- Describe the primary differences in the role of citizens in government, among the federal, confederation, and unitary systems.
In a federal system, the power is shared by national and state government, so citizens have the role to vote for each different election through that system, for example voting for governors for a state, mayor for cities.
In a confederation system most of the power is helf by the state or reginal government while the national government is weaker and can’t interfere much. In this system, citizens have a more active role in what direction the government will go, as the power should prioritize that specific group.
For unitary systems, there aren’t different levels of power, and it’s all held by the national government, so participation of citizens is minimal, as the rules to be followed will be determined for the majority.
2. Briefly explain how you understand the system of division of power.
The way I understand the division of power is basically different authorities that hold different obligations and have autonomies. In the US the easier way to see the division of power is by the fact that different states can have different laws and legislations, that are defined by leaders on the local/state government, and not the federal. It’s also easier to see when the local government disagree with the federal government, as that tends to be even more prejuditial for the citizens.
3. How does the federal government shape the actions of state and local governments? Write your answer based on doing a bit of research on how the federal government has influenced the actions of NY state and local governments, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The federal government can shape the actions of state and local governments by providing different programs and grants that require certain standards to be followed. An example of this for NYC during the pandemic was the ESSER funds for K-12 schools. The NY State had to file a detailed state plan in order to be eligible to recieve money from the government to help aid the new challenges, and a part of the budget provided was directed to the learning loss to students caused by the lockdown.
