Federalism Essay, Research Paper

The Change of Federalism

Federalism is derived from the meaning of federal; which is defined as: pertaining to the nature of a union of states under a central government distinct from the individual governments of the separate states. What this explanation means in everyday terms is that, federalism consists of the national government, the state government and the local government all having one central body of government. Throughout the history of the United States, as with everything else, time has changed the structure and nature of federalism.

The concept of dual federalism was the first form of federalism that was practiced by our government. This theory is nicknamed the layered cake because of its efforts to show a divided function between the national and the state government. It proves the distinct separation of the powers and duties of the two governments. The national as well as the state governments holds its own supremacy and are stated within the Constitution. Dual federalism stood in our

country from 1787 until 1932. It fell as a result of weakness from the strong demands of the Great Depression.

The Great Depression called for a stronger hold between the national and state governments; thus came what is known as cooperative federalism. This form of federalism is called the marble cake. It is given this name because everything is swirled together. There is not the distinction of layers any longer. The national and state governments do not act as two separate trains heading in the same direction. With cooperative federalism, the state and national governments have functions that are done together and goals are achieved as one unit. This form of government headed our country until 1964.

The concept of who receives what money is the foundation of contemporary federalism,which began in 1964 and still applies to our government today. It is also known as the fruit cake form of federalism. President Johnson was the first president to form what is known as creative federalism. In this aspect, the federal government sends money to the local government, which bypasses the state government. Next came the thought by Terry Sanford, known as the picket fence federalism. He did not think that it was in the governments best

interest to bypass the states government, so he voted that every level of government receives money. New federalism, which was introduced by Richard Nixon, created regional centers that would disperse money among state and local governments This would also enable the states tohave more power.

Federalism has changed in several ways and will continue to change. It is nearly impossible to reach a perfect balance of power in a system that is constantly changing.