Federalism: Suicide to a Nation
In his state of the union speech in December 1813, James Madison declared that "[T]he destiny of the United States [is] to be a great, a flourishing, and a powerful nation." Originally the Framers had mindfully believed federalism, allowing both the state and national governments to form policy, would tie in opportunities for states to enact policies that cater their population. While this ability was almost necessary to represent the individuality of differing opinions across state boundaries, the umbrella of the nation government still loomed over all policies with their Supremacy Clause. Although there are positive and negative aspects to the federal government, this has become an catastrophic approach to the United States. The United States federal system will eventually lead to a downward spiral because of its several conflicts, including great confusion among the population and state laws, supremacy to special interest perspectives, heavy enforcement of discrimination, and inequalities in the system. Under the Constitution, Article IV, all states are obliged to recognize other states records, public acts, court decisions, and laws. Also, privileges and immunities are based upon the location of the citizen; For example, i
Say a small group of citizens decide to visit Rick Sanatorum and request funds are allocated toward the environment. They tend to overlook anything that is not strictly hyped up by the media. ' With all of this information, it is obvious that the confusion among citizens and governments has lead to increased tension among national, state and local governments. On another topic of confusion, in the newspaper article Teen Killers' Execution Weighed, it is apparent that state's legislation on sentencing minors to the death penalty has become very divisive. Sometimes state governors have refused to extradite criminals, as in the Scottsboro case or in circumstances of parents kidnapping their children. It is nearly impossible for political enlightenment to occur without a well informed public, able and willing to take a stand on major issues. Another imposed inequality is when national funding is cut for programs that affect the states. This was viewed as an inequality because the larger states collecting more taxes or richer states were put at an advantage compared to the poorer states required acknowledging the same regulations. Greenberg and Page present the argument that, "Extensive material inequality. In today's day and age, people appear to be swept up in their immediate priorities, like school, career advancement, and family. " This illustration becomes very realistic when taking into consideration the national government's leverage on grants, lack of qualified officials to control the government, prior policies of unfunded mandates, and cuts in programs reflecting state issues. One of Hudson's issues addressed in American Democracy in Peril, is the population's lack of focus on all politics, especially state policy and elections. If the United States were to decrease funding for the NASA space program than states that employ many people in this program would suffer bitter losses as opposed to state that don't partake in the space program. Studies and facts have shown that state governments are more likely to hold prejudices than national, resulting in violation of human rights. Prior to 1995, the national government held states responsible for 'unfunded mandates,' meaning states were required to uphold these laws, but provided with no monetary compensation.
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