Advantages And Disadvantages Of Cooperative Federalism

Federalism in the United States is a great system to govern by. Federalism by definition is a system of government in which the power to govern is shared between the national, state, and local governments. Cooperative federalism is the specific type of government that the United States currently goes by. This means that there is an intertwined relationship among the national, state, and local governments. American federalism leads to a lack of accountability, but can better meet citizens’ interests and maximize citizen participation.
The divided powers between national, state, and local governments in federalism creates an accountability problem. With so many agencies and organizations in each level of government, it can be tough to sort out obligations. The boundaries between these different levels overlap and make it difficult to determine who is responsible for certain duties and who is to blame for failures. When something goes wrong, it is hard to point fingers at which level is accountable. Although this is an issue, this is nothing compared to positives of American federalism.
In this system of government, the needs and wants of the people are met. The national government cannot meet the needs of every state and the states cannot meet the
Because no system is perfect, one of this system’s minor weaknesses is the lack of accountability. The two of many positives of this great system are in favor of the citizens. Citizens’ needs are better reached and citizens are able to participate. It is only logical that the best and most efficient way to govern our country is to divide the power up among the different levels of government and have them work together cooperatively. This way those making the decisions for a certain area of citizens are people who have the best interest of the citizens. Cooperative federalism in the United States today is the best system in which to