PADM 600 Research Paper Federalism
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Research Paper: Federalism Research
1
Research Paper: Federalism Research
Matthew Chance
Liberty University
PADM 600: Politics & Public Sector Budgeting
Dr. Shelley Taylor
August 13, 2023
Research Paper: Federalism Research
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Introduction
When the Founding Fathers were thinking about creating the Constitution and breaking
away from England, they knew they needed to create a system for the United States that would
be nothing like England. They were leaving because the tyranny that was happening from King
George and did not want that to happen in the United States. There were several ideas that were
brought up to ensure this would never happen again. Debates were held to ensure that the federal
government would not be too powerful over the states and to ensure the people would have their
voice heard. The Founding Fathers decided to create a system with checks and balances with
three different branches of government. The Founding Fathers also knew that the States needed
to have rights as well that the federal government could not infringe upon.
The Founding Fathers created a system that has been known as Federalism. There are
several countries around the world that use Federalism as a system for checks and balances.
Federalism is meant to provide a system where the federal government could not become too
powerful over states. “Many forms of federalism look to create checks and balances throughout
society as a way to create an equal governing process. By diffusing power to multiple branches
of office, like the U.S. does with the executive, legislative, and judicial segments, it becomes
more challenging for one division to take over the country” (Regoli, 2019).
Role/Impact of Federalism
The system of federalism was an idea of the Founding Fathers to ensure that the federal
government could not become too powerful for one single person or one single group. When it
comes to federalism, there are several points in history that could be looked at for the role it
plays in the United States. The first would be to look at when the United States was just
becoming a new nation. The Founding Fathers were struggling with the tyranny of England and
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King George and wanted to make sure this had never happened again. They wanted to have a
strong federal government that could protect their citizens but have limited powers to not become
too powerful. They knew that if the federal government became too powerful then one person
would use this to gain more power than anybody else and they would be back to a tyranny. They
created a system named federalism that is still used to this day in the United States and is used by
many countries all over the world. According to Cornell Law School federalism is defined as,
“Federalism is a system of government in which the same territory is controlled by two levels of
government. Generally, an overarching national government is responsible for broader
governance of larger territorial areas, while the smaller subdivisions, states, and cities govern the
issues of local concern” (Cornell Law).
Another example of the role of federalism applies to the times that we are living in today
with the two-party system. With the two major party system in the United States, each party tries
to do whatever that could be done to get more individual or party power than the other party.
This could be a majority party holding the Senate or the House of Representatives. Federalism is
meant to make sure that the legislative branch does not have more power than the executive
branch or the judicial branch. “Even when there is a significant majority of one party in the
government, Federalism still makes it challenging to generate massive changes that impact the
entire population. This structure is one of the principal reasons why most democratic nations
choose this form of governing over the other available selections” (Miller, 2020). In our current
times it is important to understand that federalism is meant to ensure that one group does not get
more power than another group. With federalism creating multiple layers of government it is an
important concept that the Founding Fathers created to limit the federal government from
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becoming too powerful. With these two examples that have been provided, shows the benefits
that come from federalism in the United States.
Impact of Federalism on Federal Level Public Budgeting
With federalism making sure the federal government does not become more powerful
than the states, it has the potential to impact public budgeting as well. With the budget being
requested by one branch of government and approved or changed by another branch, this means
that there could be power that could be changed for favors. The concept of federalism is meant to
ensure that one group does not become more powerful, and this does tie over to the public budget
as well. Federalism has the power to influence policy and budgeting within the United States
because it is meant to centralize the federal government and all of the components that are within
the federal government as well. “Overall, federalism affects public policy outcomes in a number
of positive ways. It allows for a more centralized decision-making process, greater
accountability, more competition among states, and greater flexibility. These features can all lead
to better public policy outcomes” (Rachelle, 2022).
