United States is one of the many countries that have initiated federalism as a form of government structure. This means that the central government shares its powers and responsibilities with the state governments that govern respective states. The US adopted this government structure in the 18th century but it has kept changing over the course of history (Beer, 1993, 25). This is because there have been conflicts between the state and the national government on various powers and prestige that each government enjoys. This paper seeks to examine the history behind federalism by looking at its influence in American politics and the relationship between the state and federal government on American policies.
It is important to understand how federalism has evolved from its origins to the American political system today. Given that power and responsibilities have to be shared between two parties, the state and federal government, there has been conflict between these two parties. According to the US history, the federalism system has shared its power and responsibilities in different ways (Sutton, 2002, p.16). First, the Dual Federalism was adapted by the US between the 1790s to 1930s (Beer, 1993, p.43). Dual federalism had strict separation of powers between the national and states government. This means that respective government had their responsibilities as outlined in the constitution. For example the federal government dealt with foreign policies and national defense whereas the state government was assigned local matters such as economic regulation, education, and police (Sutton, 2002, p.34). However, this came to change after the eruption of civil war in the US.
The civil war undermined dual federalism because the national government obligated all states to emancipate the slaves. The Southern state government felt that their rights had been obscured by the national government. This is because slavery was a local matter that the state governments were assigned to per the constitutional realm (Beer, 1993, p.65). Thus, the southerners rejected the national government ruling into releasing the slaves. This is one of the factors that sparked the civil war between the Northern states and the Southern states in that the national government had undermined the state government. In the long run, the southern states seceded into releasing slaves as ordered by the national government (Sutton, 2002, p.89). Another factor that undermined this form of federalism is the great depression where many people lost their jobs, which affected economic growth of the country. Again, the national government had to interfere with local banks in terms of ensuring that interest rates to borrow money were kept low in order to rebuild the economy (Sutton, 2002, p.93). These two factors show how the national government undermined the constitution by enacting policies that affected the state government. Due to these factors, the US adopted the cooperative federalism.
Secondly, cooperative federalism was adapted between 1930s and 1960s where the constitution outlined flexible relationships between the state and federal government. (Beer, 1993, p.97)This means that these two parties had to work together on various outlined policies and programs. One of the reasons that forced both governments to works together is the great depression (Beer, 1993, p.95). This event hurt the overall US economy and both governments had to find initiatives to improve the US economy. In addition, the state government had to work with the federal government in order to acquire funds (Lockard, 1999, p.102). The federal government funded the state governments as a way of improving respective economies in various states. For example, the state government used the funds to build state schools that would improve overall education standards. Cooperative federalism ended because the powers and responsibilities of both forms of governments overlapped (Beer, 1993, p.80). In addition, this form of federalism weakened the tenth clause in the US constitution. This tenth clause gave the federal government absolute power over all state government (Beer, 1993, p. 84). This ideology favors the democrats who believe that the federal government has to interfere in all policies and laws in the country. Thus, this form of federation may have ended as a result of political interests and that the federal government used state governments as puppets because their funds came in with political interests.
Thirdly, the new federalism that has been active since the 1970s to present where devolution has been enacted thereby, limiting the powers of the federal government (Lockard, 1999, 70). This means that the new federalism was enacted to give state governments their powers. This means that the constitution outlined various policies and programs that were assigned to state governments and federal governments. For example, today both the federal and the state government tax Americans as a way of generating funds for respective government programs (Lockard, 1999, 64). This means that the state governments do not have to rely on federal funding as they have the power to tax various goods and services to generate revenue. New federalism has given states concrete powers and responsibilities in driving various public programs (Lockard, 1999, 65). The main difference between cooperative and new federalism is that the federal government can give respective state governments funding but cannot command how these funds should be used. Though this is supposed to be the case, the democrats have undermined this form of system because they meddle in both public and private affairs.
Given the history of federalism, it is clear that state government may tend to overstep their boundaries without the interference of the federal government. Southern state governments did not want to emancipate the despite the national ruling of the federal government (Beer, 1993, p.54). In addition, states may not sustain themselves without the interference of federal government. This is evident in the fact that Detroit, MI is having a debt crisis. Thus, both the federal and the state government need to work together so as to improve the overall economic growth. One of the ways that both of these governments have worked together is through the welfare programs (Sutton, 2002, 124). The welfare programs are beneficial to the Americans who are unemployed or disabled. In addition, the program has helped in sustaining families that are affected by natural calamities or in cases of recession in the country. Another way that these two governments work together is ensuring free education in public schools (Sutton, 2002, 126). This has helped a number of students get education that shape their lives. Thus, these two governments can collectively work together to boosting the US economic growth while serving the American citizens.
In conclusion, it is clear that the American federalism has been dynamic over the years. The state government and the federal government have evolved over the years in terms of what policies and programs one is supposed to control and fund. Over the years, the federal government has been more dominant compared to the state governments. This is because federal government offer finances to the state governments. It is important to note that these federalisms have been affected by relative political systems, For example, the democrats prefer federal government meddling in state government affairs whereas the republicans prefer state governments to have more power relative to federal governments. This indicates that federalism has been dynamic due to political systems by the US.
References
Beer, Samuel H.. To make a nation: the rediscovery of American federalism. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1993. Print.
Lockard, Duane. American federalism. St. Louis: McGraw-Hill, 1999. Print.
Sutton, Robert P.. Federalism. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002. Print.
