Federalism And How It Works Thoughtco

Leo Migdal

-Dec 3, 2025, 11:13 AM

Federalism is the process by which two or more governments share powers over the same geographic area. It is the method used by most democracies in the world. While some countries give more power to the overall central government, others grant more power to the individual states or provinces. In the United States, the Constitution grants certain powers to both the U.S. government and the state governments. The Founding Fathers wanted more power for the individual states and less for the federal government, a practice that endured until World War II.

That "layer cake" method of dual federalism was replaced when state and national governments entered a more cooperative "marble cake" approach called cooperative federalism. Since then, a new federalism initiated by presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan has returned some powers back to states through federal grants. In this chapter we will attempt to understand the concept of Federalism and the specific ways it works in the U.S. system of government, but first we have to ask a few questions. What is Federalism? How does Federalism exist in the United States?

Federalism is defined as, “a hybrid arrangement that mixes elements of a ‘confederation’ and a ‘unitary’ government.” (Kernell & Jacobson, 2020) Let’s break this definition down a bit. A “Federation”, from which federalism gets its name, is when authority is divided between a central government and local governments. (Kernell & Jacobson, 2020) Thus, an easier definition for Federalism is, the sharing or mixing of power between a national government and the state governments. The United States of America is a Federation where power is shared between the 50 state governments and the national government in Washington, D.C. but it was not always that way. Before the United States of America became the United States of America, the 13 original colonies agreed to work together under something called the “Articles of Confederation.” Under the Articles of Confederation, separate states...

As discussed in Chapter 1, the Articles of Confederation proved incapable of dealing with threats to the new nation and so when representatives from the various states came together in Philadelphia to iron out... Today, in the United States of America, we see the concept of Federalism at work. We have a central government in the nation’s capital (Washington, D.C.), and we also have fifty individual states that have their own elected heads (the governors), their own lawmaking bodies (the state legislatures) and... This is why the laws in one state may be somewhat different from the laws in another state. Federalism is a system of government where the same territory is shared by different levels of government. In the United States, there is a sharing and division of power over the nation between the federal government and the state governments.

The framers of the Constitution sought to create a strong, unified national government that held limited power, while the states retained much of their power, including police power to regulate and promote the health,... Federalism is interwoven throughout the Constitution. There are several types of federalism in the United States revealing the relationship/interaction between the federal government and the states. This Historical Society of the New York Courts film deals with the history of slavery in New York State and the critical role New York courts played in freeing eight enslaved young women and... Here is a Lemmon Slave Case lesson plan to use with the film or separately, and an article on the case by John D. Gordan, III, published in the Society’s journal Judicial Notice.

From CrashCourse (in collaboration with PBS Digital Studios). This video discusses Federalism and the division of power within the United States between the national government and state governments, as well as the various forms of federalism. From the Annenberg Classroom. This video discusses Federalism and conflict between the national government and the states through an examination of the Supremacy Clause in Article VI of the Constitution and description of the landmark Supreme Court case... Maryland (1819). Here is a helpful lesson plan, from PBS LearningMedia, that teachers could use separately or in conjunction with students watching this video.

Federalism is a mode of government that combines a general level of government (a central or federal government) with a regional level of sub-unit governments (e.g., provinces, states, cantons, territories, etc.), while dividing the... Two illustrative examples of federated countries—one of the world's oldest federations, and one recently organized—are Australia and Micronesia. Johannes Althusius (1563–1638) is considered the father of modern federalism, along with Montesquieu. In 1603, Althusius first described the bases of this political philosophy in his Politica Methodice Digesta, Atque Exemplis Sacris et Profanis Illustrata.[1] By 1748, in his treatise The Spirit of Law, Montesquieu (1689-1755) observed... Federalism differs from confederalism, where the central government is created subordinate to the regional states—and is notable for its regional-separation of governing powers (e.g., in the United States, the Articles of Confederation as the... And federalism also differs from the unitary state, where the regional level is subordinate to the central/federal government, even after a devolution of powers—and is notable for regional-integration of governing powers, (e.g., the United...

Federalism is at the midpoint of variations on the pathway (or spectrum) of regional-integration or regional-separation. It is bordered on the increasing-separation side by confederalism, and on the increasing-integration side by devolution within a unitary state; (see "pathway" graphic).[5][6] Some characterize the European Union as a pioneering example of federalism in a multi-state setting—with the concept termed a "federal union of states", as situated on the pathway (spectrum) of regional-integration or regional-separation.[7][8] When crafting the Constitution, one of the central concerns of the Founding generation was how best to control government power. With the new Constitution, the Framers looked to strike an important balance—creating a new national government that was more powerful than the one that came before it while still protecting the American people’s most... They settled on a national government with defined but limited powers.

