With any civilization to exist amongst people of different types, a greater power must develop and maintain its position and let it be known to said public that there are certain ways in which things can function in order to keep the various prospering civilizations civil. In the United States, we have a system of Federalism that allows for the success of an agenda set forth by our ancestors in which is developed into equally dispersed power by both our state and national governments.
A national government is one in which is the political authority that controls the nations as one and that has certain rights that only can be exercised on the uppermost level of power and command. There are three different types of Federalism in government which are Confederate, Unitary, and Federalism. A Unitary form of government is when the national government has all control over its citizens but gives the local government some power that it can take back whenever it decides. A Confederate form of government is one where the national government has very little power over its citizens because the power is granted mostly to the local governments. Lastly, a Federalist form of government is one in which the balance of power is divided between state and national government causing the level of decisions to be made on two types of levels of government. The United States runs under a Federalist form of government because it beautifully finds the balance of both Confederate and Unitary governments and, “deals respectively with their weaknesses.”(notes)
With this being said, a National government still has the respect of being the uppermost level of power in the United States and exercises certain rights and powers under a term coined as National Supremacy. National Supremacy is the idea that the national government is stronger and defines the Constitutions right to deny any law created by the states that it sees fit. The reason to this is because if the National government thinks the state laws being made are not beneficial to the United States as a whole, they have the right to deny the creation. The National government has two types of powers which are expressed and implied powers and are listed in the Constitution. Under these powers, the National Government is domestically allowed to tax and collect taxes from its citizens, holds the power to make all the laws in the country through its legislative branch, the power to establish a national court system, the powers to borrow and spend money, the power to regulate trade either locally or domestically, the power to establish a post office, the power the admit a new state to our nation, the power to coin money, and lastly has the power to fix the standards for weights and measures. The National government is in a way systematically branched out so that it can express it’s powers both domestically and internationally. Alongside its domestic powers, the national government is also allowed the power to raise an Army and Navy and has the power to declare war under its Executive branch. On the other hand, all the power the National government has is not expressed such as its implied powers which are the powers not specifically written down in the Constitution but assumed is in control of the national government. Implied powers allows Congress to legislate any social, political, and economic means necessary to sufficiently govern and serve the people.
With all the powers in the hands of the National Government, there must be laws in which some power is limited or else the national government would not be apart of a Federalistic state if it controlled one hundred percent of the power. Many limitations have been created throughout many years of our history and some of these limitations stay in place due to our three branch system to maintain and distribute proper power. The limitations on the National government are listed in article 1 section 9 of the Constitution which regulated the national government from picking on certain groups of people for punishment without a trial know as Bills of Attainder, the national government cannot make something illegal that was legal when the act was committed just to find the person guilty or to raise a punishments level after it has already been confirmed which is known as expo facto laws, the national government is limited in suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus which allows one to be brought into court and told what they have done wrong before imprisonment if found guilty, similar to an explanation. Lastly, the national government cannot pass laws that would deny rights guaranteed in the Constitution to all men and women. Without such limitations, it is unimaginable in the amount of change and rise in corruption this nation would see in the the government. The beauty of it all is to maintain control on such a strong center of power.
With the limitations on the national government in place to protect the rights of states and its citizens, some rights that are broad and general are given to the states and if they are, “not delegated to the national government or denied to the states are reserved for the government or denied to the states are reserved for the states or the people.”(Powerpoint) The states have certain rights such as passing laws that will promote a better life to its citizens such as healthcare and education, regulating commerce within its borders, creating local Congressional governments, and having the right to amend the Constitution. Just like its big brother, the national government, state governments also have limitations placed amongst them as well. These limitations make it so that the state governments do not surpass the national government's control over its citizens. These limitations are states not having the right to pass expo facto laws, bill of attainder laws, they cannot levy taxes on imports or exports without Congress’ approval which means that whatever is entering or leaving the state is still under American soil and is watched over by the national government because it is the highest level of power.
These are some types of relationships the national government has with the state governments and I like to view it as a big brother and a younger brother because the states have a say in certain things and can fend for themselves but when in need or when trying to do something they’re not allowed to, big brother is there to remind them who is who. Other relationships the national government has with state government is concurrent powers, which are the powers shared between both governments which is Federalism at work. These powers are the power to tax, the power to spend, the power to make laws and borrow money, the power to establish courts and the power of eminent domain which is to compensate a owner of private land for governmental and/or public use.
The national government is a great power and is the highest level of command in the United States that strives to make the country a better place for it’s citizens and its future. Throughout the nations controversial and revolutionized beginning and history, the U.S establishment as a government has consistently provided for itself and for its nation throughout the development of laws, traditions, and connections domestically and internationally all in while having multiple restrictions upon it to maintain the traditions put in place by the founding fathers.