Intergovernmental Relationships Our constitution allows for the division of powers and laws between local, state, and national governments, but with the division comes conflicts of interest. How do these three levels of government interact harmoniously and what types of problems arise from the division of the government within Texas? In chapter 12 these relationships were discussed along with common issues and policies that ensure the success of this type of government at the state level.The system of division of governments that gives the states power along with the national government can be confusing at times, and leaves the citizens feeling like they have no decision power. This becomes obvious when looking at state funding that is divided by the national government.
This funding can include money for education, and highways. Although Texas loves to receive money granted from the federal government, we are not so excited about the requirements for spending the funds.When the federal government issues money like that they issue a statement for the funds that tells the state how and where they can use the money; this is where the issue arises. Similar to a teenager that asks for money from their parents, they don’t want to spend it on books, rather a good movie, or clothes. Federalism is what this relationship is known as and can be a fragile line when discussing to what extent the federal government dictates over the Texas government.There are subcategories that are used to describe the type of relationship between the governments; unitary or confederation.
Both types of relationships define one government having complete control over the other. Unitary give the national government the power to dictate the state governments and the states merely acts as the enforcers of the national government. While confederation gives the state its own total power and gives the national government power over only what the state doesn’t want to deal with.The ideal flow of the power between the federal and state governments is known as federalism and is present in Texas and the United States. Remember why the United States became its own country, the colonists were tired of being completely bossed around and fought to be free.
When they became free they set up their own government for the people by the people. Due to the previous burdens the colonists set up a very weak national government that created issues when the colonies didn’t agree on something.Thus the adaptation to a federal government that shares an even flow of power giving the best for everyone involved. In the constitution a federal government system is written to avoid the problems that came from having a confederate government within the colonies.
The framers of the constitution had the separation of powers, checks and balances, and delicate intergovernmental relationships in mind when writing the document. Colonists at this time were very gun shy of the idea of giving any power to the national governments as they had experienced the abuse of power before.However the way the constitution read for the governments to interact the system would favor both parties. The Supreme Court became involved with the designation of powers between the state and national government when the judiciary act of 1789 was passed; deciding to have a country with a strong nation-centered government. The Supreme Court now has cases that decide the jurisdiction of the case whether it be kept at the state level or belongs in federal courts.Federalism is by far the best mixture of power for both governments and provides the best outcome for its citizens.
There will always be conflict of interests when money and power is involved, however we must remember that we elected them to run our state and country. The future of federalism is as strong as its past and will come across its scuffles here and there, yet it is the best separation of powers our country can get. Texas will continue to receive help from the national government and in return will have to follow the rules that come with the grant.
