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Articles Of Confederation Vs Federalism Essay

732 Words3 Pages

Federalism is defined as, “system of government in which the same territory is controlled by two levels of government” (Cornell, n.d, para. 1). In the United States, this system forms the basis of the separation of powers that is the key to the effective governing of the nation. However, the separation of powers between a unitary government and a confederative one is not without overlapping authority as well instances where one, the federal government, can influence policy in state governments, where the latter cannot. How did this style of government come to be from the failure of the Articles of Confederation, and how does it still impact policy on the state level today? The style of government called Federalism came to be as a result of the failure of national cohesion under the Articles of Confederation. Unlike the Constitution, which sets strict guidelines of the powers vested within it in favor of national strength, the Articles favored power to be vested with the states. This undoubtedly caused problems, as although the states were ultimately responsible for what transpired in their borders, the national government could affect …show more content…

This is and was the main problem with Federalism, as the state government could for instance set a tax, which is not forbidden by the Constitution, but comes into conflict with Congress’s authority to tax. What transpires is a system of essentially an overlapping authority in which the national government has a certain amount of authority over the nation as a whole, while the state governments have powers not limited to national government, but the Constitution. “The U.S. Constitution grants the federal government with power over issues of national concern, while the state governments, generally, have jurisdiction over issues of domestic concern” (Cornell, n.d, para.

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