Essay On Federalism

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Federalism is a system that is created to divide the powers between the national and the state governments and separation of powers is a system of separating the powers between the 3 branches of the national government. The values of federalism are outlined in the constitution where it requires power sharing between the federal government and the state governments. According to the constitution, the states have control over police powers, (health & safety) but within the limits of the Supremacy Clause (Art. IV), & Art. I § 10, and the Bill of Rights empower the state governments. In line with article IV, the federal government and the states both have power to regulate, federal law preempts the state law. Under the federal system, there is …show more content…

According to federalist 10 suggested by Madison, he identifies the chief danger to a collapse of the Republican government as factionalism where the most numerically strong factions will be able to advance their self-interests at the expense of the minorities and the common good. He fears that the majority factions with different interests would constantly fight with each other that will lead to the eventual collapse of the collective self-government. He recognized that the effects of factions can be controlled through the structure of government which is federalism. The proposed Constitution will minimize the Effects of Factions where the effects are better controlled in larger size of the republic under a representative form of government. In a larger society, it will result in people selected to govern by the constitution be drawn from a wider pool and hence better refining the policies. In a small society under a popular form of government, it is relatively easy for factions to gain a majority. Meanwhile in a larger republic, the selected governors represent a wider group of people and hence it will be hard for any factions to gain majority and exert their influence at the expense of the minorities and the common good.

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