Posted on by Najah

Discussion 7.1

  1. In the federal system, the citizens vote at both national and state levels and are also subject to laws at both national and state levels. Citizens in the Confederation System primarily deal with state officials rather than national government. In a Unitary System, one central government holds most if not all the power. Citizens mainly interact with one central government, and have less influence over local decisions. 
  2. The system of division of power means that the government is split into parts, preventing one branch from attaining more power.

Separation of powers: Government is split into 3 branches, legislative which creates laws, executive which enforces laws, and the judicial branch which judges laws

Federalism: The federal and state governments which share authority.

  1. The federal government had a significant impact on city and state governments largely through emergency authority, financing, and guidelines.

Funding: The federal government provided New York with funding with initiatives such as the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan to provide vaccines, testing, unemployment, hospitals, and small businesses. The state had to follow federal regulations on how to use the money, which impacted priorities.

Health Guidelines: Health guidelines on masks, vaccinations, and reopening procedures were released by federal organizations such as the CDC and FDA.

Emergency Declarations & Coordination: FEMA and other federal agencies were able to help provide New York with supplies, testing locations, medical services when the federal government declared a national emergency. 

Posted on by Daniel Reyes

Discussion Board 7.1

  1. When government power is concentrated in different variations, the role of citizens in government differs with each variation. In a unitary system, a large majority of power is concentrated in the central government. Because of this, citizens engagement with the government is through voting for the all-powerful government officials with broad scope over policies. In a confederate system, central government power is weak and most power lies with the states and localities of a country. Because decision making is left to local powers, citizens engage mostly only engage with the state or local government. A federalist system is a combination of both systems, as citizens engage with both their central, state, and local governments. This is due to power being divided in a manner amount the different levels of government that makes it the citizens best interest to engage with those levels.
  2. To my understanding, the division of power is what allows our government structure to have the checks and balances that we do. Not only are responsibilities divided between congress, the judicial, and executive branches, but they are also divided between the federal, state, and local levels of those branches. Control is not as concentrated as it would be in a unitary system, yet each level has significant power to make changes within their scope of authority.
  3. The federal government can shape the acts of state and local governments through funding. During the pandemic, states and local governments needed extra support to fund unemployment programs, social services, and sanitation services. In 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, which sent out 1.9 trillion dollars from the Treasury Department to states to assist with funding. New York State initially received 12.75 billion dollars in 2021 for housing assistance, support for small businesses, and other pandemic recovery efforts. The public schools in New York also received 9 billion dollars to assist in reopening safely. This funding came from the federal level, and helped states run per usual while dealing with the economic uncertainty that the pandemic brought.
Posted on by Juan Garcia Figueroa

Juan Garcia Figueroa 7.1

Describe the primary differences in the role of citizens in government, among the federal, confederation, and unitary systems.

= In the federal system citizens are governed by multiple levels of government as the national which is the federal, state and local where citizens can participate in those categories like in elections of representatives of each level. The confederation one is when the states for example come together to form a central government so it looses power and become weak since to make decision it needs consent from the members state so citizens engage with their respective state government as the central authority (the state itself) has limited interaction with the citizens so in this way is different from the federal government that has multiple levels of government. In the unitary system all governmental powers are centered in a central authority that means citizens interact with this central authority because it has the decision making power, it is more like an only branch of power able to do anything

Briefly explain how you understand the system of division of power.

=I understand it as a balance needed to avoid excess of power from any branch of power and is needed so people like the president for example can not pass laws with no regulations or else that could harm a nation that follows a constitution

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.

    = Federal government can be considered as a support in this case, during the pandemic the federal government had a role of provider it gave funding and resources as financial assistance to the state for public health initiatives, also issued guidelines and recommendations on mask mandates, social distancing and vaccination control and the federal government also facilitated coordination among states. As to NY participated in the Eastern States Multi state council it was a interstate compact formed to coordinate the rollback of economic restrictions and share best practices during the pandemic

    Posted on by Jesus Catarino

    Jesus Catarino – Basic Structure of US Government(7.1)

    1) Describe the primary differences in the role of citizens in government, among the federal, confederation, and unitary systems.

    The primary differences in the role of the citizens in government among the different systems like the federal system, Confederation system and unitary system would be that in the Federal System power is shared between a national government or local government, the citizens have a direct role they vote for representatives both national and regional levels giving them a say on the policies and laws, In the Confederation System the local government or the states hold most of the power, the central government has very limited authority, the citizens role is mostly interacting with their local government, the national decisions are made by agreements between the states, citizens don’t really have much direct influence over the central government. The Unitary System, the central government has most or all of the power the local governments are there but are controlled by the central authority, the citizens mainly engage with the national government and their local governments just implement the national policies, So the primary differences in the role of the citizens would be that in the Federal System the citizens have the role at both the regional and national levels, In the Confederation system citizens role would be mostly interacting with their local governments and the Unitary System the citizens mostly engage with the central government and their local governments have less power.

    2) Briefly explain how you understand the system of division of power.

    The system of “Division Power” would be how power is split between the different levels of the government like state, local or government the main idea would be to make sure that not one of the levels of government gets to powerful so it’s about how the power gets spread.

    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 shape the actions of state and local governments by providing financial support, government provided billions in relief funding to help the local and state governments, local governments in New York would have faced bigger challenges if they did not get that funding during that time on top of other things like keeping essential services running, Federal Government also Shaped the pandemic response through public health guidelines the (CDC) or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention they issued recommendations on things like wearing masks, social distancing and reopening phases, this guidelines really made an impact to help shape how the New York state and local governments responded to the virus during the time, Also cooperation between states, New York with several neighboring states working together to prevent any issues and to ensure consistency on how different states were handling the pandemic, The Federal Government really played a major role by providing the Financial support, setting the health guidelines and encouraging the cooperation between the states.

    Posted on by Anjel Suero

    discussion 7.1

    1.Differences in the Part of Citizens in Federal, Confederation, and Unitary Systems
    The role of citizens in government is different in federal, confederal, and unitary systems. In a federal system for example the United States the power is shared between the national and state governments and citizens can influence the different levels of government. They vote in both the national and state elections and are affected by the laws that are made at the two levels. A confederation is a system of independent states whose sovereignty is not easily taken away by a central government. This means that citizens engage most with their state governments because the national government has a limited impact on individual citizens. In a unitary system, power is invested in the central government and local governments are subordinated to the national government. Citizens are more likely to be involved with the central government, and have no say in the running of local government, as in the United Kingdom or France.

    1. Division of Power and Federal Influence on NY State During COVID-19
      The division of power in the United States is the sharing of power between the federal government and the governments of the states and territories. The federal government has broad powers; states have powers in many areas, and local governments deal with the everyday running of local affairs. This system of government ensures that national concerns are met while at the same time allowing for the needs of the local population to be addressed.

    3.During the COVID-19 outbreak, the federal government impacted New York’s response through funding, declarations and regulations. During the pandemic, federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offered guidance on how to contain the disease, and Congress approved relief measures such as the CARES Act, which sent funds to states to help with economic stimulation, health care and vaccination campaigns. However, decision making on issues such as mask mandates, business closures, and school closures were mainly the province of state and local governments. FEMA also provided medical supply and personnel, which shows how the federal government is able to influence state actions in case of a crisis.

    Posted on by Arto Artinian

    Discussion Board 7.1

    1. Describe the primary differences in the role of citizens in government, among the federal, confederation, and unitary systems.
    2. Briefly explain how you understand the system of division of power.
    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.