Federalism

According to most public opinion polls, many Americans believe that the federal

government is too big, both in the number of agencies it directs and in the scope of its

powers. Some people also think that the daily business of Capitol Hill has no effect on

their lives, in part because they believe that politicians—who live and work "inside the

beltway"—don't understand their problems. This dissatisfaction with Washington, D.C.,

in recent years has renewed debate over the division of power between federal and state

and local governments. (CQ Researcher 92)

Federalism, the sharing of power between the states and the national government

has been a major issue throughout U.S. history. When the federal government was

established by the U.S. Constitution in 1787, it only exercised limited or enumerated

powers, such as making treaties and printing money. The Tenth Amendment of the Bill of

Rights, ratified in 1791, clarified that all other powers belonged to the states: "The

powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the

states are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." Over the years, in