Federalism in USA

Federalism as we know it today, is a form of government in which a constitution divides powers

between a central government and sub divisional governments. In America the central
government is the Federal government and the subdivision is the states. Just to have a central
government and local governments does not make it federalism you must have division of
powers between these two and neither the central or the sub governments receives its powers
from the other, their power is derived from one source which is the constitution. The purpose of
federalism was to provide further protection against tyranny, which threatened peoples, liberties.
Also it was formed to prevent the formation of a concentrated power in one area of government,
so the development of federalism came about. It was created for this purpose but in today's
society does it still serve this purpose? Federalism does still serve its same purpose it was
meant to serve. To look to the states is to prove they still exist and still hold power in
government. After all America has endured over the past couple of decades, such as
depression, war, which served to reduce domestic freedom necessary to prevent the formation
of a centralized government, this shows their vitality as political institutions. Each day states
actively contribute to the achievement of American goals and continue to show effort in defining
these goals. Many can say that the states have lost power over the federal government,
because of some rights taken away over the years. They actually haven't lost power but gained
some. Over the years there has been an extensive and continuing reorganization of state
governments leading to increased executive responsibility greater central budgetary control and
growing expertise of state personnel. With states having their own governments and
constitutions they give people more freedom that the regular constitution may limit. There are
limits that the state encounters such as making private treaties with foreign governments,
coining money, anything that might affect the entire government system as a whole. This does
not mean the federal government has more power they are limited to what they can do to the
states as well. The national government must not interfere with states in such a way that it
affects the states