ipl-logo

American Government And Politics: Deliberation, Democracy, And Citizenship

704 Words3 Pages

In American Government and Politics: Deliberation, Democracy, and Citizenship, Professors Joseph Bessette and John Pitney describe a federal system of government as “a political system in which a national government shares powers with states or provinces. Each level has definite powers and may act directly on individuals within its jurisdiction.” This new form of government was a fabrication of the founding generation. It originated from both the fear of unitary government and the disappointment in the confederal system created by the Articles of Confederation, and thus it demanded a certain balance when granting power to the different spheres of government. The founding generation gave the federal government far more power than it had under the Articles of Confederation. Now, the federal government maintained enumerated and granted powers: Congress was now allowed to coin money, raise and army, and tax …show more content…

Though the reserved powers supposedly gave the states the responsibility to deal with everything not given to the federal government, the federal government had also gained powers that the framers implicitly gifted it. The Marshall Court believed that the ‘Necessary and Proper Clause’, or the part of the Constitution which “empowers the Congress to make all laws ‘necessary and proper ‘ in order to carry out the federal government’s duties” enabled the federal government to claim these powers. This was the balancing act of Federalism, the national government had to be given enough power to be effective but not too much to be

Show More
Related

  • Mcculloch Vs. Maryland 1819: Enumerated Powers Of The National Government

    904 Words  | 4 Pages

    After the failure of the articles of confederation, due to various problems of having a limited national government, the national government sought to write up a new basis for government. The writers of the constitution expanded the strength of the national government, giving them various enumerated powers, to make the national government have more authority over the states to impose order. In addition to the enumerated powers of congress, to avoid limiting the national government to what is in the constitution, Article 1 of the constitution also includes the “necessary and proper” clause which gives congress the ability “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing [enumerated] powers” (Article

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Confederation Model Of Compromise

    276 Words  | 2 Pages

    And the Constitution heavily regarded federalism: The federal and states governments’ roles Were finally delineated in order to limit The power of government,

    Read More

  • The Constitutional Convention: The Three-Fifths Compromise

    1152 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the early years, after winning independence from Great Britain, the American colonies set up their government in accordance with their first constitution, the Articles of Confederation. This means that the majority of the power laid in the hands of the states and Congress, “the only institution of national authority” (Brinkley 151) at that time, had very little power. This distribution of authority was the manifestation of the American’s fear of a strong, central government. However, as time passed, more and more people came to agree that the national government was too weak and needed to be strengthened.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of The Articles Of Confederation

    784 Words  | 4 Pages

    It is 1787, and the Framers of the Constitution have a daunting decision to make. The United States of America is a free nation, but a new system of government needs to be established. The first attempt has already failed; the Articles of Confederation has proven to be too weak to govern the nation and deal with its problems. This new government should be strong enough to rule over all the States while allowing each of the States to maintain sovereignty. Eventually, the Framers decide on a federal government, which divides power between the central government and regional governments.

    Read More

  • What Are The Framers Concept Of Separation Of Power

    1438 Words  | 6 Pages

    By instituting a system that distributes it’s power as fairly and equally as possible, the Framers sought to not only protect this nation from tyranny but to preserve it’s liberties. With the Articles of Confederation too weak to support this country, the Framers knew that this country was in desperate need of a change. Therefore, the Framers fashioned a more balanced structure of government through the doctrine of separation of powers. The division of the three branches of government and the federal and state powers finally created a dynamic of government that would prove to be effective and enduring. But, the Framers did not come to this solution alone, they utilized the various theories of political philosophers such as John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu.

    Read More

  • Why Was Thomas Jefferson Unhappy With The Distribution Of Power Today

    698 Words  | 3 Pages

    The new Federalism was a system of government which divided power between the federal government and various state governments (answer.com, Pg.2). The Constitution gave certain powers to the federal government, other powers to the state governments and yet other powers to both (xxx, xxxx). In other words, the federal and state governments cooperated with each other, but the federal government was always first in maintaining a strong and balanced America. Federalism promoted big government with paper money, national banks, managed taxes, and the power to make treaties, declare war or raise and support armies (Textbook pg.

    Read More

  • Cooperative Federalism In The 1970's

    468 Words  | 2 Pages

    The United States has undergone a major shift in federalism since the founding in 1789. Dual federalism was the norm from 1789 until the 1930’s. Under this system of federalism the areas of responsibilities that the National government and State government had were demarcated very distinctly. Most areas in citizen’s everyday lives were in fact regulated by the state and local governments. While the national government had responsibilities that were mostly concern with national commerce.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of The Articles Of Confederation

