The country had just gotten out of an ownership by another country much larger than she. These countries were ruled by a King. After a revolutionary war, the new-free land, the United States of America, was deemed a federal system by the Constitution. The people who wrote the Constitution did not want another King, keeping in mind absolute power corrupts absolutely. With the federal system, the government would be divided into different levels, or branches. Each level would have limits and powers, and every level would watch the others. The Framers used these separation of powers to create a functional, long lasting government that would bring back the natural rights to the people. What is a federal system of government? A federal system of government is the practice of division between different governments under one country. These governments are the national government, state government, and local government. The people are sovereign. The Framers chose a federal system, but there are many …show more content…
The Constitution tells what these limits are. The national government is divided between three branches. The Executive Branch, which is the President, Vice President, and the Cabinet. The Judicial Branch, which is the Supreme Court, and the Legislative Branch, made up of the Senate. The national government may not; tax imports, spend money without being approved, or make laws that favor trade in one state more than another. Each individual state has a smaller government of their own. The state government may not; print money, enter treaties, tax imports or exports, keep an army or navy in a time of peace, or engage in war unless being attacked. Neither the national or the state government may; deny rights to a trial or jury, grant titles of nobility, or enact ex post facto laws or bills of attainder. The Bill of Rights enforce these limits and laws on state and national
One of the crucial points when making the constitution was limiting the power of of the government. The solution was formed by creating three branches of government, therefore there was a separation of powers. One branch established was the legislative branch which included Congress with the two houses of representation and population. Their made job was to create laws and the executive branch, included the president and the vice president, would the enforce laws. Lastly the judicial branch which is made up of court, interprets the laws.
This specific system of government is described by the 21st Century American Government and Politics textbook as, “The allocation of powers and responsibilities among national, state, and local governments and the intergovernmental relations between them.” When deciding whether the Framers intended for federal or state governments to be supreme in the federal system, a divided answer among the Founders surfaces. If one was to present this question to Alexander Hamilton and his fellow Federalists, he would undoubtedly express his support for a strong federal government. Conversely, Thomas Jefferson and the anti-federalists were in favor of state government supremacy in the federal system and even resented the ratification of the Constitution.
As such, they split the power between the state and central government, federalism, so that one government does not have more power than the other. Also, the three branches were made to spread power and to check each other so that one branch cannot rule the other. The Constitution also protects the chance of tyranny in congress, by determining the number of representatives in the House of Representatives by the state’s population and each state shall have 2 senators representing them in Senate. The constitution made laws guarding against one power having more than another, guarding against tyranny. Federalism splits power between the state and federal government, protecting each government to not gain more power than another.
The powers given to the states include: setting up local governments, establishing schools, holding elections, passing marriage and divorce laws, and regulating in state business. Federalism gives the states and the central government equal power to guard against tyranny. Another reason why it guards against tyranny is separation of power.
One of the most significant pieces of the constitution is the Bill of Rights, or the first ten amendments. These describe the everyday basic rights of the people in which the federal government can not intervene. By putting these in place the creators of the constitution ensured that the people would always have their rights and there was no chance of the government taking them away, just as had happened with England. Federalism is not the only example of separation of
In 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed and America was declared it’s own nation after years of war. America was fighting for it’s freedom because they had a tyrant ruler, King George III, who didn’t give them their rights. According to James Madison, a tyrant is one, few, or many people who abuse their given power. Originally, the framers made a weak national government, the Articles of Confederation, because they were afraid of a tyrant controlling them again. The Articles didn’t have an executive leader, or court system for the states.
Before the constitution the states and the government based the way, they lived using the Articles of Confederation. Congress was in shambles and we owed a massive debt, which led to a rebellion later on. To keep the new nation in check they created a constitution. With the constitution they created federalism or shared power between the states and the government, they created this to make sure the government or states don't overpower on another. The Federal system was made up of three types of government powers, these are reserved, enumerated, and concurrent powers.
The Founding Fathers thought that there should be a division of the powers so this way no one would have all of the power. If this would happen, we would be living in a dictatorship, not a democracy. Most people at the time that our country was built did not want a central government. They thought it would give them too much power. They wanted most of the authority to belong to the states because the state governments were closer to the people and would understand them better.
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.
Federalists were property owners, creditors, and merchants. They believed that elites were the most fit to govern. They feared "excessive democracy" because they thought uneducated people would get into office. Federalists favored a strong national government and they believed in "filtration," which was when only elites could obtain governmental power. The leaders of the Federalist party were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and George Washington.
Not only is there a federal government, but there are also state and local governments. Furthermore, there are forms of government that function on a higher basis than local governments, but on a lower basis than state governments. Although the federal government has overall control on how the country functions, the other forms of government have a considerable impact on the laws of each area. All states have varying laws that lie along the same lines. For instance, the age to get a Driver’s license is not the same from state to state, but they are around the same age.
“The different governments will each control each other at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.” (Doc A, Madison,James, Federalist Paper 51, 1788). Each part of the government had there own jobs to do, for example the central government has the power to regulate trade, conduct foreign relations, provide an army and navy, while the state government set up local governments, holds elections,
Federalism Federalism is a system of government in which power is divided between federal government, state government and provinces government. While federalism has many benefits, among them is checks and balances between the federal and state government, thus reducing the chances of one party getting too powerful and abusing their power. Preventing one party from being too powerful and abusing their powers is a good thing. However, it comes with a price that federal and provinces (state and local) governments do not always see eye to eye and agree with each other, which turns into conflict.
The United States government is best defined as a federal constitutional republic. As a constitutional republic, the U.S. government is organized by the Constitution, setting forth the political threshold of the people, which are known as the federal and state governments. As a federal republic, the control stands by the people throughout the voting process of electing the federal and state officials. The federal government is limited by the distribution of authority within the states as outlined in the Constitution. Although many people like to call the United States a democracy, this is not the case, because the public does not directly control legislation.
The Legal system affects our everyday life and we get a better understanding about them and how they affect us. The United States Federal Government was based off of Britain’s. It was created by the United States Constitution of 1789, which was approved by the 13 colonies of the British Crown. The document had an agreement that the 13 colonies had three branches of government.