Abstract
The Federation of the United States of America is one of the strongest and oldest of democracies in the world. The United States has a federal or dual form of government with representatives of the people working for them at both State and National level. The reasons for choosing such a form of government, its advantages and disadvantages are discussed in this article.
Keywords: Federal, Constitution, central government, state government
A federal government is defined as the one where the powers entitled to the government are divided amongst a centralized government and several local or state governments. The United States has a federal form of government, as the National Government has certain powers and the 50 states have different ones. The government was formed in 1789, making the United States one of the world's first, if not the first, modern national constitutional republic, although, the federal government powers have mostly grew since the U.S. Civil War.
The division of power was set down in the Constitution of the United States. The reason for adoption of a federal form of government is the basic aim of “checks and balances” between the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. Another important reason is that the central government may or may not be aware of the specificity of the requirements of particular states and may not always be able to form policies that can “please” all regions at the same time, hence the state governments are needed for better legislature and policy making. The federal system of government is definitely not the perfect one, hence it has certain advantages as well as disadvantages.
Its advantages are
- The nation is united under one governing body but state governments are responsible for handling local problems
- Officials and representatives selected by the people have to be more responsive
- Central government can focus more on national and international issues
- People get a chance to choose their representatives who can work for their betterment
Some of its disadvantages are
- Multiple levels and repetitions of services
- Citizens hailing from different states feel a difference in treatments both legally and executively in other states and are treated differently as well.
- Disagreements between rights of power to form policies between center and state
- It may occur that International laws passed by states may counter national policy at times
Conclusion
The founders of the United States wanted a government that would be “by the people, of the people and for the people”. A federal system of government was the best answer possible. The evidence lies in the long stood success of the democracy of the Federation of the United States of America.
