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#Relationship between the federal government and domestic policy
The government of the United States is established on the principle of federalization, in which power is allocated between the federal (national) government and the state governments (domestic power). This type of power- sharing is the opposite of “centralized” governments, such as those in UK, Germany and France, under which the national governments sustain the full power over the country.
While the Federal government is responsible mainly for the foreign affairs of the country (e.g. conduct foreign trade and relationships, declare wars), the state government is in charge of the domestic affairs of the country (e.g. public health and safety management, education).
The Federal government of the U.S. represents the constitutional republic of fifty states, one capital district and several other territories. It has three branches, namely: legislative, executive and judicial (powered by the president and the federal courts).
The legislative branch is powered by the U.S. constitution and is in charge of establishing legislative or law making branch of government. The Congress has two branches, namely, the Senate & the House of Representatives and the agencies that support the Congress.
The executive branch is powered by the U.S. Congress and is responsible for the enforcement of law within the states. This task is carried by the united forces of the president, vice president, department heads and independent agencies.
The judicial branch is powered by the president and the federal courts. It is in charge of deciding the arguments about the meaning and application of laws. It also agrees on if laws violate the Constitution (known as judicial review) by checking how federal courts deliver checks and balances on the legislative and executive branches.
Domestic power (state government) is a government of a country subdivision in a form of federal government with which it shares power. A state government might have some level of political autonomy, or be directly controlled from the federal government.
Similar to the functions of the Federal Government, Domestic policy is a form of public policy which involves laws, government programs and administrative decisions, all directly related to the issues and activities of a nation in the country. It also represents power into three different branches (legislative, executive and judicial). Though, it is focused on the internal affairs of the country and cannot make laws that are in conflict to the laws of the Federal government and national Constitution which create the national laws. Thus, the national constitution is “the supreme law of the land”. While the federal government is ruled by the president, each state elects a governor.
Domestic policy includes many areas, such as business, health care, education, money and taxes, human rights and freedom, health care and others. In this context, the decision of the domestic policy politics usually reflects the nation’s history and experience, its social and economic situation, the priorities of its people and the structure of its government.
Domestic policy is a debated subject of argumentations among people with different backgrounds and beliefs. For example, conservative people will most likely emphasize order, security and traditional values in the domestic policy. Controversially, liberal people will focus on equality and government efforts to help the disadvantaged people.
The relationship between federal government and domestic policy is that they share many powers such as the creation and implementation of laws, collecting taxes, borrowing money, building highways and others. Most importantly, both act directly upon the people through their officials and laws.
In fact, for more than 200 years, the relationship between federal government and domestic policy has moved more and more towards national authority. Thus, many politicians such as Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George Bush have tried to tilt back the growth of the national government under the sign of the “New Federalism”.
Richard Nixon tries to reverse the stream of power of the federal government back to the states. Later on, Ronal Regan claims that by trying to improve society, the federal government is actually taking away the freedom of the individuals. The relationship and duties of the federal government and the States power change drastically under the financial plans of Regan’s management. The support from the Government to the local authorities’ decreases and the decisions about broad issues such as the educational system, healthcare and infrastructure becomes more local and highly dependent on State’s investments instead on the Government’s support. The higher expenses of the individual States make many people criticize Reagan about the higher debt of the States- a result that is in contradiction with his initial idea of increasing the budget of the local authorities.
Then, when the Republicans take over the power, they attempt to return many functions to the states and take control of the Congress.
Nowadays, the balance between federal (national) and domestic (state) powers is of great importance. A current topic of debates amongst US citizens is which tasks should be taken on a higher, national level and which should be independently split into the different States.
Should each State decides independently whether or not to legalize marijuana as a medical treatment, or is this a generally important decision that needs to be taken on a more global level?
Should the decision about accepting flat tax be based on local priorities, or should the federal government set a uniform policy? These and many other questions are part of debates regarding the power of federal vs. local authorities and the relationship between the two.
Works cited
Longley, R. (2011). Federalism: National vs. State Government. Available: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/rightsandfreedoms/a/federalism.htm. Last accessed 21st Jul 2013.
US federal government. (2011). Branches of government. Available: http://bensguide.gpo.gov/9-12/government/branches.html. Last accessed 21st Jul 2013.
Ushistory.org. (2013). Federal-State Relations Today: Back to States' Rights?. Available: http://www.ushistory.org/gov/3c.asp. Last accessed 21st Jul 2013.
