The Advantages and Disadvantages of Federalism
Federalism is one way that governments choose to solve the problem ofgoverning large populations and/or diverse cultures. Federalism works bydividing its authority and responsibility, as opposed to a unitarygovernment, in which the central government controls everything. Examplesof federalism operating successfully include the United States, One advantage of federalism is that by allowing
(73) While certainly local governments have the potentialto become corrupt and dominating, the advantages and results gained fromusing federalism as a means of governing prove to be the most successful. In addition, it is impractical fora national government to assume it can have one central location; thegovernment can not cover large areas of geography nor can it keep up withpopulation growth. For example, the South generated a strong subculture, which lead to theCivil War. (Schmidt 68) Disadvantages of a federal system include the division amongsubcultures. With such a system in place,the state governments can focus on local responsibilities, which worksbetter because state and local representatives are closer to the issues andproblems that affect their population. When individuals of the same mind become concentrated in onearea, problems erupt that demand intervention from the federal government. As a result, federalism brings the government closer tothe people because the people have easier access to local officials andthey also have a greater influence on how local governments govern. In addition, a single party can sometimes dominate localgovernments, they seem to block progress at times, and they are more opento corruption. the central governmentto delegate many government functions to states or provinces, it has moretime to focus on world issues and policies.
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