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Federalism at the moment is one of the most important political principles, being the foundation of any federation. Almost all the largest countries in the world are built on this system, which is why this concept deserves attention. At its core, federalism is most often displayed in the unification of several elements into a single state, as was observed, for example, in the United States. However, federalism can be expressed in two models: dual and cooperative federalism, each of which has its advantages and disadvantages. The purpose of this essay is to examine the concept of cooperative federalism and to identify its role and significance for the US political system.
Dual and Cooperative Federalism
A vivid example of the implementation of the concept of dual federalism is the United States of America in the form in which they were initially formed. The main distinguishing features of this theory is the internal sovereignty of objects, independence from each other and relative freedom in their organization. For politics, this means that state and federal governments have power over specific individuals, but this power is limited and cannot be taken away by another government (Smith).
The positions consistent with dual federalism were even enshrined in the Constitution. In the text of this document, there is a clear separation of powers between the federal government and the state government. The theory of dual federalism has long been the main one for interpreting the provisions of the Constitution (Smith). However, this interpretation began to lose its relevance at the beginning of the 20th century, along with the upcoming Industrial Revolution, and gradually gave way to the theory of cooperative federalism.
Cooperative federalism is much more liberal, aimed not at the separation of powers, but at communication between subjects. As the name suggests, this concept includes the active cooperation, as well as the duplication of functions of different governments (Morris). Dual and cooperative federalism is often compared to different types of pies. While the first is a kind of layer cake, the layers of which do not intersect, the second is more like a marble cake, the layers of which are mixed. This analogy reflects the intersection and overlap of various segments of power of different political structures.
Although directly in the United States, the principle of cooperative federalism began to be actively introduced into the political structure of the state only starting from the 1930s, its roots are much more profound. As in the case of dual federalism, in the US Constitution can be found acts dating back to the 19th century that refer to the cooperation of various levels of government (Morris). However, the idea was most actively implemented in the mid-20th century, when the state began to rely on the states to enforce new policies. Together with the active development of this concept, it changed, evolved and took a new form. However, these changes did not negatively affect the work of the idea in general. Therefore its elements continue to be introduced in the current political system.
Importance of Cooperative Federalism
The active introduction of cooperative federalism in the middle of the last century was associated with the struggle over the problems of society. The influence of the government expanded after World War II and primarily increased after the announcement of Lyndon B. Johnson War on Poverty (Morris). The state used the concept of cooperative federalism to unite the efforts of the whole country. These attempts were aimed at such problematic issues as education, medicine, ensuring social security and many others. For a productive endeavor in these areas, the concept of dual federalism was not suitable. Unity was required to defeat the problems of society, which could not be ensured if the states were free from government influence. The concept of cooperative federalism helps unite forces and focus them against a particular problem.
To achieve this, as was said above, restructuring and rethinking of this concept, its adaptation to the realities of our time, was required. Modern views on cooperative federalism are significantly different from the origins of this theory, moving away from unconditional help to the implementation of the requirements for joint work (Morris). On the one hand, such a policy in some ways contradicts the original meaning, in which national and state governments share power among themselves.
On the other hand, in modern conditions of the presence of a vast number of freedoms for effective management, state intervention, the establishment of restrictions and requirements by them are necessary. Such changes are introduced precisely to ensure the cooperation of various states since even when conditions are created for their interaction, likely, governments will not do this.
Recently, the question of the role and importance of cooperative federalism has been raised again due to a partial return to the concept of dual federalism. For example, at the end of the 20th century, the policy of the United States again turned to this theory, strictly separating the various levels of power, and this was especially noticeable during the reign of Ronald Reagan (Morris). These changes affect only negatively the system since there is no single focus and various kinds of contradictions arise.
An example of this is the Clean Water Act (CWA) and nonpoint source pollution, explicitly expressed in the state of the Mississippi River basin. Despite the presence of the CWA, its use is difficult due to the inactivity of state government, as well as due to their ignoring of scientific approaches to solving the problem (Secchi and Mcdonald 247). This happens simultaneously both due to insufficient state intervention in the regulation of state cooperation and due to the partial introduction of elements of dual federalism and separation of powers. The state government, among other things, also does not have enough funding to pay sufficient attention to this problem. Thus, it can be noted that in politics as a whole, it is worth adhering to one approach to obtain maximum results.
A positive example of the application of cooperative federalism is the situation related to the implementation of the concept of the Rangeland fire protection association. This fire department consists of volunteer teams and is one of the latest innovations in this area (Abrams 252). The concept itself is saturated with the spirit of cooperative and cooperative federalism since it implies the joint and flexible interaction of various state structures to work on one problem. According to Abrams, the landscape of economic management is changing significantly thanks to these innovations, including the initiatives of rising cooperative federalism (258). As practice shows, with a proper approach and organization of the system, such a policy can be beneficial.
Thus, the concept of cooperative federalism at the moment not only takes place in the political system of the United States, but there is a clearly expressed need for it. Its main goal is to combine the efforts of various government structures and ensure their active interaction by creating the conditions for this. The importance of cooperative federalism lies in the fact that thanks to this interaction, it is possible to solve various social problems. With the proper approach, this concept can be used very effectively, and it is in this direction that the political system of the United States should develop.
Works Cited
Abrams, Jesse, et al. “State Lines, Fire Lines, and Lines of Authority: Rangeland Fire Management and Bottom-Up Cooperative Federalism.” Land Use Policy, vol. 75, 2018, pp. 252-259.
Morris, Mary. “Cooperative Federalism.” The Center for the Study of Federalism. 2018. Web.
Secchi, Silvia, and Mcdonald, Moira. “The State of Water Quality Strategies in the Mississippi River Basin: Is Cooperative Federalism Working?” Science of the Total Environment, vol. 677, 2019, pp. 241-249.
Smith, Troy. “Dual Federalism.” The Center for the Study of Federalism. 2018. Web.
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