Federalism in the United States

Federalism in the United States, also known as the American Federalist System, is the ongoing and ever-developing relationship between the General (Federal) Government and the respective member States of the United States. The federal structure of the Union is established by, and constitutionally entrenched in, the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for the United States &mdash;the basic law of the Federal union of the "States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaiʻi, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming". The type of Federalism espoused by the United States is what is known as "State-centric Federalism", a form of Federalism in which the primary actors in the Fœderation are the member States, whereby most –if not nearly-all– Power and legislative Competence are reserved exclusively to the member States of the Fœderation, to be exercised exclusively by them, with the Federal head being delegated a very narrow remit of Powers and legislative Competence.

The American Federalist System has been adopted in various forms by the United Commonwealths of Canada, United Aegean Republic, Caribbean Community, Lesser Antilles Federation, and Commonwealth of Australia, forming the fundamental underpinning of their respective federal systems.

Overview
"The Powers of the general Government will be, and indeed must be, principally employed upon external Objects, such as War, Peace, negotiations with foreign Powers, and foreign Commerce. In its internal Operations, it can touch but few Objects, except to introduce Regulations beneficial to the Commerce, Intercourse, and other Relations, between (but not within) the States. The Powers of the States, on the other hand, extend to all Objects, which, in the ordinary Course of Affairs, concern the Lives, Liberties, and Property of the People, and the internal Order, Improvement, and Prosperity of the State."

The United States of North Aegea comprise a supranational Federal republican Union composed of eighteen self-governing sovereign States.

Federalism provides an otherwise united or homogeneous community the opportunity for some amount of internal political, economic, legal, cultural, moral, and other diversity and internal independence from the community at-large. Federalism is deeply rooted in democratic ideals, and only in democratic communities is federalism able to not only operate (and operate properly) but also thrive.

Federalism in the United States is more accurately described as "Fœderalism", in that the federal structure of the USNA consists of a mixture of federalism, intergovernmentalism, national (USNA member State) sovereignty, and pooled sovereignty; and a Federal head (the Federal Government of the United States) that is solely the common Agent of the Principal, that is to say the common Agent of the member States themselves.

The Federal head –e.g., the Union– possesses no inherent Power or Competence in its own right; that is to say that the Union may only exercise Power on such Matters and in such Form as the member States have expressly delegated to the Union, which it exercises solely on the behalf, and as the common Agent of the member States;—And the Union may not Act or exercise any Power that the member States have not expressly and intentionally delegated thereto: In other words, any Act or exercise of Power by the Union outside its remit is ultra vires the Union, and ipso facto "null, void, unauthoritative, and of no force of any kind whatsoever in every one of the United States, and in every Place subject to their jurisdiction".

The States respectively have complete and absolute competence on all Powers not expressly and intentionally delegated to the Union (the Powers delegated to the Union being those Powers that the several States have agreed to exercise jointly in their Federal capacity as the United States ).

The United States were established as a Federal Union of sovereign States, whereby each of them mutually agreed to "enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defence, the security of their Liberties, and their mutual and general Welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence whatsoever." This is the fundamental, guiding principle of the Union, and anything that conflicts with it is inherently incompatible with the Union and is ultra vires the same.

In the constitutional order of the United States, the Federal Constitution and the State Constitutions are supreme, followed by the Laws of the United States and those of each of them (so long as each of them are authorized by the Constitution of whatever order of government enacted it), followed by Treaties of the United States and those of each of them (in the same Manner and subject to the same conditions as the Laws of the United States and those of each of them), and, finally, rules and regulations promulgated by the Federal and State Executives (provided that they are authorized by either the Constitution or Law of the United States or each of them, as the case may be), in that order, respectively.

Division of power
The nature of the Union "[is] a federal as distinguished from a legislative Union, but a Union composed of several pre-existing, continuing, and sovereign entities... [The States are] not fractions of a unit but units of a multiple. The Union is the multiple and each State is a unit of that multiple".

