Federalism in the United States

Picture found at www.fasttrackteaching.com

What are the powers given to the National Government? What are the powers given to the States? Do they have powers that overlap?

“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.”

This is a direct quote from the United States Constitution, and it basically says that each state in our country is guaranteed its own government. The states have certain things that they can control; powers entirely different from the powers of the federal government. This is a way to make sure all the power doesn’t fall to just one place, because if there are smaller governments inside a larger one, then the larger one would have more opposition if it tried to take over everything. In theory, the federal government was to stick to its business, and the states were to stick to theirs.

But it doesn’t always work that way. If a state makes a fully constitutional law that conflicts with a fully constitutional federal law, then the federal law overrules the state law. The Supreme Court can also decide that something would be better suited as a power that the federal government has control over.

These days, since the people expect so much from the government, the federal government has far more power than they did at the start. This is an extremely bad idea because if more and more power is given to the federal government, than that would have a possibility of encroaching on our rights. How can a government somewhere else really know what would be best for people in each individual state if they’re not there? If the federal government gets all the control over what can happen in each state than nothing good can come of it.

Often, the federal government can bribe the state governments to create laws. For example, when they use highway funds to bribe states to make the speed limits similar in each state; if the states did not comply, then they didn’t get the funds. The federal government needs to bribe the states in some cases, because the federal government cannot pass laws on the issues that each individual state has charge of. I think that in a way, federalism is slightly flawed because the federal government still has the power to influence the states in issues that they should have no control over. If the federal government can influence the state governments, then in a worst case scenario, the state governments will simply be there to keep the people happy, but the real power would all be in the federal government. I think that a possible way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to take away the federal government’s ability to bribe. For instance, if there was a set amount of funding that could be given to each state, and if they amount was regulated so that it was fair. Our states should not be influenced by people who know nothing about the culture in each different state, they should be controlled by those who actually live there, and who know what is needed to improve things for the citizens.

You can find a video describing how the state and federal governments divide and share power here.

State of Nature Response

"How did Locke use the idea of a "state of nature" to try to establish or figure out what the purpose of government should be?"

In a state of nature, people would be trying to protect their own rights; their own lives. Because people are not all born with the same amount of strength of intelligence, the stronger people would use their strengths to take things away from the weaker people, thus improving their own lives. In this state, there would be a ruling 'elite' who bully people in order to keep their power, and who don't let anyone else benefit.

Of course, no one is going to take this for too long, so the weaker ones would band together as a way to defend themselves and their allies. This would cause the few that are stronger to be very worried, because even though they are strong, they would be outnumbered....Both sides would feel unsafe all the time.

John Locke thought that the best course of action is to come together and work out a system of rules and regulations that every person would agree to abide by...That way no one would feel threatened. If someone decided to break those rules, there would be a group that the entire community gave power to, who would decide on a punishment, so that the rules would be upheld. That is where the idea of government comes in, but John Locke also said that if the government becomes corrupt and only uses its power for the gain of those controlling the government, then the people would be able to take away that power, and change it to something that suits them.

What is Democracy?

What is democracy? Do we really know? We throw that word around so much, but are we even sure we know what it means?

Democracy means everyone gets a fair chance to make their voice heard; be it through your own voice, or the voice of one person elected to speak for a whole group. Democracy does not shut down the voices of the minority, because they have rights too. Without the voices of the people, democracy would fail and become something else, because that's all democracy is...It is based off of what the people want to see.

That being said, democracy has the ability to change a great deal, after all, hasn't it changed from when it was first brought into our country? If enough people see something going on in the government that they think is wrong, then they have the right, and hopefully the power to change that.

Of course, what I am saying is merely an image of a perfect world. In reality things are much different. Nowadays many people are content to go along with what politicians say, or what the media portrays, without thinking through their own ideas. An idea of a perfect democracy is compromise...Even if a majority votes for something, it should be changed a little so that the minority does not feel ignored. That's what a compromise is, but these days some people refuse to listen to the other side of the argument. Is my opinion less valued because I am a liberal? Can the opinion of a classmate be brushed aside, simply because he or she is conservative? Of course not. That's not what a democracy is.