Federalism and Separation of Power

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  • Review the article “The State of American Federalism, 2004: Is Federalism Still a Core Value?” in this week’s Learning Resources. Think about whether federalism remains significant in current governance.
  • Review the “Constitution of the United States” in this week’s Learning Resources. Look for specific instances in the Constitution that explicitly describes the separation of powers and the concept of federalism. Think about the term separation of powers and reflect on how those powers are executed by the government. Are the powers actually “separated” or are the powers actually “shared” by different branches but executed “separately”? For example, in the Constitution, Congress is charged with enacting laws, the Executive Branch is charged with executing the laws, and the Judicial branch is charged with deciding the application of those laws in specific cases. In addition, Federalist 78 and the Supreme Court ruling in Marbury v. Madison (1803) also charge the Judicial branch with determining the constitutionality of laws enacted by Congress. As a result, each branch has the power to determine either what the law says or how it is executed or applied. Thus, the power of “the law” is shared by each branch, yet each branch executes that power separately.
  • Reflect on the concepts of federalism and separation of powers and think about how each concept influences current governance.

The Assignment (3 pages):

  • Briefly describe the concepts of federalism and separation of powers. Cite specific references in the Constitution to illustrate your concepts.
  • Evaluate the concept of separation of powers and explain whether you agree that the powers are separate or that they are shared but executed separately.
  • Explain the influence of federalism and the separation of powers on current governance. Select specific examples of current governance to illustrate the influence of each concept.
  • Share at least one insight that you gained as a result of your analysis. Or, if you live outside the United States, explain how you think federalism and separation of powers might affect governance in your country.

Support your Assignment with at least 7-8 specific references to all resources used in its preparation.




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Explanation & Answer

Attached.

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Running head: Federalism

THE CONCEPTS OF FEDERALISM AND SEPARATION OF POWERS
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Federalism and separation of powers

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Introduction
The topic of federalism and separation of powers has always been a crucial topic to many,
amongst them political analysts, philosophers, and even mere individuals. The subject named
above has posed significant questions and arguments. Are the powers separate, or are they being
shared and executed separately? Is federalism still a core value, especially after what was
witnessed in 2004 after the reelection of George Bush? (Krane & Koenig, 2005) And many other
questions which require looking into. This paper, therefore, through specifically giving a brief
description of federalism and separation of powers and their influence to the current government,
is going to try and answer some of the questions regarding separation of powers and federalism.
The concepts of federalism and separation of power
Federalism is a form of the government, in which authority and power are divided between
the general administration (the federal or central government) and the various component units of
the country which may also be known as the regional governments. The provincial governments
may consist of either states or provinces. Federalism, allows both, the central government and the
local governments, to enjoy power independently of each other. The government at the state or
provincial level is, therefore, not answerable to the general government. The USA is an excellent
example of nations that practice federalism. It (USA) has undergone a series of significant
federalism events from 1789, where the US first established the union of states, to be where it is
today (Boyd, 1997).
Separation of powers, on the other hand, is a type of governance in which the state’s
government is divided into distinct branches usually; the legislature, a judiciary, and an executive,
each with independent and separate powers and responsibilities. The controls in one distinct

Federalism and separation of powers

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division should not conflict with the powers and duties of the other divisions. The constitution
clearly describes the functions and responsibilities of the judiciary, legislature, and the executive
so that they don’t conspire. Section 1 of Article 1 of the constitution of United States reads ‘all
legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall
consist of a Senate and House of Representatives’ (www.senate.gov).
On the other hand, the executive powers shall be vested in the president while the judicial
power shall be vested in one Supreme Court. These duties are found in section 1 of article 2 and
section 1 of articl...


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