This publication examines a particular prompt given to us in our AP Government and Politics class by our teacher, Mr. Bretzmann.

The goal of this report is to explore the question, the answer, and the process we went through to write it. In short, we go through all steps necessary to write an effective answer to the given prompt.

The Constitution was an attempt to address problems of decentralization that were experienced under the Articles of Confederation.

A. List three problems of decentralized power that existed under the Articles of Confederation. For each problem you listed, identify one solution that the Constitution provided to address the problem. B. Some have argued that the tensions between decentralized and centralized power continue to exist. Support this argument by explaining how one of the following illustrates the continuing tension: Environmental policy Gun control Disability access

Three problems that existed under the Articles of Confederation were that the national government could not tax, did not have resources to back up currency, and could not raise an army. A solution to the problem of the inability to tax was addressed in the Constitution. The solution to the national government not being able to tax is in Article 1, Section 8; the U.S. Constitution gives congress the power to lay and collect taxes. An example is that we now pay federal taxes. The solution to the problem that the federal government did not have resources to back up the value of cur- rency is found in Article 1, Section 8 where the U.S Constitution gave con- gress the ability to coin money and regulate the value of that coined money . We now have American currency that is backed by the government. Finally, the solution to inability to raise an army was created in 1.8 of the new constitution. This article gave the government the ability to raise an army. This power helped the government shut down rebellions like Shay's that threatened to tear apart the new nation. The U.S. now has one of the most prolific militaries in the world. The tensions that center on gun control deal with the amount of regulation the government has. A centralized government supporter would want more government power at the national level; a decentralized supporter, more power to the state level. Those in favor of a more centralized government would be for stricter gun laws as opposed to those in favor of a decentralized government, who would oppose strict gun laws. Tensions exist between these two because this argument represents a major division among the two political parties. A n example of this is the government ban- ning semi - automatic rifle. People have to jump through hoops to get cer- tain types of guns making it a lot harder or stricter process.

First, we counted the tasks. Part A asks for six parts: three problems and three solutions of the Articles of Confederation. Part B asks for two parts: identification of one policy area and how that policy area illustrates continuing tension between a centralized and decentralized government. For part A we focused on Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. Using this article, we chose three problems that we knew were answered in the new Constitution. The three problems we choose were power of taxation, value behind currency, and inability to raise an army. We then went on to describe, explain, and give an example for each of these problems to fully answer the prompt. For part B we focused on the tensions surrounding gun control, and how much regulation the government should have. Firstly, we described and explained what both decentralized and centralized governments are . We then went on to explain and give an example why tensions exist between these two theories of government.