POLITICAL SCIENCE

State Power

September 4, 2012

POLITICAL SCIENCE

The American federalism was never simply a set of the stiffened rules fixed in the American Constitution. The American federalism is a dynamic multidimensional process in which it is possible to single out not only the constitutional aspects, but also economic, administrative and political. It especially belongs to the modern period of the development of the American government. The American federalism has a new, international measurement. Such agreements as GATT and NAFTA will certainly make a deep impact on federalism. The majority of the political observers consider that the state powers will continue to be reduced in relation to the federal government in the USA because the policy of the state power on such questions as economic development, environmental protection and licensing, should correspond to the conditions of these international agreements, and also to the restrictive provisions of the US Constitution. However, these international agreements can lead to the increase of the state power in relation to the federal government of the USA. For example, according to the NAFTA agreement, the American state power has the right of the deliberative vote concerning the questions of the compliance with this agreement. The size of government has increased significantly since the financial crisis of 2008 as a result of the governments unplanned intervention in financial markets and subsequent stimulus legislation. Much of the increase in government spending is temporary and could be reversed when financial conditions return to normal, although many question how easy it will be for the government to extricate itself from new commitments it has made (Labonte: 2010). The USA is a kind of a social laboratory, which can have different variants of the salvation of social and economic problems, thus, not putting the whole country at risk. In order to find the new and effective solutions of such problems as crime, education, social

POLITICAL SCIENCE

security and degradation of the cities, it is necessary for the state authorities to work hand in hand with the representatives of the local administrations. The future of the American federalism depends on that, how successfully the state power will solve these problems and use the possibilities opening in front of them. In spite of the intentions of the founding fathers that created the US Constitution, the US government has become increasingly centralized due to efforts to control national sectionalism and promote toleration under the banner of secular humanism (Nosotro: 2010). Thus, it is possible to make a conclusion that over the long term, the state power increased in relation to that of the federal government in the United States.

POLITICAL SCIENCE References

Labonte, M. (2010). The Size and Role of Government: Economic Issues. Available at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32162.pdf Nosotro, R. (2010). The Centralization of the USA Government. Available at: http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/essays/cot/t4w26usgovernment.htm