- In a federal system, power is shared between the national government and the state governments, so citizens are affected by both and participate in both levels. In a confederation system, the states have most of the power and the central government is much weaker. In a unitary system, most of the power is controlled by the national government, and local governments only have the powers given to them. These systems are different because they change how much control the national government has compared to the states and local governments.
2. I understand the division of power as a way to keep one level of government from becoming too powerful. In the U.S., some powers belong only to the federal government, some only belong to the states, and some powers are shared. This helps balance power while still allowing states to handle issues differently depending on their needs. The readings explain that this system was created so the country could stay united while still giving states independence.
3. The federal government influences state and local governments through laws, funding, and national policies. During COVID-19, the federal government influenced New York by providing emergency funding, vaccine programs, and public health guidelines. At the same time, New York still made many of its own decisions, like mask mandates, shutdowns, and restrictions depending on how bad cases were in the state. I think this is a good example of federalism because both the federal government and state governments had to work together but still had their own responsibilities.