Matters of Federal competence Powers expressly delegated to the United States  The Congress, as an Agent of the several States, shall have Power: To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, Necessary to pay the Debts, provide for the common Defense and provide for Matters that come within the Classes of Subjects on which, by this Constitution alone, competence is expressly and intentionally delegated to the United States: But all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the several States; To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; To regulate Trade and Commerce with foreign States; To establish throughout the several States an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and in like Manner uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies; To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; To establish Post Offices and post Roads;</li> To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;</li> To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;</li> To establish throughout the several States uniform Rules for the organizing, arming, and disciplining, of the Militaries and Militia of the respective States; but no such Rules shall have any effect in any State until they shall have been adopted and enacted as Law by the Legislature thereof;</li> To organize the Government of the United States;—And</li> To provide for revising, digesting, and publishing the Laws of the United States, and a like revision, digest, and Publication shall be made every two Years thereafter.</li></ol></li> The Senate, exclusive of the House of Representatives, shall have Power, as an Agent of the several States: To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;</li> To specify rules to govern the Manner by which people may exchange or trade goods from one State to another, to remove obstructions to interstate trade erected by States, and to both regulate and restrict the flow of goods to and from foreign States for the purpose of promoting the interstate economy and foreign trade; but only insofar as shall be expressly Necessary and Proper to ensure the free flow of Goods, Services, Capital, and Labor between the different States, and to regulate the commerce and trade with foreign States, which shall be carried into effect by the States respectively: Provided always, that all such rules adopted pursuant to this paragraph shall be binding on each State and shall have direct effect in the Courts of each of them, that is to say self-executing;</li> To constitute Tribunals inferior to the federal Court;—And</li> To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of Particular States, and the Acceptance of the Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States.</li></ol></ol>

<h3 style="background:#AC193C;text-align:center;padding:5px;color:#F2F2F2;font-weight:bold;">Matters of State competence Powers exclusively reserved by and to the States <ol type="A"> All Powers not expressly and intentionally delegated to the United States by this Constitution, nor by this Constitution expressly and intentionally prohibited to the States, are expressly and intentionally reserved, exclusively, perpetually, and in absolute, to the States respectively, to be exercised exclusively by them: Each State forever retains its Sovereignty, Freedom, and Independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction, and Right, which is not by this Constitution expressly and intentionally delegated to the United States;—And for greater Certainty, and except where this Constitution shall by express words require otherwise, it is declared and shall be understood that the Powers of the States respectively, shall, throughout the territory of each of them respectively, extend to all Matters in relation to the Peace, Order, and good Government of the State, the public Health, Welfare, Safety, and Morals of all inhabitants therein; and, to the complete and utter exclusion of the United States in all Cases whatsoever, shall also extend to all Matters coming within the Classes of Subjects herein next enumerated; that is to say: Raising Revenue, Necessary to pay the Debts, and provide for the Peace, Order, and Good Government of the State and for the public Safety, Health, Morals, Prosperity, Comfort, Convenience and Welfare of the inhabitants thereof, and for Matters of competence that are by this Constitution reserved to the States respectively; and for greater Certainty it is declared and shall be understood that in each State, pursuant to the Constitution and Laws thereof, the State Legislature shall have Power to raise Revenue by any Means and from any Source as they shall think Necessary and Proper, and in like Manner to prescribe the Proper Manner, Means, and Sources that Revenue may be raised by the various political subdivisions of the State;</li> Borrowing of Money on the sole credit of the State;</li> Peace, Order, and Good Government of the State, and the public Safety, Health, Morals, Prosperity, Comfort, Convenience and Welfare of the inhabitants thereof;</li> Punishing corruption and abuse of power of any kind whatever, occurring within the boundaries of the State;</li> <li>Suffrage, political Parties, and Elections generally, including safeguarding the Purity of Elections;</li> <li>Municipal Institutions in the State;</li> <li>Courts established under the Constitution and Laws of the State, and Court procedure for the same; including their Rules of Procedure, both Criminal and Civil; and Rules of Evidence;</li> <li>Conflict of laws, and the Law of Nations;</li> <li>Property, private and public; property law; and Eminent domain;</li> <li>Law of torts and malfeasance, and of malpractice;</li> <li>Contract law;</li> <li>Civil law;</li> <li>Criminal law; crimes generally, and punishing the same; and punishing offenses against the Constitution and Laws of the United States;</li> <li>Prisons, Penitentiaries, and Reform Institutions;</li> <li>Internal Police, and National Security;</li> <li>Militia, Military, and National Defense;</li> <li>Emergency management and civil protection;</li> <li>Education;</li> <li>Civil rights;</li> <li>Aboriginal peoples and lands;</li> <li>Natural Resources of any kind whatever;</li> <li>Conservation, Fish and Wildlife, Forestry, Wetlands, and Environment;</li> <li>Agriculture, Ranching, Livestock, and Fisheries; and Food, and Food Safety;</li> <li>Animal, plant, fungal, and other life;</li> <li>Parks and Recreation;</li> <li>Water, water use, waterways, Sea Coast, and riparian law;</li> <li>Pollution, particulates, and other harmful emissions and substances;</li> <li>State Lands, Public Lands, and Land use generally;</li> <li>Regulation of Trade and Commerce within the State;</li> <li>Corporations, Securities and Stocks, Banking, Industry, Labor, Occupations, and the regulation and licensing of the same;</li> <li>Fire, Building, and Life Safety;</li> <li>Health, healthcare, hospitals, marine hospitals, asylums, charities, and benevolent institutions;</li> <li>Medicine, pharmacy, and narcotics; and Quarantine;</li> <li>Insurance of any kind whatever;</li> <li>Estate and inheritance;</li> <li>Mortuaries and cemeteries;</li> <li>Welfare, hardship assistance, and subsidies;</li> <li>Family, Marriage and Divorce, and Children;</li> <li>Firearms (including ammunition therefor), knives, swords, other blades, kinetic arrow weapons, and weapons generally;</li> <li>Immigration, and the entry qualifications Necessary, pursuant to the common policy on Immigration prescribed by the Senate pursuant to article II-B, subsection B, clause 3 of this Constitution; and Customs, pursuant to the common policy on the Customs Union as prescribed by the Senate pursuant to article II-B, subsection B, clause 3 of this Constitution;</li> <li>Naturalization of aliens, pursuant to the uniform Rule of Naturalization prescribed by the Congress pursuant to article II-B, section 8, subsection A, clause 4 of this Constitution;</li> <li>Energy, Electricity generation and transmission; Ionizing radiation, nuclear energy, and radioactive materials; Telecommunication, television, telegraph, and radio; Critical infrastructure, and infrastructure generally, including communications, transportation, pipelines and all such works that move goods, services, information, and people;</li> <li>Public works; Internal improvements and subsidies; Transportation and Railroads; Air traffic and State airspace; Harbors, beacons, buoys, and lighthouses; Navigation and shipping; and Ferries between two or more States, and between any State or States and any Foreign State;</li> <li>Culture, Sport, and Tourism;</li> <li>Time zones, and Language;</li> <li>Any Matter of a local or private Nature;—And</li> <li>Any Matter that, by this Constitution alone, does not directly come within the Classes of Subjects expressly and intentionally delegated to the United States, and any Matter not directly coming within the Classes of Subjects expressly enumerated in section eight of the first article of this Constitution; Treaties embracing any Matter coming within the forgoing Classes of Subjects and all other Matters not directly coming within the Classes of Subjects expressly and intentionally delegated to the United States by this Constitution; and all Laws for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers and all other Powers that are not by this Constitution expressly and intentionally delegated to the United States.</li></ol></li></ol>

