In: Economics
Consider the following: Federalism is defined as shared government between a central government and regional units of government. Essentially, federalism is about the balance of power between the federal government and the states. When we consider issues such as the environment, health care, education, welfare, immigration, unemployment, housing, marriage definitions, etc., the debate centers around whether those responsibilities should be primarily handled by the state governments or the federal government or neither.
Please respond to the following questions completely: Which level of government should be more responsible for providing various services and public goods to the citizens? What kinds of services should those be and why? Explain your response fully.
Federalism is shared government between central and regional units.
Thus the regional units of government should be more responsible for providing various local services and public goods to the citizens as the central government can pass laws which apply to all states but which don't prove to be efficient overall as they wouldn't specifically solve the problems of all the states.
Thus issues related to the entire country such as immigration, healthcare, environment, marriage definition, should be in the purview of the central government as when a central authority making rules and regulations regarding such aspects, this reduces discrepancies and enhances the ability to generate business across states in a smooth manner.
Whereas issues related to education, welfare, unemployment and housing should be given to the state governments as micro aspects of specific states could be easily addressed at regional units. For example if welfare has to be increased for minorities in a particular region and as they are minorities they won't cover the entire country. The regional units will be better able to address how to create employment opportunities, skill the workforce and create local solutions which address the crux of the issue. Central governments addressing these concerns could lead to broad solutions which don't solve the problem and also not all regional units might be facing housing, or educational issues.