Political Science Federalism Essay Research Paper Political

Political Science: Federalism Essay, Research Paper

Political Science 100

November 19, 1999

David Winchester

Daren Shields

Federalism:

Federalism is a widely accepted system of government in North American cultures. To many North Americans it seems to be the obvious choice for all world governments, but this is not the case. In all honesty, federalism is a fairly unique form of government. Out of approximately two hundred nations on the earth one hundred and eighty states practice unitary forms of government, leaving only twenty or so as federal nations (Winchester, 1999). Unitary forms of government consist of only one level of government. These are very popular in modern day politics as they are much cheaper to run and to maintain, while still fitting the needs of most countries. Examples of countries which use unitary governments include France, The United Kingdom, and Italy. Also in a smaller, homogeneous country such as France there is little need for a second level of government. Federalism tends to be the products of states with large land masses, diverse populations and / or regional governments which were reluctant to join in confederation. Federalism is defined as .a political organization in which the activities of the government are divided between regional governments and a federal government. (Jackson, 221). The .division of activities is often referred to as a .division of powers. between a central government and regional governments. The division of powers is made possible through a written constitution, which stipulates which level of government will receive which power. In Canada these powers are divided between provincial powers and federal powers. Provincial powers are solely the responsibility of the province as outlined in the constitution. Some examples of provincial powers include health care, welfare, and education. Federal powers are the responsibility of Ottawa. They include foreign affairs, currency, and military control, etc.

Federalism has a rich and influential history in North America as well as in many other parts of the world. While it is widely believed that federalism as a principle was the brainchild of the founding fathers of the United States of America, reference to federalism in an unrefined form was documented in the early 1600.s. It was in this time period that the Jewish convenant in response to social and religious persecution created .a new doctrine of .federal theology. based on the idea of a mutual obligation between the ruler and the ruled. (Wijemanne, 1999). Essentially this was the very first division of powers, and shared control over an area by two levels of government, all be it in a very crude form. A more contemporary and widely accepted approach regarding the birth of federalism is that it was essentially created with the Declaration of Independence and the gradual confederation of the American states in the late 1700.s and early 1800.s. The United States fits the mold most common with Federal states. Federalism was first implemented in the United States because America contained a large plot of land which was filled with a very diverse population. Typically the only way to unite a heterogeneous population is through a federal government because it is the only way to articulate and protect regional interests. As the United States evolved so did federalism as an ideology and as a political practice. Constant amendments to the constitution created the ever evolving division of power. As federalism became more accepted it constantly was reformed as it passed through a number of stages inherent to the time period. The first stage was the confederal stage. At this early point in time the states retained sovereign power, while the weak national government was at their whim. The confederal stage was present at the time of the Declaration of Independence. As time progressed the states developed powers within a certain sphere, while the national government developed powers contained within a different sphere. Gradually the states gave up more and more of their power to the federal level. This resulted in the dual federalism period. In the first portion of this period, from 1789 . 1861 the national level became the sovereign and the spheres became equal in power (Walker, 1995). The next stage in the progression of federalism is known as cooperative federalism. In this phase the emphasis was placed on shared functions and providing services for tax payers. This stage lasted for almost one hundred years, from 1861 until 1960. Following cooperative federalism was creative federalism. Creative federalism is based on .intergovernmental fiscal transfers. (Walker, 1995), or as they are commonly known: transfer payments. Transfer payments are payments from the national government to the states or provinces to pay for provincially run programs such as health care. Creative federalism lasted for twenty years from 1960 to 1980. The final stage of federalism, and the stage we are presently in, is known as cooptive federalism. Cooptive federalism is based on the devolution and deregulation of government. This has been a time riddled with cut backs and spending cuts. Also this is a time period where the deficit has dominated and controlled governments operations.

Federal governments have been traditional, fairly successful entities. As previously discussed there are many reasons why