Federalism in the United States

Introduction
Federalism is among the most important and novel concepts of the American constitution, even though the word does not appear in the document. Federalism may be defined as a governance system that permits two or several entities to share the control of a given geographical entities. Put differently, federalism allows for the sharing of power between the national (or federal), state, and sometimes various assortments of local governments (Narang 195). This differs from a unitary form of government in which only one entity wields power. It also differs from a confederation, which consists of an alliance between independent government units. In the United States, the states existed before the creation of a federal government and, therefore, the American Constitution is innately designed with the tensions resulting from this struggle.
Federalism and the Purpose of applying it to a Governmental Structure
As noted previously, federalism is a governance system in which a given territory is governed by more than one level of government. In general, a dominant national or federal government is tasked with governing issues affecting the entire country while the smaller subdivisions (consisting of state and local governments) govern matters of domestic concern. Both the federal and the smaller government units have legislative powers and both enjoy some degree of autonomy. Federalism is applied to a government structure for a number of reasons. First, it provides a means of …