Dual Federalism

During the first one hundred years of United States history, most of the governing of the people had been carried out by state and local governments. During this time the federal government concentrated mostly on foreign affairs. This type of governing was known as dual federalism. It was determined during the drafting of the United States Constitution that a national or federal government would be needed. This made absolute sense under certain circumstances such as carrying out foreign affairs. Another example of the federal government’s charter is to control the nation’s currency. Imagine if each individual state had its own currency and how complicated that would make our daily lives. Think of how Europe moved to the Euro currency instead of dealing with all the exchange rates. Other powers of the federal government according The Constitution are to: print money, regulate interstate and international trade, declare war, and provide for the national defense. Other powers of the state governments include to: regulate intrastate business, conduct elections, establish local governments, and take measures for public health and safety. There are a few concurrent powers that both the federal and state governments can both do and they include to: collect taxes, build roads, borrow money, establish courts, make and enforce laws, and spend money for the general welfare.

Today, our state and federal governments have grown so large and bureaucratic that they are in many cases redundant because they carry out the same missions and goals. For example, both the federal and local governments collect taxes to be used for entitlement and social programs. This is a classic example of government redundancy, conflict of interest, bureaucracy, and inefficiency at work. Nowhere in the federal government powers does it charter them to take measures for public health, however this is mentioned in the state government charter. For some unknown reason the federal government feels compelled to interfere. This is a basic fundamental problem with our federal government today. They feel compelled to overstep its bounds. The federal government should either disperse tax revenue to the states or allow states to raise its taxes for public health or safety reasons, which should include social programs. Our forefathers wanted our nation to operate efficiently hence, they purposely divided government powers between state and federal governments so they can operate in a dual federalism mode. Besides, it is awfully arrogant and presumptuous for the federal government to claim it better understands state issues on morality or on social problems. Yet the federal government seems compelled to interfere and dictate funding, policies, and legislation. The onus should be on the states and solely on the states to deal with their social problems, and our federal government including the Supreme Court should not be involved. They should only be involved if a state government is violating United States Constitutional law.

My Book: Is America Dying? (Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble)