State and Federal Government - The Similarities and Differences

Drafted in 1779, the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the oldest functioning written constitution in the world. Drafted by none other than John and Samuel Adams, along with John Bowdoin, it served as a model for our own nation's Constitution. It features a structure, composed of chapters, sections and articles, vastly more organized than any other state constitution of its time. Within this document, rights of the citizens, and the framework of the states' government is outlined. While it has changed over the years, it manages to paint a picture of the inner workings of Massachusetts politics.

Every state in the Union has created and implemented its own constitution. These constitutions provide the legal framework by which government operates. They also identify the specific role of government, and endow it with certain powers and authority. A constitution also creates a system for how power is to be delegated and distributed through the creation of branches and individual offices. Along with the authority it provides, constitutions create limits on this power of government, and establish checks and balances to further limit the scope of each individual branch and officeholder. Most importantly, constitutions provide unalienable rights to citizens that cannot be refused, or abridged by government. Each state’s constitution is different, however, all of them serve these functions, in order to, create a lasting government that acts in the best interests of its citizenry.

The legislative branch makes laws, approves presidential appointments, is composed of two senators from each state, and the number of congressmen is based upon the population. The legislative branch of regime is composed of the Congress and regime agencies, such as the Regime Printing Office and Library of Congress. These agencies provide assistance to the Congress as well as multiple support accommodations for the Congress.The legislative branch was established by Article I of the Constitution and gave Congress the potency to make laws. The Congress is composed of two parts, the House of Representatives and the

There are a variety of differences and similarities between federal, state, and local governments. This includes, but is not limited to, the responsibilities, size, and staff of the administration. The machinery of government is intended to better the quality of citizen’s lives. Ultimately, federal, state, and local governments were established to work together in bettering programs and laws (Berkley & Rouse, 2009, p.32).

The Legislative branch consists of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Known as Congress, this branch creates laws, controls the money, and has the power to declare war. Along with the other two branches, the Legislative branch has certain powers that the Executive and Judicial branch do not. Furthermore, Congress can impeach the president and withhold money from the Executive branch. To begin with, the Congress has the power to override a president’s veto with two-thirds vote.

First, the Legislative branch is made up of two houses of Congress which are the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate is composed of 100 Senators, 2 for per state.The House of Representatives is made of 435 elected members, separated

They share the same principles with each other. State and local governments can’t create or enforce laws that contradict the Constitution. The Constitution requires “equal protection under the law” for the state and local governments. However, the state and local governments have their differences too. The state has more laws and “ground” to cover than the local governments do. “Each state has its own written constitution, and these documents are often far more elaborate than their federal counterpart. The Alabama Constitution, for example, contains 310,296 words — more than 40 times as many as the U.S. Constitution” (The White House). The local government just deals with the county and their jurisdiction in that state. The state government is more superior over the local government. “A local government must be granted power by the state” (The White House). When it comes to the state and local governments, the state has more power than the local government

The Legislative branch has the power to pass federal laws, establish federal courts, override a Presidential veto, and impeach the President. The size of the House of Representatives resulted out of the Great Compromise. The number of Representatives is determined by Congress based on the state population. At minimum each state would have one representative, with larger states having more. When the House was created there was one representative for every thirty thousand people, yet currently we have one

In conclusion, state law and federal law are very similar as, they are each meant to dictate a measure of safety for the citizens of the United States of America. According to the United States Constitution federal law, which is dictated, allows the federal government the power to make laws for the people and for the country as a whole. State laws are meant to allow each state to be allowed to govern them and handle the issues within their states. This power was given to them from the Bill of Rights that was also outlined in the Constitution (FindLaw, 2012).

The Legislative branch is headed by Congress and includes the House of Representatives and the Senate. Some of the responsibilities of these two bodies is to write up and pass laws, declaring war, confirming Presidential appointments for the Supreme Court and the Cabinet, investigative power, originating spending bills, impeaching officials, and approving treaties. The House is made up of elected members which is divided among the 50 states in proportion to their total population and are elected every two years. The Senate is composed of 100 members and each state has two Senators regardless of population. In order for a bill to pass legislation both the House and the Senate must pass the bill by majority vote, the bill then goes to the President

The federal government and state governments have had a long history of powers struggles. The struggle goes back and forth between who has the right to make decisions and if there is a problem who should fix it. Sometimes it is better for the federal government to fix issues and during other situations it is better for the state or local governments to fix other issues. In the PBS special of the United States Constitution, Peter Sagal travels around the states documenting the various roles and impact the government has on the country as a whole and on the individual states.

The legislative branch is the most powerful branch in government. The legislative branch is in charge of making and passing laws. They have the power to override a president’s decision, stop laws from being passed, and basically control all decisions the governments makes. The legislative branch, also called the congress, consists of the House of Representatives and the senate. The reason for two houses of congress is to balance out the concerns of smaller but more populated states against states that are larger but with less population (www.Usgovinfo.com).

STATE VS FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONS: It should first be noted that state constitutions contain the supreme laws of each state, mostly by detailing the limitations of authority and specific protections for maintaining individual liberty. The US constitution does this too for the federal government and provides the fundamental Bill of Rights that identifies national liberty protections. Many states model their protections on these rights but some add other levels of security. In general, states put a greater emphasis on their legislative branches (where the elected representatives have input) than on the executive branch, though clearly some governors are as visible as is the President of the United States who conducts the daily administrative activities of the federal government.

The relationship between the Federal government and the states is well stable. The Federal government has powers given by the Constitution as well powers or privileges are given to the states which promotes a balance between the two so that our country is not ruled under one specific party or group. The question now is that, are the states rights more than well protected in the current constitution and the political practice.

Though the Federal and State Government are reflections of each other, when Federal laws are