Federalism (Essay Sample)

FEDERALISM
Name
Course
Institution
Tutor
Date of submission
The Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis popularized the phrase ‘laboratories of democracy. By saying that the states are laboratories of democracy we mean that the state can be in a position to test and try out new ideas without harming the rest of the country. The state will test out new policies before they are applied to the whole nation. An example is the state of California legalizing medical marijuana. The relationship between the state, government and federal government is normally governed by the constitution of the U.S. The federal government is accorded some powers while all the other powers are normally reserved to the States. The states operate separate from the federal government so as to make sure that the special needs of the constituencies are met continuously. The nature of this federalism has changed in recent years with the modification and improvement of the constitution (Hudak, 2011).
An example of a current state level public policy debate that I am working on is the legalization of medical marijuana. There has been a heated debate on this issue which some states view as not appropriate while others are ready to embrace it. This issue is of great concern and I do believe that the state government is the right place for this po...