Instead of placing authority in the hands of a single person (like a king), a small group of people (like an aristocracy), or even the whole people (like a direct democracy), the Framers divided... At the national level, the Framers divided power between the three branches of government—the legislative branch, the executive branch and the judicial branch. This process of dividing power between different branches of government is called the separation of powers. From there, the Framers further divided power between the national government and the states under a system known as federalism. Module 6: Separation of Powers and Federalism One prominent legal scholar offers a “friendly amendment” to Justice Robert Jackson’s famous concurrence in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co.

v. Sawyer. United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions is expected to release a report this week that may urge more federal interdiction against state-level medical marijuana programs – a move that would raise some compelling legal... A dispute over power sharing between the federal government and state government leads off a big week of Supreme Court cases on Monday. And it involves college football and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. The word “federal” is derived from the Latin word foedus, meaning covenant, pact, or treaty.

Federalism is both a principle and a form of government. As a principle, federalism is concerned with combining self-rule and shared rule and linking individuals, groups, and polities in lasting but limited union so as to provide for the energetic pursuit of common ends... The federal principle aims at establishing justice among the consenting partners and ensuring liberty. A federal arrangement is a partnership, established and regulated by a covenant. A covenant is a voluntary agreement, often written, between co-equals who agree to come together and form a lasting union for certain purposes such as the common defense and general welfare. In contrast to a social contract, the word “covenant” suggests a moral dimension and appeal to a higher moral source.

The U.S. Declaration of Independence is an example. The internal relationships of a federal system reflect a special kind of sharing that must prevail among the partners based on a mutual recognition of the integrity of each partner and the attempt to... As a political principle, federalism is concerned with the constitutional diffusion of power so that the constituting members in a federal arrangement share in the process of common policy-making and administration by right, while... Federal systems do this by constitutionally distributing power among general and constituent governing bodies in a manner intended to protect the existence and authority of all. Basic policies are ideally made and implemented through negotiation based on mutual consent among the members so that all share in the system’s decision-making and executing processes.

As such, federalism is both a structure and a process. Accordingly, federalism is a voluntary form of government and mode of governance that establishes unity while preserving diversity by constitutionally uniting separate political communities (e.g., the 13 original U.S. states) into a limited, but encompassing, political community (e.g., the United States) called a federal polity. Federalism may also be used to establish and organize nongovernmental organizations such as interest groups and political parties – a common practice in federal polities. Federalism is a political system through which two or more governments have shared authority over the same geographical area. Most democratic countries in the world are governed by a federal system, including Canada, the U.S., Australia, India and Argentina.

Even the EU is a federal system, although one of the very few examples where the members of the “upper houses” in the federation are not appointed or elected, but are delegates of the... In creating a system built on Federalism, the founders were reacting to both the British government and the Articles of Confederation. The British government was — and remains — a UNITARY SYSTEM, or one in which power is concentrated in a central government. In England, government has traditionally been centralized in London, and even though local governments exist, they generally have only those powers granted them by Parliament. The national government is supreme, and grants or retains powers to and from local governments at its whim. The exact structure of the various Federal Systems, including Federalism, vary greatly.

Some federations have a central government that regulates the whole country, while others give more power to the different states or provinces. In some federations there are clear divisions in the law-making powers of the different entities, while in other federations the powers overlap. Federal systems are often governed by a Congress, with a President or a Parliament with a Prime Minister. All federal systems, including Federalism, have a central government, a Constitution and a certain procedure that must be followed to resolve any disputes. The Constitution serves as a guideline, which the different constituent entities use to check on one another. Federations also usually have procedures and organisations that facilitate intergovernmental relations.

This article is part of our larger resource on the Colonial America culture, society, economics, and warfare. Click here for our comprehensive article on Colonial America. Federalism is a hierarchical system of government under which two levels of government exercise a range of control over the same geographic area. This system of exclusive and shared powers is the opposite of "centralized" forms of governments, such as those in England and France, under which the national government maintains exclusive power over all geographic areas. In the case of the United States, the U.S. Constitution establishes federalism as the sharing of powers between the U.S.

federal government and the individual state governments. The concept of federalism represented a solution to functional problems with the Articles of Confederation which failed to grant several essential powers to the national government. For example, the Articles of Confederation gave Congress the power to declare wars, but not to levy taxes needed to pay for an army to fight them. The argument for federalism was further strengthened by Americans’ reaction to Shays’ Rebellion of 1786, an armed uprising of farmers in western Massachusetts. The rebellion had been driven, in part, by the inability of the federal government under the Articles of Confederation to pay the debt from the Revolutionary War. Worse yet, due to the federal government’s lack of power to raise an army to deal with the rebellion, Massachusetts had been forced to raise its own.

Federalism And How It Works Thoughtco

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