United States. Finally, the recent course of federalism has been to give powers back to .
the states. (Henig p. 53).
Federalism was needed in the Constitution to make sure that the national .
government did not gain too much power. After the revolution, many people feared a .
monarchy or any form of government in which the central ruling body had too much .
power. The framers wanted the states to have much more power than the national .
government, and allowed the national government power only in areas that concerned the .
nation as a whole. Areas such as war, negotiation, and foreign commerce were some of .
the only circumstances in which the national government had absolute power. By limiting .
the national governments power in this way, the writers felt that they had ensured the .
sovereignty of the individual states. Also, people have a tendency to feel more connected .
to their state government than they would a national government. Therefore, by giving .
the states more power, people are more likely to be happy with their government. .
One common misconception is that many people equate public policy to law. .
On it's very simplistic side, it is, but on its broad side it encompasses much, much more. .
One could possibly say that public policy effects Americans in so many ways that if each .
way was enumerated it would fill several libraries. Public Policy is the examination of .
the creation, by the government, of the rules, laws, goals, and standards that determine .
what government does or not do to create resources, benefits, costs, and burdens. .
(Birkland 5) For the sake of this argument, policy will be the rules, and those rules have .
various enforcement techniques, not to exclude legal enforcement. .
James Madison explained in Federalist 10, a primary benefit of federalism is that .
it contains policy fads or fast-moving popular movements in one or a few states, thus .
preventing the growth of expansion of conflict to the national level.