Federalism vs. Separation of Power

Prepare:

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, watch The Supremacy Clause: McCulloch v. Maryland (Links to an external site.) and Chapter 3: Federalism in your textbook American Government. You may also find it helpful to review the materials from last week and the video that you watched for this week’s discussion forum, Key Constitutional Concepts (Links to an external site.) (0:00 to 22:56).

Reflect:

Recall that the authors of the Constitution largely took the authority of individual states over state affairs as a given, based on the colonial history of the region. At the same time, they recognized that a system of government where states held most of the political power, such as under the Articles of Confederation, did not work. Their response to both of these the development of a governmental system governed by the concept of federalism, the principle that the power to govern is shared between the federal government and state governments. The term “federalism” was not included within the Constitution, but the Constitution nonetheless outlined federalism by including roles for the states explicitly, as well as implicitly acknowledging their role in local governance. The end result of this approach was that the federal government would have authority over some issues and the state government has authority over others. Based on what you have learned about the authors of the Constitution, think about why they created the system of federalism as they did. Consider also how this system might create conflict or cooperation and how that could then affect citizens.

In addition, Think back to last week’s discussion of separation of powers. Why did the authors of the Constitution set up a divided system of government at the federal level? How was federalism the result of a similar approach? How is the concept of separation of powers distinct, in practice, than that of federalism?

Write:

In this written assignment, you will examine the Constitutional basis of federalism. In so doing you will contrast the concept of federalism with the separation of powers and then investigate federalism by examining a topic of your choice, and how it demonstrates the concept of federalism at both the national and state level. In your investigation, make sure to discuss potential points of tension and/or cooperation that can arise between states and the national government on your issue of choice.

First, choose a topic from the list below:

• Infrastructure
• Healthcare
• Environment
• Criminal justice
• Civil rights
• Social programs
• Education

You must be able to explain why both the federal and state governments have power to make law in relation to the chosen topic. After choosing your topic, you will have to find specific examples of how federalism impacts the way in which everyday Americans experience your chosen topic. To do so, go to the UAGC Library’s Library OneSearch and click on advanced search. For the search terms, enter “United States,” “federalism,” and your chosen topic. Click on the box for scholarly/peer-reviewed articles, and then click search. Explore the list of articles to find at least two specific examples that interest you. You will need to use at least two separate scholarly articles from the library for this assignment.

Once you have completed your research and found your examples, write a two- to three-page (five paragraph) paper.

In your paper,

• Explain federalism as it is used in the United States, its constitutional basis, and compare it to the separation of powers (one body paragraph)
• Examine the legal basis for the federal government and state governments to make laws regarding your topic based upon the examples you chose (one body paragraph)
• Examine the way in which federalism impacts the way in which Americans experience the topic you have chosen. Make sure to discuss tensions and/or instances of cooperation that may arise between the federal and state government on this topic (One paragraph)
• Clearly identify Constitutional articles, federal or state laws, court cases, government entities or other relevant factors in your paper.

The Federalism vs. Separation of Power paper

• Must be two to three double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA Style(Links to an external site.) as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA Formatting for Microsoft Word (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate title page that is formatted according to APA style
• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice(Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
  • For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions(Links to an external site.) and Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Writing Center resources. Additional help with creating a thesis statement can found in How to Write A Thesis (Links to an external site.).
  • In the body of your paper, directly support the position that you took in your thesis. The Writing Center’s Academic Paragraph Structure(Links to an external site.) tutorial explains how to structure the paragraphs in the body of your paper.
• Must use at least two scholarly, peer-reviewed sources in addition to the course text.
  • The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources(Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source.
  • To assist you in completing the research required for this assignment, view Quick and Easy Library Research(Links to an external site.) tutorial, which introduces the University of Arizona Global Campus Library and the research process, and provides some library search tips. For help with searching for articles, you may use the Help! Need Article (Links to an external site.) You may also find the How to Read a Scholarly Article (Links to an external site.) tutorial helpful as you research your topic. If you use additional, non-scholarly sources, they must be credible sources that pass the CRAAPO test. Download CRAAPO test.
• Must document any information used from sources in APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA: Citing Within Your Paper(Links to an external site.) Please refer to the Writing Center’s Quoting, Paraphrasing, & Summarizing (Links to an external site.) for assistance.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center. See the APA: Formatting Your References List(Links to an external site.) resource in the Writing Center for specifications.

This assignment contains a Microsoft Word document.

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