¶ … RIGHTS VS. NATIONAL LAWS
National laws formulated and implemented by the federal government have often been criticized for their centralizing effect and for restraining/restricting the power of state laws. In a republican form of government, state laws have enormous significance as this form of government allows "people . . . To pass their own laws in virtue of the legislative power reposed in representative bodies, whose legitimate acts may be said to be those of the people themselves." [1] Deborah Merritt, Ohio State University law professor, has often been cited in Court rulings for her discussion of relationship between federal and state laws. Merritt notes that "since at least the eighteenth century, political thinkers have stressed that republican government is one in which the people control their rulers." [2].
United States is a prime example of this form of government since the Constitution allows states to make its own local laws which need not be burdened by federal laws. The federal government has restricted powers in connection with state laws and any national laws that override or obliterate the exercise of state laws can be challenged in the court of law as Professor Merritt further explains:
'federal attempts to appropriate state governmental resources in this manner deny the states a republican form of government . . . If the national government compels the states to enforce federal regulatory programs, state budgets and executive resources reflect federal priorities rather than the wishes of local citizens. These results are antithetical to the popular control exerted in a republican form of government If the federal government could order states to implement federal programs, the state power to tax would be dissociated from the power to spend, and "would encourage few even casually acquainted with the writings of Montesquieu and the Federalist Papers to assert that the States enjoyed a Republican Form of Government . . . ." [3]
While ideally Congress cannot burden the state laws with federal laws, there have been many instances when Congressional acts tried to override state-granted rights or local laws. Most of these actions have originated under the interstate Commerce clause of the Constitution that grants Congress power to "regulate Commerce . . . among the several States." [4] The latest and very...
Electoral College The reason for the Electoral College is so that larger states (in terms of population) are not given an unfair advantage over smaller states. For example if a large state with a large population votes for one president, that state still is only able to contribute a set number of electoral votes to that president; this is meant as a protection of other states, who may not have
Confederation and Constitution The Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781, and provided a fairly rudimentary framework for the governance of the new country. But the Articles left the U.S. mainly as a collection of states, with powers concentrated primarily at the state level. The central government's power was severely limited, and one of the results of this was a push for a stronger central government to strengthen the union. The
Government Iraq is certainly a terribly divided society and outside political forces like Al Qaeda have certainly been attempting to exploit and exacerbate these religious and ethnic conflicts in order to turn it into a failed state. For practical purposes, the most significant divisions are between the Kurds and the Sunni and Shiite Muslims, with the Shiites having a clear majority of about 70% of the population. During the civil
Jefferson Davis Views on State Rights and Secession Jefferson Finis Davis or more popularly known as "Jeff" Davis was born on June 3rd 1808 to the Kentucky couple Samuel and Jane Cook Davis. He passed away on December 6th, 1889 but not before he served as an American statesman and leader from the Confederacy throughout the American Civil War entire duration of the Civil War as well as the history that
According to various sources, the human rights situations has not progressed in China over the past few years, and in fact has grown worse in some areas (Young 2009). The Chinese deny this completely, and say that there are no human rights violations. They also add that the President has no right to interfere with Chinese affairs, and the Chinese Foreign Minister suggested that the United States address its
Week 3 Assignment: Balance of Power between Federal Government and Individual StatesFrom the onset, it would be prudent to note that to a large extent, the United States happens to be a federal republic � at least from the constitutional perspective. This is to say that the country is governed via a balance of power mechanism between the governments of individual states, and the national government. According to the Bill
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