Download Federalism

Federalism
Keeping Government
Balanced
It Is All About the POWER!!!
• The study of government
is the study of power.
• In the US, there are 3
levels of government:
– Federal government
– State government
– Local government
Power In American History
• After the American
Revolution, the states
held all of the power
under the Articles of
Confederation, while the
federal government had
very little.
• The Articles failed
because all of the states
were fighting for all of the
power.
Power to the Feds
• Under the US
Constitution, most of
the power went to the
federal government.
• The Anti-Federalists
thought that was giving
too much power to the
federal government,
leading to a “new king.”
The Bill of Rights
• To make sure that power
was balanced, the founding
fathers created the 9th and
10th amendments.
– 9th amendment – Powers not
specifically written in the
Constitution belong to the
people.
– 10th amendment – Powers
not specifically given to the
federal government is given
to the states.
What power does the federal
government have?
• #1 – expressed powers
– power given directly
to the federal
government in the
Constitution.
• #2 – implied powers –
power given to carry
out expressed powers.
• #3 – inherent powers –
power grown out of
necessity.
So what rights do the states get?
• Reserved powers –
This gives the
states primary
control of our daily
activities.
• The state creates
laws relevant to
our daily lives.
And What If the Two Disagree?
vs
And the winner is ….
The federal government!!!
by way of the Supremacy Clause
Where does the Local Gov’t “fit in”?
• The local gov’t gets it power
from the state. They are not
provided for in the
Constitution.
• With the growth of America
came the need to meet
peoples needs.
• The local gov’t takes care of
issues in townships and/or
cities called ordinances.
• This includes local
infrastructure, education,
and other local interests.