Federal power
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Foreign and military affairs
The Confederacy is delegated Power over foreign and military affairs, but in a limited Manner. In the realm of foreign affairs, the Union is the lead power, and determines the Common Foreign and Trade Policy (CFTE) which is carried out by itself and the several States: The States are bound to abide by and defend the CFTE, and as such to craft their foreign policies to comply with the CFE. In the realm of military affairs, the Union determines the basic rules for training, arming, and disciplining the militaries and militia of the States and the general security policy of the United States, serving as a Federal coordinator for the States in these areas of military affairs; but has complete power over the Federal military. For the most part, as to policies on foreign and military affairs vis-á-vis the States, the Confederacy acts to coordinate those policies of the States, for the purpose of uniform, common, Confederacy-wide policy frameworks under which the States are free to form their own foreign and military policies.

Interstate trade and the common market and customs area
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Copyrights and patents
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Naturalization and bankruptcy
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Money, and weights and standards
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Piracy, offenses against the law of nations, and counterfeiting
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Federal Institutions
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Legislature
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Executive
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Judicial
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Federal Council
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Federal Commission
The Federal Commission is the executive and administrative arm of the Federal Council.

Dual Federalism
As per the United States Constitution's Supremacy Clause, the several States and the United States, each while acting solely within their respective remits, are supreme: Insofar as the Union is acting solely within its express remit, its acts are supreme and pre-empt those of the member States. Likewise, insofar as each State is acting solely within its remit, its acts are supreme and pre-empt all those of the Union. This concept is called dual federalism, and erroneously called "dual sovereignty" by those unfamiliar with USNA politics (Erroneous, because in the United States, the Union is not sovereign and possesses absolutely no amount of sovereignty; in the United States, insofar as the member States and the Union are concerned, of the two, only the States are considered to be sovereign, let alone possessing sovereignty).

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State and pooled sovereignty
As the Union is not a Power in its own right, but a common Agency formed by the eighteen States united for their common benefit, it is not sovereign. Instead, the Union, as the common Agent of the several States for specific issues, is delegated by the Principal (that is to say, the member States) Authority to act on their behalf and in their name, but only on a small set of Matters. It is by this that it is meant that the eighteen States in their capacity as constituting a foedus, or covenant, are the "United States in Congress assembled". Another term for this arrangement is pooled sovereignty, which roughly means that the States, respectively, retain the full mass of their national sovereignty, and in constituting between themselves a Union and Confederacy for certain, specific goals, they pool their sovereignty together in order to fulfill those specific goals.

In each State, on Matters coming within the reserved Powers of the States, the General Government, as required by the Federal Constitution, must defer to the judgement of that State on both Matters of that State's Constitution and Law (of any kind, be it constitutional, statutory, or any instrument with force of law) and of the interpretation thereof. Concerning these Matters, the General Government is wholly without any Power of interpretation, or any other Power whatsoever, but must act pursuant to the constitutions, laws, rules, determinations, and judgements of the States respectively on such Matters.

Federal and other interstate treaties
An interstate Treaty is form of federal Treaty, an agreement between two or more member States of the United States. Article II-B, section 10, clause 4 of the United States Constitution provides that "[i]nsofar as the States by this Constitution retain Power, they may make Treaties with one another and, with the Consent of a simple Majority of the Senate, with foreign States." In most cases, the Consent of the Senate is not Necessary, and the States may make Treaties without the involvement of the Senate or any other part of the U.S. Government; however, the Constitution prohibits the States from joining or making any Alliance or Confederation, or, "without the Consent of the Senate", laying "any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely Necessary for executing its inspection Laws."

For federal Treaties that require the Consent of the Senate, Consent can be obtained in one of three ways. First, there can be a model Treaty and the Senate can grant automatic approval for any State wishing to accede to it, such as the Driver License Compact. Second, States can submit a Treaty to the Senate prior to ratifying, but after signing, the agreement. Third, States can agree to a Treaty then submit it to the Senate for approval, which, if it does so, activates the party States' ratification thereof and causes it to come into effect. Frequently, these agreements create a new interstate and intergovernmental governmental agency which is responsible for administering or improving some shared resource such as a seaport or public transportation infrastructure. In some cases, a federal Treaty serves simply as a coordination mechanism between independent authorities in the party States.

Interstate Treaty agencies are multi-State entities with quasi-federal Powers.

Interstate Treaties are often made in situations where the federal Government is not competent to act or govern on a certain Matter. By making interstate Treaties, the party States can, on a Matter or Matters coming within their reserved Powers, achieve federal uniformity at a mutually desired level and in a perfectly constitutional and voluntary way, one that does not involve the federal Government exceeding its delegated Powers.

Interstate Treaties are distinct from Uniform Acts, which are model legislation produced by non-governmental bodies of legal experts to be enacted into Law by State Legislatures independently.

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State sovereign immunity
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State immunity
In each State, the executive Officers, Judges and Legislators of the other States and, in several cases, those of the United States, respectively, when visiting other States or the Fœderal Capital Territory, are each afforded varying levels of diplomatic immunity from the Laws of the State (or FCT) being visited. This means that, except where expressly concluded by formal Treaty, while a State Official is visiting another State or the Fœderal Capital Territory, s/he may not be arrested or detained; nor his/her person, residence, vehicle, or effects searched or seized; nor be subpoenaed as a witness or prosecuted for any offense under the laws of the visited State or the FCT. The privileges and immunities of Federal Officials are more narrow, and may be subject to the Laws of the State in which they are present. For the most part, Federal Officials, as with State and local officials, insofar as they are acting within their proper constitutional authority, may not be prosecuted for actions done in their official capacity: However, they, like State and local officials, are subject to all other Laws of that State for all other actions.

For State Officials visiting another State or the Fœderal Capital Territory, their immunity may be revoked only by their home State; but as to a Federal Official, his immunity may be revoked only by an Order of the Governor-General, or (if the Governor-General refuses) an Order countersigned by the chief Executives of no less than two-thirds –e.g., twelve– of the eighteen States.

Federal elections
In the United States, as with State, local, and all other elections, Federal elections are regulated entirely and exclusively by the States, subject to the few minimum requirements set forth in the Federal Constitution.