Federalism

By Swikar DahalBy: Swikar Dahal

WHAT IS THE OFFICIAL NAME OF OUR COUNTRY ??

FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF NEPAL

Federal:- of or relating to a form of government in which power is shared between a central government and individual states,

provinces, etc.

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and George Washington were advocates of the federal system.

History:

Federalism has evolved over the course of American history. At different points in time, the balance and boundaries between the national and state government have changed substantially.

• Dual Federalism (1789–1945) Dual federalism describes the nature of federalism for the first

150 years of the American republic, roughly 1789 through World War II. This type of federalism is also called layer-cake federalism because, like a layer cake, the states’ and the national governments each had their own distinct areas of responsibility, and the different levels rarely overlapped.

• Cooperative Federalism (1945–1969) Cooperative federalism is a concept of federalism in which

national, state, and local governments interact cooperatively and collectively to solve common problems, rather than making policies separately but more or less equally. State and local governments administer many federal programs, for example, and states depend heavily on federal funds to support their own programs. This type of federalism is called cooperative federalism, or marble-cake federalism.

• New Federalism (1969–present) Since the 1970s, political leaders and scholars of the New

Federalism school have argued that the national government has grown too powerful and that power should be given back to the states. New Federalism has taken concrete form in a variety of policies. New Federalists have argued for specific limits on federal power, as well as devolution, a policy of giving states power and responsibility for some programs.

Federalism

• Federalism is a system based upon democratic rules and institutions in which the power to govern is shared between national and provincial/state governments.

• Some power belongs to the national government and other power belongs to each of the states.

• Of the eight largest countries in the world by area, seven —Russia, Canada, the United States, Brazil, Australia, India, and Argentina — are organized on a federal basis. (China, the third largest, is a unitary state.)

• Countries tend to adopt federalism either because they were originally separate political states that joined together but were unwilling to give up all of their own political authority (such as the U.S. and Switzerland), or because the diversity in their countries makes a federalist structure a means of reducing conflict, by allowing diverse groups some autonomy to run their own affairs rather than being wholly dictated to by a central government in which they feel they have too little say, such as in Belgium and South Africa.

Unitary states Federations

Features of Federalism:

1. There are two or more levels of government.

2. The jurisdiction(authority) of the respective tiers (levels) of government are specified in the constitution.

3. Under federalism, local self government is established, by which people get opportunity to participate in administration.

4. One level of government cannot unilaterally change the fundamental provisions of the constitution.

Fifty self-governing states and several territories.

Benefits of Federalism:

A Better Understanding(Localized Governance)

Freedom to Form Policies

Optimum Utilization of Resources

People Feel More Involved

Negatives of Federalism:

Conflict of Authority (power struggle)

Regionalism Over Patriotism

Can Lead to Corruption

Uneven Distribution of Wealth

Citizen Ignorance

Critics argue that federalism cannot function well due to ignorance. Most Americans know little about their state and local governments, and turnout in state and local elections is often less than 25 percent. Citizens consequently often ignore state and local governments, even though these governments have a lot of power to affect people’s lives.

Reference:

• http://www.sparknotes.com/us-government-and-politics/american-government/federalism/section4.rhtml

• http://thenextgalaxy.com/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-federalism/

• http://www.buzzle.com/articles/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-federalism.html

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