An Argument for a Strong Federal Government

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Since our founding there has been tension between states’ rights and federal rights. After the Revolution, the founders ratified the Articles of Confederation. This document gave almost all of the power to the individual states, leaving an almost powerless Congress as the weak national government. After a few years, the founders realised that this situation was untenable if the new country was to survive: the United States needed to behave like a unified entity instead of a group of separate individual mini-countries. Thus, the founders came back together and developed the U.S. Constitution. They realised that it was necessary for there to be a federal government to oversee the country and ensure the rights of all of the people, but that there was also room for state and local governments to develop, maintain, and regulate their citizen’s local interests. Thus the founders developed a document to strike this delicate balance between a strong, but democratic center, with the potential chaos of numerous competing state interests. The U.S. Constitution was born.

The key though has always been balance. What has made the United States such a great example was it’s ability to balance competing interests in a way that any one interest is checked against others. The legislative, executive, and judicial branches all provide checks upon each other. The federal government is checked by state governments and vice versa. These checks help to fight corruption, maintain stability, and enforce justice. If one side becomes too powerful, the others would wither, and eventually chaos and corruption would reign because there would be no opposing entity to counter the growing power.

There are people in power that argue that states should have more power. They fight the federal government on various issues, advocating against a broad central authority, in favour of localised state power. This is dangerous. As the founders realised with the Articles of Confederation, there needs to be a strong federal government to ensure the rights of the entire population and the ability for the country to survive. It may seem to make the most sense for local and state governments to have more power (ie the more local the power, the more democratic the power would be), but this is fallacy. If the government of a state decides to strip the rights of certain individuals away in order for those in power to maintain power, then democracy fails on a local level. Without a strong central government to maintain the rights of all citizens, it becomes increasingly easy for those in localised positions of power to corrupt the system. 

We need a strong federal government that protects the rights of all citizens that live within the United States. The right to vote, the right to free speech, the right to assembly, the right to practice your religion, the right to marry, the right to have children, the right to healthcare, the right to bodily autonomy, the right to decent working conditions, the right to fair labour laws, the right to safety, the right to equality, the right to justice, the right to liberty, the right to pursue happiness, the right to live, none of these rights should have to depend upon which city or state you happen to live in. And unfortunately letting states determine the level at which they will maintain these rights, will more than likely lead to these rights being deteriorated over time. Take for example the right to vote. A right that should be held equally for all citizens in the United States. Any regulation of this right should be consistently applied to every state, every city, even every local neighbourhood. Yet, it isn’t. Numerous states have adopted various regulations that will make it harder for certain members to vote. The reason? So that those in power will be able to maintain their power even if a majority of people in that state would be against them. This isn’t democratic, nor is it fair. And this is how the system will begin to erode. If states can determine voting regulations within their borders without any check from the federal government to ensure fairness, then who will stop these unfair regulations from being implemented? Obviously the people in power implementing these practices are not going to suddenly grow a conscience. And if these regulations ensure that these people in power maintain that power, then the local population becomes powerless. Democracy has failed at the local level. Thus there has to be another entity that can oversee the fairness of any regulation. The federal government is that entity.

Ensuring equality and fairness are extremely important issues that are best maintained via a strong federal government, but a strong federal government is also necessary to prevent chaos and eventual demise. Imagine your rights being solely dependent upon which state you are currently in. For example, one state decides women should no longer be allowed to have their own credit cards. (This isn’t a far-fetched idea as until 1974, banks could refuse to grant an unmarried woman a credit card or require a man to co-sign for one.) Now imagine the potential chaos that could ensue if a woman is travelling by herself from her state where she could have a credit card, to another state that refuses to accept her credit card as a valid form of payment. And then imagine having 50 different states, all with completely different rules regarding every possible aspect of living and having to know what those rules are while you are travelling or even moving.   The potential of inequality and chaos skyrocket. But not only that, the more power that is granted to the states, the more likely they will become unrestrained and self-absorbed. There will be less need to cooperate with other states that have different ideals. And eventually what is to stop states from waging skirmishes with other states over borders or policy disagreements. The chaos and self-absorption of each state only looking out for themselves will eventually lead to the demise of the country as a whole. This was foreseeable to the founders after witnessing the lack of a federal structure in the Articles of Confederation and why it is extremely important to maintain a strong federal government if we want the USA to continue to survive.

A strong federal government is important. It is the best entity to ensure that all citizens are treated fairly and equally regardless of where they live. It also ensures a level of cooperation among competing state interests that keeps the country thriving. At first glance allowing states to have more power may seem more democratic, but in reality it provides an easier opportunity for localised corruption that will destabilise the foundations of the entire country. A strong federal government is the only thing, currently, that can balance that.