Professional Documents
Culture Documents
country :
Before I went to the details of our stance,let me give you
a brief information about the Federal Form of
Government;
Federalism is the process by which two or more
governments share powers over the same
geographic area.
There is a national or central government and
state governments ,each of this state is
independent of each other but they are not in
itself sovereign (International Law) ,such that
other country will only recognise the central
government but not any of the established states.
Furthermore there will be delegation of powers
and the power of the central/national government
is limited ,as of for example in the case of United
States of America ,which is the best example for
the this form of government.
Exclusive Powers of the National
Government
Under the Constitution, powers reserved to the
national government include:
Print money (bills and coins)
Declare war
Establish an army and navy
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Clause 4:
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform
Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United
States;
Clause 5:
To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign
Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
Clause 6:
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the
Securities and current Coin of the United States;
Clause 7:
To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
Clause 8:
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by
securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the
exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
Clause 9:
To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
Clause 10:
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on
the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
Clause 11:
Making Laws
Article I of the Constitution sets forth the powers of
Congress in specific language. Section 8 states, "Congress
shall have Power To make all Laws which shall be
necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the
foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this
Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in
any Department or Officer thereof."
Laws aren't simply conjured out of thin air, of course. In
fact, the legislative process is quite involved and designed
to ensure that proposed laws are given careful
consideration.
Briefly, any senator or congressman may introduce a bill,
after which it is referred to the appropriate legislative
committee for hearings. The committee, in turn, debates
the measure, possibly offering amendments, then voting on
it.
If approved, the bill heads back to the chamber from which
it came, where the full body will vote on it. Assuming
lawmakers approve the measure, it will be sent to the other
chamber for a vote.
Once the measure clears Congress, it is ready for the
president. If both bodies have approved legislation that
differs, it must be resolved in a joint congressional
committee before being voted on again by both chambers.
The legislation then goes to the White House, where the
president may either sign it into law or veto it. Congress, in
turn, has the power to override a presidential veto with a
two-thirds majority in both chambers.
Armed Forces
Are you a fan of Hollywood cop films? If you are, you may know that a
common plot line in these movies is jurisdiction friction, or when some kind of
tension between local police (usually the hero) and federal investigators
(usually the antagonist) takes place over who has control of an investigation.
Take, for example, the film Rush Hour. In this movie, an LAPD police officer
(Chris Tucker) tries to help a fellow Chinese cop (Jackie Chan) find the
abducted daughter of the Chinese Ambassador to America. While they face
many road blocks, one of the biggest obstacles in their investigation is the
FBI, which orders Tucker and Chan to stop their investigation because it is
outside of local jurisdiction and a matter of federal jurisdiction.
What this common Hollywood plot line reveals is the nature of a federal
government. A federal government is a system of dividing up power between
a central national government and local state governments that are connected
to one another by the national government. Some areas of public life are
under the control of the national government, and some areas are under
control of the local governments. For this reason, cop films like to create
drama by making the federal government and local government bump heads
over who should be investigating the crime at hand. Federal government
systems usually have a constitution that specifies what areas of public life the
national government will take control over and what areas of public life the
state governments will take control over.
Why does the United States have a federal government but not Great Britain?
The answer has to do with size. Federal governments are best used in large
countries where there exists a diverse group of people with diverse needs but
a common culture that unites them together.
For example, think of the difference between Wyoming (the least densely
populated state) and New Jersey (the most densely populated state). Clearly,
the needs at the local level of each state will be different, so they should have