Term Paper

Federalism

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Federalism

Introduction

Different forms of government are practiced in different countries of the world, according to the organization of the country, as well as the political choice of its population. Federalism is a relatively popular system of government which is practiced in a significant number of countries of the world. Federalism is the type of government in which the political powers are divided among the central government and the regional or ethnic governments, though the division of powers may not be equal among the central and regional/ ethnic or provincial governments. Although the provincial, region or state level governments have their own rights, authorities, and powers, however, the federal government holds greater and superior power than them. Federal form of government is mostly practiced in those countries of the world which consist of populations belonging to different ethnicities or regions. The major purpose of the federal government is to balance the powers and authorities among the subordinate power groups of provincial or state level government while implementing an equal system of government in the whole country. Although the federal form of government is greatly supported and practiced, it has some disadvantages in addition to the advantages, which require the government authorities to reconsider the policies and recommendations, to make them more profitable for all the units of the society.

Background Information

Federalism has been practiced as the system of government since the nineteenth century in the different part of the world. The major purpose of the establishment of the federal government is to lay the foundation of a central government which would have dominant power and authorities over the regional governments and would be able to contribute to the progress of the country as a cohesive unit. The divisions of powers sometimes become the source of conflict among the central and the regional governments because of the fact that some states have their different laws, which are not applicable to other states. When the individuals move within the states, they have to take care of their own state laws, as well as of those of the state in which they are currently present. Most of the researchers think that the federalist system is unreliable and unstable because of such type of conflicts. In addition to it, the regional forces keep trying to get more rights and powers in order to become the central power, but it is not true for every country of the world. So, some countries of the world look up to the federal laws and authorities to resolve their political, cultural and economic conflicts. Moreover, the federal government and its laws play a constructive role in uniting the different sections of the society, by enabling them to resolve their issues and reach some point of unity (Riker, 2017).

Analysis/Competing Arguments

There are some pros, as well as cons of the federal system of the government which not only impact the life of the people living in those particular areas but also impact the image of the country while affecting its economy. Some of the pros of federalism are following. One of the most important positive aspects of federalism is that it allows diversity among the population of the country. The people are free and have the constitutional rights to depicts themselves with the help of different policies, laws, and institutions. They are not bound to follow the specific policy or law, which does not relate to their ideology or practices. Another important positive aspects of federalism are that it allows room the experimentation of new programs or policies, which can be reverted if they do not seem appropriate for the society. Another pro of the federal system of government is that it provides the opportunities of closer contact between the government and the citizens. It allows self-government as well as pave the way for democracy. One of the most important pros of the federalism is that it resolves the regional issues on the priority basis, while not letting them emerge as the national issues. Moreover, it provides opportunities for healthy competition at the regional level and provides the experience and training of leadership to future leaders. The most remarkable feature of federalism is that it does not allow the accumulation of political powers, at a single unit of government (Robertson, 2017).

Apart from all the above-described pros of federalism, there are some cons of this particular system of government as well, which are following. One of the most important drawbacks of federalism is that it causes great confusion and inconvenience to the general public, in terms of doing interstate and intrastate business. The laws regarding doing business, as well as a free movement are different according to the state level and people have to take care of them while interacting with the affairs of other states. Another con of federalism is that is comprised of a number of unit of government, which increases the cost for the country as well as affect their efficiency. Moreover, coping with certain problems becomes a bigger issue in society, because of the inability of the local as well as central government to resolve the issue. This situations sometimes lead to harmful or unwelcomed competition among the states, which also becomes the source of weakening the national political parties. Another con of federalism is that it give special support to the local industries (Kincaid, & Cole, 2017).

Observations and Recommended Policy Changes

The promotion of diversity is one of the most important points of the federal system of government, however, it also stops the regional units to develop the laws which would be enacted all over the country. Due to such little issues, federalism sometimes becomes the source of conflict among the regional and central governments. Some policy recommendations can be made to make the federal system of government more effective and progressive for society. One of the most important point in this regard is that decision making should be decentralized in the society, which would allow the regional units to make the decisions and policies according to their circumstances and benefits. It would also allow the multiple units to access the government for the benefit of the local population. Another recommendation is that the state laws should be formulated in the way that they allow the profits and interest of different regional populations. Another policy recommendation in this regard is to allow the regional and state governments to contribute equally to the establishment of new policies and laws in federalism and the laws relayed to business should be formulated to support every state (Ziegler, Waldis, Kübler, Gustin, & Glaser, 2018).

Conclusion

Federalism is a particularly more supportive system of government who allows the promotion of diversity. It allows the room for the regional or the provincial level of governments to make the laws and policies according to the cultural beliefs, ideologies, and preferences of their own population, which is centrally controlled and supported by the central, more powerful government. However, federalism also gives rise to some conflicts and barriers when the people of one state, interact with the other state due to their business, or gambrel movement. There are pros and cons of the federal system of government, however, these can be resolved with the help of the policy recommendations, in order to make the system more efficient, supportive and progressive for the general population.

References

Kincaid, J., & Cole, R. L. (2017). Issues of federalism in response to terrorism. In War on Terrorism (pp. 135-145). Routledge.

Riker, W. H. (2017). Federalism. A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy, 612-620.

Robertson, D. B. (2017). Federalism and the Making of America. Routledge.

Ziegler, B., Waldis, M., Kübler, D., Gustin, A., & Glaser, A. (2018). The Pros and Cons of Horizontal Federalism. Federalism and Education: Ongoing Challenges and Policy Strategies in Ten Countries, 187.