Balance of Power between Individual States and Federal Government

Week 3 Assignment: Balance of Power between Federal Government and Individual States

From the onset, it would be prudent to note that to a large extent, the United States happens to be a federal republic – at least from the constitutional perspective. This is to say that the country is governed via a balance of power mechanism between the governments of individual states, and the national government. According to the Bill of Rights Institute (2021), in this particular scenario, “the states have their laws, but they are also subject to the laws of the federal government.” How did the federal republic come about? As the Bill of Rights Institute (2021) points out, the Founders were well aware of the fact that absolute government power could be abused. In that regard, in their writing of the constitution, they sought to ensure that even in seeking to ensure that the government was strong and stable, its authority was limited. This, according to the institute, was achieved via the establishment of a federal republic. Further, there was also need to ensure that the needs of diverse populations were secured. This was particularly important owing to the fact that the region had evolved from colonies that were largely separate. As a consequence, the US now has the state and national levels of government.

The federal government responsibilities towards states as well as state responsibilities to each other has been captured under Article IV of the country’s supreme law, i.e. the constitution (Krutz, 2018). For instance, with regard to state responsibilities to each other, Krutz (2018) points out that Section 2 of the said article is clear that newcomers in any state ought to be treated in the same manner as citizens of the state in question – in line with the “privileges and immunities” entitlement (Krutz, 2018). This has in the past been affirmed by a Supreme Court ruling (Gerston, 2015). Further, it would also be prudent to note that as per Section 1 of the very same article (i.e. Article IV), each state has an obligation to recognize as well as honor the legal decisions as well as judgments of other states – i.e. in line with the “full faith and credit” provision (Krutz, 2018).

In as far as the balance of power between the federal government and state governments is concerned, there would be need to highlight the relevance of the concepts of exclusive and concurrent powers. While concurrent powers are those powers that the state governments and the federal government share, exclusive powers are inclusive of the various powers that the state governments reserve, or that the federal government reserves (Gerston, 2015). Towards this end, some of the exclusive federal powers that could be highlighted in this context are inclusive of, but they are not limited to; the conduction of foreign affairs, the establishment or formation of armies, the declaration of war, foreign and interstate commerce regulation, coining money, etc. On the other hand, some of the exclusive powers retained or maintained by the state could be inclusive of interstate commerce regulation, militia maintenance, provision of public health and safety, establishment of local governments, etc. Examples of concurrent powers in this context are; land acquisition for public use, the making and enforcement of certain laws, taxation, etc.