsibilities in equivalent amounts upon the same region and population, the federal system in this case ran in conflict with itself and was divided in the sense that one government was primarily concerned with the resolution of suppressing the expansion of the other in terms of the scope of its control (Pearson). By the second phase of evolution, occurring around 1901 to 1960, ‘cooperative federalism’ emerged and at this point, the working theme of decentralization enabled ample extent of cooperation and collaboration among different levels of the federal government. This period marked a significant development from the older structure since, unlike dual federalism, cooperative federalism had been capable of promoting a kind of federalism that could nurture accomplishments brought about by the presence of harmonious relationship and communication between the governing bodies. Former attempts to restrict allocation of powers were replaced by political attitudes that exhibited willingness to complete a fair share of tasks or duties and to recognize each other’s rights within the federal system. Through this phase, federalism managed to have remedied in part socio-economic problems through the authorization of the national income tax which further addressed the need to sustain the grant-in-aid system (Greene). Out of the cooperative federalism evolved yet another form called ‘contemporary federalism’ which took effect from 1970 until 1997. This phase was found to bear unpleasant inconsistencies in the federal governance due to issues on federal regulations, increasing lack of funds for federal mandates, and especially worsening disputes over matters that involved determination of the nature and substance of federalism. Apparently, as exemplified in the phases that depict the manner by which federalism evolved, no one form or structure seemed to have stabilized the American federal system which to this day remains a controversial open-ended subject of arguments. (2) Examine three to five (3-5) factors that have allowed the concept of federalism to shape American political behavior. I -- The desire for the process of unification to respond to the unsettled concerns of those who had been declared free by virtue of independence from the British rule: Even after the Declaration of Independence, the American citizenry remained politically unstable with matters involving rights and liberties respectively of the people of color, of women, and of the people belonging to the minor groups whose race or religion was discriminated. Federalism then was perceived as a hope to stabilize the political system that would emancipate the blacks from their inferior status and prevailing slavery, grant suffrage to women, and help the rest of the nation obtain order and relief once the states had been unified. II -- The general socio-economic conditions in the U.S.: At the time, Americans also struggled to raise their standards of living and thought perhaps any adjustments rendered to the structure of government would help remedy the economy. Thus, under a federal system, it was assumed that the supplement and equivalent control of state governance would provide more strength and stability for the central government to act at the height of its potentials so as to resolve the nation’s crisis in reference to losses incurred via social and economic affairs. III -- The uniqueness of each state and its corresponding needs: Since the federal system of governance was originally aimed to establish a government of the state in conjunction to the government of the entire nation, federalism was then viewed as something that would materialize the possibility of serving individual states according to specific needs which the national government might fall short of fulfilling through a general service. Recognizing the truth that the nature of constituents of a particular state differs from those of others in terms of culture, economy, and socio-political functions, federalism was assumed to bear the capacity of allowing different levels of government to employ various aspects of leadership conducive for shaping the policy-making process as well as refining the type or brand of service given to state regions. (3) Discuss at least two (2) factors that illustrate how the relationship between the states and the U.S. federal government influences the creation of American policies overall. For one, the complexities of grounds or situations occurring in either state or national affairs upon which policies are made and regulated account for a factor which determines how the interaction between the states and the U.S. federal government must proceed. Though state and federal laws communicate in several ways and possess similar statues, acknowledging the fact that state laws encompass more peculiar issues to handle, by the principle of pre-emption, however, any direct conflict that may arise in the relations between state and federal laws would in the end be brought to resolution under federal terms since the state rule is governed by the federal rule regardless of the policy in question. Moreover, the distinction between the powers held by the national government and those comprised in the administration of state may be considered as another factor which affects the formulation of U.S. policies through such Constitution-based collaboration. Works Cited Pearson. “Chapter 3: Federalism.” 2013. Web. 19 July 2013. http://wps.ablongman.com/long_edwards_ga_12/33/8514/2179775.cw/. Greene. “The History of American Federalism – An Overview.” 2013. Web. 19 July 2013. http://www.cas.umt.edu/polsci/faculty/greene/federalismhistory.htm. SparkNotes. “Federalism.” SparkNotes LLC. 2013. Web. 21 July 2013. http://www.sparknotes.com/us-government-and-politics/american-government/federalism/section1.rhtml. Read More