    1203 Words  | 5 Pages

    “Nothing is more certain than the indispensable necessity of government, and it is equally undeniable, that whenever and however it is instituted, the people must cede to it some of their natural rights in order to vest it with requisite powers.” ( Federalists No. 2). As a fairly new country we are quick to abolish beliefs and ideals we create; the Articles of confederation has spawned a weak and tenderfoot government. As a lawyer with a beautiful family living in Pennsylvania, the governmental system at this moment is not granted the strength needed to refine, direct, and protect our rights and liberties. The weakness of the Articles of Confederation are showcased through: the lack of power to tax or regulate trade, an army to enforce rules,

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Articles Of Confederation

    729 Words  | 3 Pages

    Each state that originally operated individually in governmental terms now had the right to speak for themselves in a Continental Congressional setting, which rather than having a president operated with representatives from each state, in which each had an equal voice in the country’s actions such as military actions, foreign affairs, and political motives. The Articles of Confederation possessed many of the governmental powers and limited much of the state’s previously owned rights, although the state’s governments did not become completely powerless. While the Continental Congress became possessive of many governmental powers, the states still individually possessed the rights to levy taxes, draft state military soldiers, and regulate trade within their own state. Although many states, as it would seem, would come to abuse these powers. In this sense, the Articles of Confederation did favor the individual rights of each state by granting rights for their possession apart from the central government’s

    Read More

  • America's Disagreeing With The Articles Of Confederation

    266 Words  | 2 Pages

    While some Americans thought the Articles of Confederation was good since it waged in a successful war for independence, many Americans concluded that under the Articles of Confederation, there were many issues formed such as providing limited central government, developing many economic problems, and foreign powers. “The framers of the Articles of Confederation kept in mind their complaint against Britain. Parliament had passed laws the colonists considered unfair. The new states did not want to risk giving too much power to a central government far from the people”(Pearson, 206). This shows how the Articles provided a limited central government that lead many Americans to disagree with the Articles of Confederation.

    Read More

  • The Articles Of Confederation Was Ratified In 1787

    949 Words  | 4 Pages

    Naturally, they had tried to avoid the problems they had with the Articles of Confederation and so they structured the Constitution differently. Instead of letting state governments to have all the power while the national government was left to be weak, the Constitution tried to balance it out and worked more as a federalist system. Now the national government was finally able to establish an executive branch, along with a judicial branch. The power to tax and regulate interstate commerce were given the national government this time (Module 2.2). The Article VI had allowed national government to have jurisdiction over states in that “national laws and treaties “shall be the supreme Law of the Land” and superior to all laws adopted by any state or any subdivision.”

    Read More

  • Why Did The United States Come Up With The Federal System Of Government

    586 Words  | 3 Pages

    It was very essential for the united states of America to come up with the federal system of government. There were a number of reasons for this effect, among which included fear for the power centralization in the American political system. Also, this kind of government was considered appropriate because of the size of the united states as a country. Alexander, & Alexander, (2005) argue that federal governments are usually proper in large countries like the united states because there are very many people and a diverse group of individuals. As such, these groups of people may also have needs that are diverse which could as well mean a common culture that put them together.

    Read More

  • Federalist Compromises

    546 Words  | 3 Pages

    It was decided that the new legislature would not be aloud to tax exports and that no ore the ten dollars per individual per slave (Brinkley, 2012). James Madison played a very important role on authority of the federal government and state government. Madison’s idea was that ere would be no true sovereign and that the ultimate power would come from the people (Brinkley, 2012). The federal government was given broad powers which consisted of the power to tax, regulate commerce, control currency and to create approbate laws (Brinkley, 2012). The power of the states were much more specific such as collection of taxes, how money is spent within the state, as well as the enforcement of laws.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Federalism

    1823 Words  | 8 Pages

    This country was founded with the attempt to separate the federal government and the state government, known as federalism. The goal of federalism is to divide the power of state and federal governments, protect the rights of the state, and prevent tyranny of the majority. Throughout the years, federalism turned into dual federalism where the state and federal government were completely independent of each other and only shared a dependency on the Constitution. The united states suppressing now to cooperative federalism, the national government has assumed even more power, overruling the states with Supreme Court decisions and actions, and executive Orders. Furthermore, the Federal government should grant their state governments more power, due to the connection the state governments hold with their local people.

    Read More

  • DBQ Essay: The United States Constitution

    1159 Words  | 5 Pages

    These authorities that the national government should have, were all up to the states to decide under the Articles. With the taking away some of the states rights in the Constitution, Anti-federalists feared that this would leave the states too weak, resulting in more problems. Under the new Constitution, many powers that were now in the government 's hands are: the power to levy and collect taxes, the power to regulate interstate commerce, the government set up a national court system consisting of district, circuit, and a supreme court, the government could enforce laws, there was now a house based on population, and a senate based on equal representation (two votes per state), to amend the Constitution, a ⅔ vote of Congress was needed, and a ¾ vote of the states were needed, and a majority rule was needed to pass bills. These new powers and abilities of the national government helped to create a strong, new

    Read More

More about American Government And Politics: Deliberation, Democracy, And Citizenship

Open Document