Federalism and Public Policy

Simply put, federalism means that the federal government derives its power from the people, not from the states, as it had under the Articles of Confederation (Sabato, 2018). In the United States federalism created bicameral government with an executive leader (the president). This is an attempt to prevent any one person or part of the government from having too much power. The result is a trifurcated system with the legislative branch making laws, the judicial branch interpreting the laws, and the executive branch enforcing them (Sabato, 2018). It was written so, in the Constitution, that the national government remained supreme.

            In 1973 the United States Congress approved the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in order to protect and recover species and ecosystems (United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 2020). This is a federal level statute. The implementation of the ESA effects the legislative role of government because it must consider the implications of the law when writing new law into effect, when changing laws, when determining a budget, and in many other ways. The judicial branch must then understand and further interpret the statutes set out by Congress in the ESA so that it may apply the law. The executive branch must uphold and execute the statutes set forth by the ESA.

I was raised to believe that everything has its place under the sun. I am a conservationist, a hobby ecologist, and a naturalist. A tree hugging, Birkenstock (with sock) wearing, neo-hippie, to some. It is innate for me to defend these places and objects. I chose this specific act because it has been being dismantled recently. One such call to congress asks them to remove the gray wolf (canis lupus) from the endangered species list. Something I have fought myself since I was about thirteen. Not for the same reasons. I fought and continue to fight for the wolf to repopulate and to bring life back to the ecosystems it used to roam in the way it has for Yellowstone. H.R. 6035 seeks to have the gray wolf (canis lupus) removed from the list AND prevents the review of such an act, because there are places that want to reinstitute hunting wolves (Center for Biological Diversity, 2021). The very same practice that caused them to become extinct from their lower forty-eight territory. This action seeks extermination, shows that people have not learned from history, and are doomed to repeat it because they believe they have more rights to the land than do the animals who maintain the ecosystem. I believe that the solution is not to hunt to extermination levels again but to figure out how-to live-in harmony and use evidence-based techniques to protect cattle. Because let’s face it, people rarely become victims of wolves, the truth is, they are far less dangerous than the Big Bad Wolf that man is.  

References

Center for Biological Diversity. (2021). Politics of extinction. Retrieved from https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/esa_attacks/trumptable.html

Sabato, K.O.L. J. (2018). American Government. [Purdue University Global Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://purdueuniversityglobal.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780135247341/

United States Fish and Wildlife Service. (2020). Endangered species act of 1973: As amended through the 108th congress. Retrieved from https://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa-library/pdf/ESAall.pdf

Sample 2

Federalism was build because the founding fathers feared giving too much power to the government over-arching form. American colonists rejected a system with a strong ruler, such as the British monarchy, when they declared their independence. (Sabato, 2018) The founding fathers wrote the constitution around the principles where the federal government gets its power from the citizens. The governing authority is shared between the federal, state, and local governments. Federalism ensures checks and balances "vertically" with the three equal government branches and horizontally between Federal, State, and Local governments. 

The affordable care act is a statute that was signed in 2010 signed by the federal level. This policy was passed by the legislative branch, signed into law by the executive branch, and contested multiple times in the federal government's Judicial branch within the federal government. The ACA allowed to regulate the insurance industry and requires the individual mandate for citizens to hold healthcare to ensure coverage. Living in a city that was severely hit by the recession, I have seen this statute get more people the medical help they have needed.

Sabato, K.O.L. J. (2018). American Government. [Purdue University Global Bookshelf]. Retrieved from  https://purdueuniversityglobal.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780135247341/