Describe federalism. Identify the impact it has on the public safety administrator. Make sure you include specific examples or details in your response.
It is important to note that there is no assigned definition for federalism. This essentially means that various definitions have been floated in the past in an attempt to define federalism. However, in essence, federalism could be seen as a political system whereby authority over a definite jurisdiction is shared between several governments (two or more) (Banks, 2018). More specifically, Khan (2008) defines federalism as “a form of government that distributes powers between the national government and state governments” (49). In seeking to distinguish federalism and a unitary form of government, the author further points out that in the latter case, the national/central government has all the powers – with other governments (i.e. local and state) deriving their mandate from the central government. It is important to note that at present, there are a number of countries from the across the world that have in place a federal system and/or are governed by the same. The said countries include, but they are not limited to, Argentina, the U.S., and Canada. Right here in the U.S., the constitution is clear on the powers apportioned to both state and federal governments. In this case, in addition to being advanced the power to enforce diverse laws, states also in place their very own judicial, executive, as well as legislative branches. It is also important to note that in the U.S., the mandate of the federal government largely relates to the foreign policy determination (Banks, 2018). Also, the constitution grants the federal government exclusive power for not only export/import control, but also war declaration (Banks, 2018). It should, however, be noted that most of the state and federal roles are not mutually exclusive. Instead, they largely complement or supplement each other. Such roles include, but they are not limited to promotion of civil rights, protection of the environment, business regulation, and taxation.

In essence, federalism does have an impact on public safety administration. Towards this end, the public safety administrator has to be aware of the relevance of cooperation across local, state, and federal levels. It should be noted that in this case, the public safety administrator ought to be aware of the fact that there is a clear distinction between meaningful cooperation and displacement (i.e. where either government supplants the other). Thus in dealing with issues of law enforcement, the best results are likely to be derived via meaningful and deliberate collaboration as well as cooperation. This is more so the case today where terrorism remains a valid and ever-present threat. Towards this end, counterterrorism policy ought to be even more appreciative of the relevance of collaboration at the local, state, and federal levels of government.

Next, the public safety administrator ought to be aware of the role, capacity, as well as competency of each level when it comes to handling crime and dealing with criminal enterprises. This is to say that in some instances, crime is best handled by either the federal, local, or state government. In this case, therefore, the public safety administrator must be capable of making proper referrals in his role as a public safety official/administrator. For instance, the federal government is best placed to handle interstate and international crime. Further, it is also important to note that some resources have better utility when maintained by the federal government. A good example in this case is the identification and fingerprints database. In the final analysis, the public safety administrator ought to be aware of the fact that no level of government has sole responsibility for public safety. In so doing, the public administrator should also be aware of the concern of crime federalization and the impact it could have as far as disparate enforcement is concerned.