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‘Federal Government Increasingly Dominates State Governments in the Usa.’ Discuss.

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A2 politics Jess Waldron
‘Federal government increasingly dominates state governments in the USA.’ Discuss

The United States of America have a federal constitution, where the President of the United States, Congress, and the judiciary share powers, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments. This is the stark opposite to the unitary system in the UK where sovereignty lies in parliament and some powers are given to local assemblies. There are many types of federalism; all have been a dominant influence in the American political system at some point due to the style of leadership brought in by each new presidential candidate. Throughout U.S. history, the division of power between the federal …show more content…

Federalism is a dual (split in two) system of sovereignty, splitting power between a central government and various state governments. Both the federal and state governments can directly govern citizens through their own officials and laws. The resulting Constitution allowed powers for both federal and state governments. Each had some separate powers and some shared powers.
A federalist called John Marshall, as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, made decisions favoring a strong federal government over state government power. In Marbury v. Madison (1803) Marshall used judicial review (where the Court is the government body to decide whether laws are constitutional), this was used in accordance with the principles and power established by the Constitution. By the late 1930s, the Great Depression resulted in a dramatic change. The idea of federalism and Marshall's earlier positions returned. In West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish (1937) the Court extended federal power to regulate some economic activities within states. Under a broadened Commerce Clause interpretation, federal powers expanded at the expense of state powers and emphasis on the Tenth Amendment declined. The Court in NLRB v. United States (1936) reaffirmed the Wagner Act which brought labor relations under federal oversight. In addition, the Social Security Act creating a national retirement fund, passed in 1935.

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