U. S. Government/Federalism vs Separation of Power

This is a quick guide on "Federalism" and "Separation of Powers", story behind the two terms, what they are, and the difference.

Story of the Constitution

Separation of Powers

The writers of the Constitution wanted to avoid the government from becoming too strong, so they limited the government's power to only do those things people have given it the power to do. This was the principle of Consent of the Governed^[1]. To give the Constitution legitimacy, the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America begins, We the People, which establishes that the power of government comes from the people, this principle became was known as the principle of Checks and Balances^[2].

In addition to the idea that power of government comes from the people, they brought back the idea of electing people to make laws and conduct government on their behalf, which is the fundamental political principle of Representative Government^[3]. After the states agreed to the Constitution, the Constitution became the Supreme Law of the land in America.

The writers put a lot of thought into what they needed to do. This is when they decided they need three more principles to limit the power of the Central Government.

Constitutional Principles

Federalism Chart of the Levels of Government

• One of their decisions was to divide the government into levels. The national (U.S.), state (Florida, Idaho, Montana, Virginia, Maine), and local (Chicago, Richmond, New York City) governments are the most popular levels of government. This division of power between levels would be the principle of Federalism^[4].
• To add to the confusion, they divided the government into three branches (Legislative, Executive, and Judicial). The principle became known as Separation of Powers^[5]. This separation would allow each branch of government to do something different.
• Even though the Declaration of Independence was the thing of the past, the people of the United States were still afraid of any one person or government becoming too strong. They quickly developed the principle of Limited Government^[6] in order to limit the power of the other branches. This meant that at any time, the Legislative Branch may have the final decision on the Executive and Judicial goals, the Executive Branch could have final decision on the Judicial and Legislative, and Judicial Branch would have final decision on the Executive and Legislative efforts. Even though they were separate branches, the branches could not work without the other two branches.

Vocabulary

Consent of the Governed

People are the source of any and all governmental power

Checks and Balances

The delegates build a "checks and balances" system, so one branch doesn't have all the power.

Representative Government

In a representative system of government, people elect public officeholders to make laws and conduct government on the people's behalf.

Federalism

Divisions of power between levels of the government.

Separation of Powers

Divided the government into three BRANCHES (Legislative, Executive, Judicial).

Limited Government

Not all powerful, only follows what the people order them to do.