About the Federal Government.

3. THOMAS JEFFERSON'S VIEW OF THE MEANING OF
FEDERALISM:
Thomas Jefferson's interpretation of the constitutional delegations
of power to the central government is called "strict construction," or
" "narrow construction," of the U.S.Contitution . It is also known as
the "Jeffersonian interpretation, or "states rights interpretation."
Jefferson's perception of the character of the U.S Constitution and
of the nature of the union of states created by the Constitution was
in contrast to Hamilton's perception.
According to him, by accepting this constitutional compact and
joining together in the union, or alliance, of states which the
compact proposed --the sovereign states (1) created the U.S. central
government for joint action by the states to accomplish common
purposes and (2) granted the central government strictly limited
and circumscribed authority. Therefore, the central government
under the U.S. Constitution, a government with a severely
restricted and confined sphere of authority, is nothing more than
an agent of the states designed to facilitate mutual cooperation and
support in joint endeavors to pursue shared interests and achieve
common objectives.

4.  Delegated powers - powers granted to the national government
by the U.S. Constitution. The delegated powers are the powers of
government which the states gave up when they ratified the U.S.
Constitution and which were vested in the central government by
the Constitution.
 Enumerated powers(express powers) of Congress are those
powers enumerated - listed or mentioned in so many words -in
the Constitution as grants of authority to Congress. Particular
clauses in the Constitution explicitly delegate these powers to
Congress.
 Implied powers of Congress - which are not listed or mentioned
in the Constitution, but are deemed by Congress and the U.S.
Courts to be reasonably implied from the enumerated, or
expressly delegated, powers of Congress.
 Reserved Powers- state power alone.

5.  A system of government based upon democratic rules and
institutions in which the power to govern is shared between
central government (federal) and it’s regional government
(states).
 Union of two or more smaller political communities, which,
after formation of the union, are no longer sovereign
(completely independent) but do retain a significant degree
of autonomy(partial self-government).
federation," "federal union," or
"federal system"

6. Central
(Federal)
Government
Regional
(State)
Authority
Regional
(State)
Authority
Regional
(State)
Authority
Regional
(State)
Authority

8. What are the distinguishing characteristics
of a federalism?
 Has two or more levels of government.
 Each level has it’s own power or jurisdiction and
specified by the national constitution.
 Local self-government is established, by which
people get opportunity to participate in
administration.
 Constitutional provisions can be change only
with the consent of both levels of government.
 Courts interpret the constitution and powers of
different levels of government. Supreme court is
the umpire if disputes arise with different levels of
government.

11. Unitary Government Federal System Confederation
 The National Constitution
vests all the constitutional
authority of government in
the central government.
The National constitution divides
the constitutional powers of
government between the central
government and the constituent
units.
 The union is loosely-held-
together league or association of
virtually sovereign states – a loose
union or alliance of almost
completely independent states.
 Regional political units are
created by acts of the national
legislature and receive their
powers from national
legislative statutes. These
powers can be withdrawn
from the regional or local units
by statutes of the national
legislative.
 Regional political units receive
their powers from provisions of
the national constitution. These
powers can be taken from the
regional only by amending the
national constitution. Both levels
of government must consent to
changes in the national
constitution.
 The central government does
not have authority to regulate the
conduct of individual persons. To
impact on individuals, the central
government must act through the
states.
The national legislature can,
by statute, abolish or
completely reorganize the
regional units which exist and
operate at the sufferance of
the national government.
The national constitution
protects the right of the
constituent communities to exist.
 The powers of the central
government is severely limited by
the constitutional compact or
treaty

12. Central
Government
Central
Government
Central
Government

13. Advantages Disadvantages
 Promotes unity and a better
understanding. (Localized
governance)
 It allows for inequalities between
different states.
 As a protection against tyranny.  The blockage of the nationalist
policies by states.
 Diffusing power.  Conflict of authority.(power
struggle)
 Increasing citizen participation.  Regionalism over patriotism.
 Create laboratories of democracy.
(Allows states to experiment with
before enacting it to the federal level)
 Can lead to corruption.
 Innovation in law and policy is
encouraged.
 States government can be
responsive to citizen’ s needs.

15. Leading examples of the federation or federal
state includes: