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Disadvantages Of Federalism

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Federalism is a type of government where the power is divided between local governments and federal governments. The U.S., India, Australia, Russia and Brazil are some examples of federalist countries. While this type of practice has its upsides, it has downsides as well as alternatives. One alternative to a federal system would be a unitary system. While a federal government (such as the one in the U.S.) divides power between national governments and local governments, a unitary government does not and all the power is in the national government ex- if the U.S. used a unitary government, marijuana would either be legal or illegal in the whole country compared to in the current federal government where various states have marijuana legalized such as; Washington, California, Colorado, and others haven’t legalized this drug; Texas, Idaho, Utah. A common misconception about a unitary government is that it is a dictatorship, which is not the case at all, they can still be democracies like France, question is would the people be more comfortable with all the power in the central government or a division of that power to local or state governments. The balance of power between the federal and state government has had some changes over time, with laws being put in place to ensure each has a ‘fair’ area to control. In the U.S., the Civil War took place because the south believed that the state had the right to make its own decision on slavery while the north disagreed and

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