Federalism and Constitutional Debates

One of the most significant and innovative ideas in the American Constitution is federalism even though the word does not appear in it. This concept entails sharing of power between two different levels of government i.e. federal and state governments. Through this system of government, power from the central government is shared to state governments. While federalism has existed in the United States for centuries, there are numerous problems relating to the sharing of power between these different levels of government. These problems have generated constitutional debates on whether the concept has positive or negative impacts on certain fundamental rights. An example of an issue that has generated such debates is privacy rights i.e. whether some federal laws infringe on individuals right to privacy. This paper will examine the positive and negative impacts of federalism on privacy rights and identify the most significant impact.

Positive Impact of Federalism on Privacy Rights

The right to privacy is one of the core concepts of contemporary liberal constitutional ideas in the United States (Lim, 2015, p.415). Actually, the right to privacy is a principle that is embedded in the architecture of the U.S. Constitution, especially on the Bill of Rights. In light of recent security threats, the central government has enacted legislation that seemingly infringe on the right to privacy. Moreover, there have been numerous concerns on whether federalism interferes with this constitutional right. Despite these concerns, federalism has had positive impacts on citizens' right to privacy.

One of the positive impacts of federalism on privacy rights is enabling people to decide the extent with which legislation affects their privacy. Federalism has achieved this through separation of powers in which state governments decide what kind of laws they enact. In essence, federalism has given local and state governments the powers to decide laws that relate to...
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To this extent, state governments enact legislation based on people's ideas and thoughts on the extent of governmental involvement in their private lives. This essentially means that federalism enables citizens to choose what extent of their private lives would be availed to the government for political or security reasons.
Based on the principle of separation of powers, federalism ensures that the central government is not permitted to interfere with the way states operate. In this process, the state enacts laws including privacy laws that meet the demands and needs of its residents. However, the federal government ensures that states do not misuse their powers to enact legislation that would ultimately interfere with people's privacy rights as guaranteed by the Constitution (Mayabi, 2015). Therefore, federalism not only gives people power to determine the extent of privacy but also protects them from state legislation that would interfere with privacy as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

Negative Impact of Federalism on Privacy Rights

Despite having a positive impact on privacy rights, federalism also has a negative impact on this constitutional provision. Based on the concept of federalism, the protection of people's privacy is not only a responsibility of state governments but also a mandate of the central government. While the federal government has given states the power to enact their privacy laws, it still maintains some control on protection of people's privacy. Through federalism, the central government can obtain an individual's personal information and keep it in government databases. For instance, whenever an individual performs any transaction using Social Security Cards, the federal government is bound to be aware and can easily access his/her personal information when such transactions are conducted through banks and government entities.

In light of this trend, the negative impact of federalism on privacy…