Federalism is best defined by Homes and Kern (2009, p. 16) as a “system of overspent in which the people are regulated by both federal and state governments. ” The United States Constitution developed and designed these two bodies of government to prevent the American people from tyranny and ensured powers were delegated appropriately. The two governmental powers are ran side by side. Both federal and state governments are composed of three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The federal courts have their jurisdictions and the states theirs.
However, there are shared jurisdictions of both court systems, in which a citizen could be trialed in both courts. Often people assume this is double jeopardy, in which all actuality it is not because they violated laws set forth by both the federal and state laws, requiring justice sought in both jurisdictions. Overruling these two courts systems is the United States Supreme Court, which is the highest court of the United States of America. The federal courts, or government, have expressed powers given to them under the first article in the United States Constitution.
These expressed powers give the federal government jurisdiction over the declaration of war, regulation of interstate and foreign trades, establishing post offices, foreign policies, and the ewer to add new states. The federal government is also given the authority of implied powers, as well. Implied powers gives the federal government the ability to make and enforce laws necessary to carry out their delegated powers. The state also has authority to make powers within its boundaries.
However, the states cannot make laws areas that are within conflict of the federal laws in areas that are preempted by the federal government. The states have authority over areas such as establishing and maintaining local governments and schools, providing public safety, regulating business within the state, making marriage saws, and other areas not assigned to federal government. In the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, equal protection and due process was ratified to include the state government is also practicing equal protection to its people as with the federal system.
This was due to ensure that the state maintained the constitutional rights under its government as well. Both the federal and state government have a shared responsibility in maintaining law and order, levying taxes, borrowing money, chartering banks, establishing courts, and providing welfare to its citizens. These are a shared responsibility of both deader and state to ensure the citizens are being treated and not one body of government can become absolute authority and over empower the other body of government.
In which this sometimes often leads to conflict between the federal and state government. The Supremacy Clause Due the conflict that arises between the federal and state bodies of government because of their shared jurisdictions, the Supremacy Clause has been outlined in Article Six of the United States Constitution. In act of conflict, the clause makes the Constitution and the United States law the supreme law of the land (Homes &Ekern, 2009). The federal government law then succeeds if it holds preemption in that area.