Federalism is a great concept to have when a budget is being created, reviewed, changed,
approved, or denied. I say this because one person is not allowed to have more power than
anybody else, so they are not able to put their major influence to help themselves or others that
bring money to the table for more budget funding. Without the concept of federalism being
introduced into budgeting, this could mean that one group or person would be able to use their
power or influence over something else to ensure that more funding would be given to a certain
program, agency, or outside source that could be providing donations to any elected official
involved in the budget process. Federalism is an important concept to understand and to have
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involved in the budget process because of the benefits that are given to the people and to the
safety of budgeting.
Impact of Federal Agency Spending on Public Budgets
There year when budgets are being written, reviewed, changed, approved, or denied,
there are several factors that are going into how the budget looks. The first is the direction that
the economy is heading towards from the previous year and the prediction of how the economy
is going to be the next year. If the economy is trending towards a boom, then the budgets could
be higher in revenue which means there could be more funding that is given out to programs or
agencies than they had the previous year. If the economy is trending down and there is a loss in
revenue, this means that the budget has the potential to be lower than the previous year and then
programs and agencies have the potential to receive less funding than the previous year of what
they had.
Every year during when a budget is in the initial phase of planning, each federal agency
usually submits a request stating how much funding will be needed for the next fiscal year. Many
of these federal agencies include the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture,
Social Security Administration, Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human
Services, Department of Treasury, etc. These federal agencies usually ask for a higher budget at
the beginning of the process or later on request for funding because new things that came up and
they do not have enough federal funding at the current time. There are many people who believe
that once a budget is set for a federal agency, they should not be able to come back later down
the line to request for funding. “The White House on Thursday asked Congress for $40 billion to
support efforts at the Defense Department and agencies across government, saying the
emergency spending was necessary to sustain critical activities” (Katz, 2023). There are
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supplemental budget requests that are made by the President, Congress, or even the federal
agencies throughout each year.
Judeo-Christian Analysis
The Bible is a place we need to turn to for guidance on any subject to see exactly what
we should learn. “Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the
emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise
those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the
ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up
for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor
the emperor” (1 Peter 2:13-17). The Bible tells us that no matter what type of government rule is
in place, we need to follow the law as everything that comes down is from the Lord. Another
Bible verse that comes to mind, “Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be
obedient, to be ready for every good work” (Titus 3:1, ESV). As a Christian we need to follow
the rule of law exactly how it is set up because the laws are meant to protect the citizens and give
them a better life.
Conclusion
With federalism as a system in the United States and used throughout the world, it provides
advantages like checks and balances to ensure that tyranny does not happen. When the founding
fathers were creating the United States, they knew they needed to find a system that would
continue to bring balance between the federal government and the local state governments. They
knew this system would have to stand the test of time to make sure tyranny was never an option
for elected officials. “The advantages of federalism for public policy are that individuals become
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more involved with their government in various ways. In this process, the elected officials are
closer, so the people can visit a local office to express their options without fear of judgment”
(Brown, 2023). The system of federalism provides advantages when it comes to budgeting but
not allowing one person to have too much power as it is divided. It is important for the United
States to implement federalism in all government functions as it benefits the nation as a whole,
but it also benefits the citizens of the United States.
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References
Brown, J. (2023, July 24). What Are The Advantages Of Federalism? MainaAdvantages.
https://mainadvantages.com/advantages-of-federalism/
Federalism. (n.d.-b). LII / Legal Information Institute.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/federalism
Katz, E. (2023). Biden requests $40B to boost funding at select agencies. Government Executive.
https://www.govexec.com/management/2023/08/biden-requests-40b-boost-funding-
select-agencies/389319/
Miller, B. (2020, January 7). 19 Key advantages and disadvantages of federalism. Green Garage.
https://greengarageblog.org/19-key-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-federalism
Rachelle. (2022, October 15). The Impact of Federalism on Public Policy Outcomes. Ecusocmin.
https://www.ecusocmin.org/the-impact-of-federalism-on-public-policy-outcomes/
Regoli, N. (2019, February 14). 15 Advantages and Disadvantages of Federalism. ConnectUS.
https://connectusfund.org/15-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-federalism
Titus 3:1 (ESV). (n.d.). Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?
search=Titus+3%3A1&version=ESV
1 Peter 2:13-17 (ESV). (n.d.). Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?
search=1+peter+2%3A13-17&version=ESV