American Fed Essay, Research Paper

American federalism is a form of government in which the constitution distributes governmental powers between the national government and the subsidiary governments of the states. Article I, Section 8, and the Tenth Amendment are good examples of this definition. In Article I, Section 8, the Constitution defines the powers delegated to the national government, such as the power to regulate commerce and to enact laws necessary and proper for the execution of its powers. The Tenth Amendment retains all powers to the states that are not delegated to the United States government.

The single most important provision that has shaped the evolution of American Federalism is Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. constitution in which power is delegated to the national government. This provision is the most important because in order to create American federalism you must define the powers distributed to the national government and those retained by the state. This provision ensures the powers of the national government and allows for the government to use these powers. Article I section 8 has helped federalism evolve in many ways. In McCulloch v Maryland the necessary and proper clause from Article I, Section 8, was used to help reach a decision that shifted more power to national government. Article I, Section 8, was also important in the cases of Gibbons v Ogden and NLRB v Jones and Lauglin. Both of these cases resulted in shifts of power between the national government and the state governments, which is exactly how American federalism has evolved.