POL 201 American National Government (ACK1624E)

Week Two Instructor Guidance

This week, we will focus on the concept of federalism. Federalism is the idea that the federal and state governments share power. We will also focus on Congress, specifically in terms of Congressional policies and how these national policy impact our daily life.

Regarding the idea of federalism, most of what we hear today involving federalism deals with questions of federal and state responsibilities. For example, if a state legalizes marijuana but the federal government still views it as an illegal drug, who has the final say? Another example is the case of school desegregation – the federal government required desegregation, but certain states were slow to act (see Section 3.8 of your textbook). In this second example, the federal government made use of federal troops to enforce policy. However, there are numerous other approaches the federal government uses to try and enforce policy.

As we discussed last week, the Constitution involves a series of checks and balances. Federalism is another of these balances as it helps to balance the powers between the national, state, and local governments.

A Quick Study of American Federalism

Dr. James Klein, a former Ashford instructor, provides three detailed videos that highlight many of the key concepts that are important to understand regarding Federalism. Make sure you continue to watch through all three parts!

The other important concepts this week involve the role of Congress in the policymaking process. As Fine (2016) discusses, apportionment is simply the distribution of seats for the U.S. House of Representatives. There are 435 seats in the House, and apportionment is the idea of how our government decides how many seats each state receives. This is based on population. The higher the population in a state, the more seats they receive in the House.

The process in which a bill becomes a law is also addressed. One key point to remember is that a bill may only be introduced by a member of Congress. The President cannot introduce a bill in Congress. For example, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as PPACA, ACA, or Obamacare) was actually H.R. 3590 (House Resolution 3590 from the 111th Congress) introduced by Charles Rangel, a Congressman from New York. The President’s role involves supporting legislation and encouraging legislation to be taken up by Congress, but he cannot actually sponsor or propose a bill in the chamber.