chapter three texas in the federal system. copyright © houghton mifflin company. all rights...

Chapter Three

Texas in the Federal System

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 3-2

Organizing Governments

• Federalism is just one way of organizing different levels of governments.

• These next slides will illustrate the basic ways.


Unitary

• In this form, a central government essentially runs the country.

Central GovernmentAll Power

Local GovernmentNo Power

Local GovernmentNo Power


Unitary (Cont’d)

• The writers of the Articles of Confederation had some experience with monarchies, and did not want that much centralized power.

• So their first effort at creating a new government was to utilize a more decentralized structure, reflecting their own ideas of government.


Confederation

• In this form, all the power resides in local governments, such as states.

Central GovernmentNo Power

Local GovernmentAll Power

Local GovernmentAll Power


Confederation (Cont’d)

• The states had all the power—federal government only did what the states wanted.

• This didn’t work out since there were debts to pay, and the states had their own ideas of how to run things.

• So a compromise was reached between the two extremes…


Federal System

• In this form, each level has some power.

Central GovernmentSome Power

Local GovernmentSome Power

Local GovernmentSome Power


Federal System (Cont’d)

• With each level of government having some power, they are better able to take care of problems they may experience.

• Different states can then solve their unique problems in different ways.

• States can also turn to the federal government for help in solving certain problems, like those that affect several states, for example.


Other “Federalisms…”

• There are several ways to look at how federalism is set up and how it works.

• These next slides will illustrate the two basic ways that federalism has existed in this country.


Dual Federalism

• Dual Federalism existed from the beginning of the country to the 1930s. Each level of government basically kept to itself.

Federal Government

State Governments


Dual Federalism (Cont’d)

• The federal government had certain responsibilities:• International Trade• National Defense, etc.

• States had their own responsibilities:• Voting, elections, education• Social policies: poverty, health,

unemployment, etc.


Cooperative Federalism

• Due to the Great Depression and other factors, states turned to the federal government for help.

• So the federal government provided money to fund new policies that the states carried out.

• Now the states and the federal government work together in many policy areas.


Cooperative Federalism (Cont’d)

• From the 1930s on, both federal and state governments have worked together on many policy areas.

Federal Government

State Governments

chapter three texas in the federal system. copyright © houghton mifflin company. all rights...

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