Title: Federalism: Basic Structure of Government | United States Government
Headings: Federalism: Basic Structure of Government
Federalism: Basic Structure of Government
Learning Objectives
Questions to Consider
Terms to Remember
Examples For Further Study

Content: An unique feature of the American governmental structure is a balance of both horizontal and vertical division of powers. As an institutional/structural design, federalism is intended to both safeguard state interests while creating a strong union led by an effective centralized national government. Federalism divides power between multiple vertical layers or levels of government—national, state, county, parish, local, special district–allowing for multiple access points for citizens. The governments, by design at the national and state levels, check and balance one another. At each level of the U.S. federal structure, power is further divided horizontally by branches–legislative, executive, and judicial. This separation of powers feature makes the U.S. federal system even more distinct, since not all federal systems have such separation of powers. Questions to Consider
What are the central differences between unitary, confederation, and federal governmental structures? Show Answer
unitary power is centralized at the top, confederate power is decentralized usually among several roughly co-equal entities/states, and federal powers are a mix with some centralized power delegated to the national government, some reserved to the states/sub-national entities and, in the United States, power is further separated between branches of government
How is power separated and shared in the U.S. federal structure? Show Answer
power is separated vertically between national, state, and local governments and shared and separated between legislative, judicial, and executive branches at the various levels
Terms to Remember
centralization –power is concentrated at one level of government such as the national level in a unitary system
confederation –highly decentralized structure of government with roughly co-equal entities/sovereign states forming an alliance for purposes such as national defense and/or other agreed purposes
decentralization –power is divided or shared between various levels of government
federal system/federalism –institutional arrangement creating relatively autonomous levels of government, each able to act directly on behalf of the people; authority to act granted by the people
separation of powers –a horizontal division of power between the executive, legislative, and judicial powers, allowing each branch of government to act as a check and balance on the other branches
unitary system –highly centralized governmental authority in which any other level of government below the national government is dependent upon the central/national government;