Mr3

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Is the federal division of powers an obstruction to good governance in the United States?

The federal division of powers does not provide an obstruction to good governance in the US. For this argument to hold, federal division of power and good governance will be defined. This division provides for different levels of government representing the interests of the people rather than there being further layers of bureaucracy. Different examples will be used to show that the federal division of power does not hinder the goal of good governance. The term horizontal division of power applies to the separation in the federal government between the Presidency, Supreme Court and Congress. This answer will mainly concentrate on the vertical division of power between the federal, state and local governments.

Firstly, the federal division of power has different meanings in different temporal contexts. The Founding Fathers envisaged the federal division of power as a form of 'dual sovereignty' whereby the national and state governments had separate responsibilities as defined in the Constitution. 'Dual sovereignty' in most cases was the pattern until the New Deal when circumstances changed and th

· Conlan, Timothy, New Federalism: Intergovernmental Reform from Nixon to Reagan, 1988

· Caraley, D., "Changing Conceptions of Federalism", Political Science Quarterly, 101, 2, 1986

· Brisbin, R., "The Reconstitution of American Federalism? The Rehnquist Court and Federal-State Relations, 1991-1997", Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 28, 1, 1998

· Elazar, Daniel, American Federalism: A View from the States, (2nd ed.) 1972

· Caraley, D., "Changing Conceptions of Federalism", Political Science Quarterly, 101, 2, 1986

Secondly, knowledge of what good governance entails is required in order judge the attributes of the federal division of power. Prior to defining good governance, it must firstly be stated that it is not absolute, it can be applied in varying degrees and this will be allowed for in the essay. Outwardly, there are a number of immediate characteristics of good governance. In a broad sense, these include; whether voting preferences are transferred to the legislative arena; stability, both economic and social; and, law and order enforcement. The elected institution will have stated goals and methods of achieving them, such as territorial defence and the achievement of economic objectives. Good governance is defined as whether or not the government or political process functions efficiently and effectively in achieving its objectives. The achievement of objectives can only take place in a competent system. The opponent to my argument would state that the federal division of power does not allow for efficient and effective operation of its institutions, thus effecting the achievement of good governance. Separate parts of the federal division represent people on different issues. It thus must be considered whether these objectives are achieved at the local, state and national level. This leads to the question: Does America have any stated objectives? Ostensibly, yes there are, through investigating party manifestos or agency goals but there is no concise objective list for the operation of good governance, however, it would be wrong to think that such a vast society would be able to produce one. Good governance may cited as when the state has the responsibility of providing a proper environment for the operation of a market economy and the government reflects the popular will of the citizens of the country. The government is therefore legitimate and accountable and the focus is the people. James Madison in the Federalist, number forty-five stated "the public good, the real welfare of the great body of the people, is the supreme object to be pursued." This is my interpretation of good governance because government is about the people of the country. If government at all levels has the common good of the people as an objective and there is a determination to have efficient and effective government, then there will be good governance. The notion of good governance cannot be captured in an objective definition because of its moral basis with each person having his or her own opinion of what it entails. It is also possible that good governance is an ideal that is unattainable, it serves as something to strive toward but there are always certain circumstances in which it is possible that a policy may be carried out more effectively.

Since Nixon and Reagan's attempts at "New Federalism" there have been efforts to enlarge the role of the states. This shows Federal recognition that co-operation with a strong state is essential for the efficient and effective government responding to the will of the people. Reagan perceived that the system was not working well and strived toward greater efficiency. The essence of the problem is that some functions are suitable for the state or local level and some for the national level, so, the federal division helps the path to good governance rather than hindering it. A complex and high budget programme such as

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Approximate Word count = 2624
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics