Federalism, and Confederalism
Confederalism and Federalism, do these terms sound like nonsense to you? Well they did me also. Upon further research into our nation’s governmental origins, however I found these two words that sound like nonsense to actually be some of the most important for our countries foundation.
In 1776, the American colonies of Great Brittan declared independence from their mother country, in order to form a new country, of their own creation. This new country became the United States of America. Simply writing out and signing the Declaration of Independence was not enough to free the American colonies from their ruler, and thus the Revolutionary war took place. Even before the war was officially declared, our founding fathers realized that the colonies would need a government set into place to hold the states together against the British forces. In those times there were three basic types of government to choose from, confederalism, unitarian, and federal. (Politics and Government in Michigan)
The term confederalism comes from the root word confederation, which is a form of government where there are many independent governments, each with authority over a state or territory and a central government that has authority over the whole. The central government is not very powerful, and holds only those powers which all of the states governments agree to give it, but in turn offers a loose association between the states. The central government often lacks authority to enforce its rules, within the states, unless the state agrees. This makes the central government weak compared to the separate states governments. One example of confederalism is if four people all were partial owners of a business, and each had an equal say in how the business was to be run because each had put equal funds, and time into the business. The business would still however be under the authority of the laws governing the town where the business was located, thus separate governments under
In 1776, the American colonies of Great Brittan declared independence from their mother country, in order to form a new country, of their own creation. This new country became the United States of America. Simply writing out and signing the Declaration of Independence was not enough to free the American colonies from their ruler, and thus the Revolutionary war took place. Even before the war was officially declared, our founding fathers realized that the colonies would need a government set into place to hold the states together against the British forces. In those times there were three basic types of government to choose from, confederalism, unitarian, and federal. (Politics and Government in Michigan)
The term confederalism comes from the root word confederation, which is a form of government where there are many independent governments, each with authority over a state or territory and a central government that has authority over the whole. The central government is not very powerful, and holds only those powers which all of the states governments agree to give it, but in turn offers a loose association between the states. The central government often lacks authority to enforce its rules, within the states, unless the state agrees. This makes the central government weak compared to the separate states governments. One example of confederalism is if four people all were partial owners of a business, and each had an equal say in how the business was to be run because each had put equal funds, and time into the business. The business would still however be under the authority of the laws governing the town where the business was located, thus separate governments under
Cited: "Federalism." Annenberg Media Learner. 29 Jan. 2008 <http://www.learner.org/channel/courses/democracyinamerica/dia_3/dia_3_topic.html>. "Federalism." National Constitution Center. 29 Jan. 2008 <http://www.constitutioncenter.org/explore/BasicGoverningPrinciples/Federalism.shtml>. Greenberg, Edward S., and Benjamin I. Page. The Struggle for Democracy. 8th ed. 2007. Hamilton, Alexander, John Jay, and James Madison. "The Federalist Papers." os (1788). Hanley, James P., and Paul A. Rozycki. Politics and Government in Michigan. 5th ed. Vol. 1. West, 2007. Houghton, David. "Federalism." BBC News. 8 Nov. 2004. 29 Jan. 2008 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/2580699.stm>. United States. Cong. The Constitution of the United States. Washington: GPO, 1788.