Question

Do you think federalism works in the United States? Or do you think federalism creates a lot of red tape? Or do do you think federalism helps quell discrimination? Do you think the system of checks and balances works in the United States? How could it be improved?

Answer 1

Federalism:

Federalism works for better or for worse. Things which are not regulated by federal government are regulated by local state governments. This can lead to problems like when states voted to have slavery and federal government couldn’t do anything about it. Sometimes federalism helps against discrimination like banning slavery or similar things. Sometimes they take long time and are not helpful.

System of checks & balances:

System of checks and balances in United States was made to control the amount of power that each branch of government has. Without a system to prevent a single government from having more power over another, the government would be controlled by one group of people. This system has bought to existence to prevent unfairness to the people arising from a single government it is intended to prevent tyranny.

This has three branches namely legislative, executive & judicial. The legislative is run by the congress and the responsibility is framing laws. The executive branch is run by the president. He enforces the laws and presents the new ones, which is in control of armed forces and has vetoing power. The judicial is run by the Supreme Court and has the responsibility to analyze the constitution and review the laws.

The main advantage is that one branch has power over the other two and helps in maintaining equality. Overall the system function as it was intended ensuring that the three branches operate in balance.

To conclude, the system of checks and balances in us are effective in providing cooperation and constitution as stressed by founding fathers. However the way in which they have been limited to use in practice which can lead to gridlock or lack of scrutiny displays that they are not fully effective. Though these are effective in principle and practical to some extent, they don’t come without limits.