Federalism

1. Federalism is the mode of political organization that unites separate states or other polities within an overarching political system in such a way as to allow each to maintain its own fundamental political integrity. Federal systems do this by requiring that basic policies be made and implemented through negotiation in some form, so that all the members can share in making and executing decisions. The political principles that animate federal systems emphasize the primacy of bargaining and negotiated coordination among several power centres; they stress the virtues of dispersed power centres as a means for safeguarding individual and local liberties.

2. There are approximatley 195 nation-states in the world. 

3. There are about 25 countries in the world today that use the federal system of government. These countries are: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Argentina, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Comoros, Malaysia, Micronesia, Nepal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, United States of America, Switzerland, Venezuela, and the United Arab Emirates.

4. Compared to other countries of the world, these countries are all relatively large in land mass, so their size would be what they have in common. 

5. The Unitary system is a system of political organization in which most or all of the governing power resides in a centralized government. It contrasts with a federal system.

6. 150+ countries use a unitary system of government, but the 5 largest unitary countries are China, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Khazakstan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.


7.  The difference between federal and unitary systems is that unitary systems have one big government that is in charge of everything but federal systems have national governments that interact with the state governments and their citizens -- one aspect of government is not all powerful. One could argue there is an advantage to the unitary system, because decision making would be solely based on government officials ideas and no citizen could really do anything about it or challenge their ideas. However, federal governments vote on everything and request citizens' preferences, which can be a long and difficult process; especially when citizens want to challenge the government. On the other hand, this ability for people to have a say in their government is also an advantage because it is a blessing to have the ability to have an impact on how you and the people of your country live, whereas in unitary countries, no one has a say in anything. When people are unhappy and dying, there is nothing anyone can do about it. 


8. I sense attitudes of laziness and choosiness from this cartoon. Oftentimes, people want the good without having to deal with the bad, so this picture represents a politician wanting to receive the benefits and money and the title of working in office, but not wanting to deal with having responsibilities and the authority of having to make hard decisions. 


9. Medical Marijuana can be used as a treatment for symptoms of cancer, but since the drug itself is illegal, the government (in 23/50 states) prohibits the use of it as treatment, even though it can supposedly help with symptoms. The perspective on federal government in this picture is that they are more concerned with following the strict law rather than helping a dying citizen become (or at least feel) better. 


10. The perspective of federal government offered here is that the government (Republicans in this cartoon) says that the people should be allowed to set new policies. However, when the people actually offer them up, the ideas are shut down and the government is appalled that we would even consider implementing a policy, for instance, to help the environment.

11. The video's metaphor for federalism is the three layered cake, with local government as the first layer, then state government, and then national government on the bottom. It describes federalism because each layer gets bigger as the cake grows. So, the local layer would only deal with local affairs like trash pick up and police stations, the middle state government layer would have multiple bigger responsibilities like education and health services, and the bottom national government layer deals with national affairs like military and space exploration. 


12. This picture is a metaphor for federalism because it has all three forms of governments blended into one, rather than separating the one united government into three forms of governments like in the video. The picture suggests that the relationship between different levels of government is all intertwined, rather than set in slots or levels like a hierarchy.