Federalism

Federalism is the division of powers between the national government and state governments. Federalism therefore acts as the link between the national government and state governments. The state governments and the national government, each have their own rights and responsibilities. Even though the national government has total power over the state government, for instance, if there is conflict between federal laws and state laws, federal laws will prevail. This is because state laws are subjected to the federal laws (Chapter 3, 65). The United States practices a federal system of government, where the central government which is also known as the national government and state governments have their own rights and responsibilities. According to the constitution of the country, state governments operate as small countries, whereby they can be able to set up their own laws. This does not however mean that the federal government cannot interfere with the laws made by the states.

The national government has the authority to collect taxes, regulate commerce, and control the currency and the declaration of war. The national government controls trade in the country, through offering charters and licenses of running businesses (Chapter 3, 78). On the other hand, the national government determines if the country releases its soldiers for war. Moreover, the state governments are tasked with the following authority, regulate the collection of taxes, offering marriage licenses to married people, and controlling business in states. States therefore set up their own laws whereby their citizens can be able to abide to. The federal government may therefore control the states affairs through coming up with laws either for or against state laws, the federal’s decision is final. The state has further separated its powers, to the local governments, whereby they are supposed to undertake different tasks of the states. Local governments are however not recognized by the federal government since they are under state governments.

Work Cited

Chapter 3. Federalism.