What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of federalism for the United States? Compare American federalism with other systems of government (i.e., unitary and confederal)?

** anything will help, or if you know any good resources please guide me! thanks!

Authoritarian-like ruling by the executive branch i.e Obama going to war without a declaration

Those who oppose the current health care reform are fighting it on the ground of federalism; that the federal government is overstepping on its use of the commerce clause.
However; that very same opposition wanted and still wants insurance companies to be ‘allowed’ to sell across state lines. The federal government does not prohibit this. Regulating health insurance is presently a power of the states. So to change this; the federal government would have to expand its powers over the states by way of the commerce clause to allow insurance companies to sell across state lines.
Is the word for this double-speak?

No, it’s not ironic.

All products are available for sale across state lines. Insurance need not be any different.

The act of trying to force people to buy insurance only within their own state is just about the stupidest argument I’ve heard from either side in the last few years. Don’t you ever wonder who thinks up these gems?

I have a paper due tomorrow (the snow threw me off on dates lol) and I don’t understand how it relates. I thought federalism was things that the national law makers put into effect and then the states all have to pay for it even though the federal government is the one that tells them they have to do it (or something similar) Some other examples he gave are: abortion, medical marijuana, and education. How do they all fit together? Thanks in advance.

Federalism is not about who pays, but about who makes the rules. The Constitution grants seventeen traditional sovereign powers to the Congress, and is declared the supreme law of the land, so States may not have laws contrary to Federal laws regarding any Constitutional right or any Constitutional power of the United States. Disputes about specific cases are adjudicated by the Supreme Court, from which there is no appeal.

The issue you refer to is called the unfunded mandate. Federal power allows the Congress to compel some kinds of actions by the States, but the rules do not require Congress to give the States any money to cover the cost of performing the compulsory action. This is not as common as one may think, because unfunded mandates are only possible in the seventeen areas of Federal sovereign power. In education, for example, there is no Federal regulatory power, so the only unfunded mandates are with respect to civil rights – anything else the Congress wants, it can only get with a grant program – "do this and we will give you money." There are far more of these voluntary programs where States are bribed by Congress than there are unfunded mandates. Most States receive more in Federal bribe money than is taken out of them by taxes, and far more than they are compelled to spend on unfunded mandates.

The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, according to the Second Amendment. Nonetheless, western cow towns forbade open carry of guns in the 1870s, and the Supreme Court ruled that they could. Cities and States have various restrictions on the purchase, transportation, and possession of specific firearms, and Federal law has made certain types of arms subject to special licenses and others illegal outright. Firearms that are illegal under Federal law cannot be legal under State law.

Abortion has been ruled a Constitutional right by the Supreme Court, and cannot be absolutely denied under State law. However, this right does not supersede State laws regulating the manner and location of medical practice.

Marijuana is regulated by the Federal government under an interpretation of the power to regulate commerce between the States. It is the same power that justifies the existence of the FDA and its regulation of pharmaceuticals. Congress has passed laws declaring certain active materials of no medical virtue, imposing extraordinary taxes and regulations that do not ban them outright, but do ban their transportation and sale. State laws that make possession and use a crime are in addition to Federal law. If a State does not make possession and use of marijuana a crime, it is not, even though its transportation and sale are still Federal crimes. The Federal power cannot ban local production, manufacture, and trade that does not cross any State lines at all, but they can arrest people and take the case to court on the assertion that the apparently local trade is actually across State lines. The last guy to make the "local only" argument lost.

There you have it. States ore sovereign in most matters. Federalism means that the United States is sovereign in specific matters defined by the Constitution, and no others. In them, Federal law supersedes State law.

What factors best explain the adoption of the American system of federalism that divides political power between the national government and the states?

1. The founding fathers wished to follow the model that was being established by the Barbary Coast pirates to avoid too much centralization of power.

2. The overwhelming influence of Strong Drink.

3. Wanted to make Betsy Ross happy.

How has the Supreme Court’s interpretation of federalism changed over time? and most importantly Did this affect policy issues like slavery or immigration??

it has improved.

i am doing a thing for my social studies class where we have to make up our own continent and write the whole constitution. we have to add in things like popular sovereignty and Republicanism and the bill of right… stuff like that. i’m stuck on federalism and don’t know what to right.

It’s the principle that the national government does not have all of the power in the nation, subdivisions of the nation — states — have many powers too. The national government protects the whole nation and holds the nation together, regulating things that states cannot regulate, but on the other hand, the national government does not do everything that needs to be done, states can still do many things, do them differently from other states, and the national government cannot interfere.

why did the framers of the constitution choose to create a system of government based on federalism?

Perhaps you do not have a firm grip on what the founders actually framed in the federal government. The Federal Government was not allowed to interfere inside the country but was to deal with other nations. The States were the ones which were to be the most important government. If you read the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation plus a little history rather than to listen to liberal teachers you would understand what government the Founding Fathers actually left for us to maintain and hand down to our children.

But then we had a few who wanted handouts from the government and started converting our Republic into a Democracy which is our downfall.

L8r

Why is the power granted by federalism are separated like they are
Please Answer!

i’m not sure

Does the system of grants-in-aid upset the balance of federalism? Do grant programs enable Congress to do what it pleases by bribing states into compliance? Or do these programs merely increase the likelihood of national policy uniformity? What would be the consequence if a state refused federal grant money?

Congress only gives money with stipulations.

Long question, i know , but i really need help for my project!

Federalism is the opposite of what the articles of conf did. With the Articles the states had all the power and the federal government which was one branch at this time had hardley any. Think of it like the united states but no united just the states are their own nation states with very limited federal impact except to coin money. Now federalism put in place allowed states to still have some freedom but have to abide by Federal rule and in all times federal rule trumps the states rule. Seperation of power than broke down the federal government into the three parts ( exec, congress, court) so that one section of the federal government will have no chance of completly controling the country.

Along that, under the articles – states could make their own tariffs on imported goods and would compete with each other head to head, early on they could coin their own money, and for a while they had their own military. That was a big reason they wanted to get away from the articles because there was no strong FEDERAL military, just alot of state militarys.