Government and Politics - The Benefits of Federalism :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Government and governing - The Benefits of FederalismIn the early days of the unify States, it was obvious to more that a system combining both federal officialism and representative democracy was needed. According to the textbook, the mess were in like manner widely dispersed, and the countrys transportation and communication systems too primitive to be governed solely from a central location (pg. 58). Although today both communication and transportation argon highly advanced, the States still maintains a federal system. The driving force behind that system is our increasingly expanding diversity. The United States ranks fourth in the world in size (www.stats.demon.nl/chart.area25.htm) and third in population (www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbrank.html). There are 213 languages spoken in America (www.sil.org/ethnologue/countries/USA.html) and probably just as many religions practiced. Federalism is the method by which this respective(a) population is better represented in the democracy of the United States. The matter authorities advances many important decisions that impact our daily lives however, there are some issues on which the opinion of the American public varies widely. In our federal system, the states are usually responsible for making policies that involve social, family, and moral/ ghostly issues. This is one of the most important advantages of a federal system. The decentralization of the political sympathies allows the desires and needs of smaller groups of people to be acknowledged and fulfilled at the local level. Californians disaccord in many ways from residents of Arkansas who differ greatly from Alaskans. Variations in culture and lifestyle create needs for contrastive political policies. A large, single, centralized government would be unable to make efficient social policies that were compatible with the convictions of a majority of Americas diverse groups. However, the national government still has enough power, through a system of checks and balances, to obliterate local policies that infringe upon the human rights of smaller factions. Federalism is not, of course, without disadvantages. To go about with, more levels of government equal a larger bureaucracy with many more people involved in the decision-making process. This provides more opportunities for corrupt government officials. Federalism also means that a complex tax system must exist so that each level of government receives funds from those in its jurisdiction in order to carry out laws and policies.