Saad Uddin A.P Government Period 1 January 24th, 2012 Unit 1 Essay Exam: 1B McCulloch v.

Maryland asked the question of whether the congress (federal government) could charter a bank, and then again asked whether individual states could tax the national bank. In both cases the federal governments power was favored, seeing as it was the established law of the land. The congress thus could charter a national bank due to the elastic clause, which basically gave congress the ability to pass laws which would aid all enumerated powers of the government, even if constitutionally there was no evidence supporting the law. The second question was answered in the form of no, states not being able to tax the bank as it was created under national power and thus immune to state challenge, making it clear the federal government was top dog in politics. Grants-in-aids were another of the ways the federal government was able to bypass constitutional ruling, which stated that [it] could not spend money for purposes not authorized by the Constitution. Under the guise of a grant, the Federal government could in fact spend money unauthorized, most of it going to grant seeking states. With this power to grant, federal budget surpluses arose in the 19th and 20th century allowing for government to spend on more, a federal income tax increasing revenues, and a more federal control money supply. Even though states did receive most of the money from the grants, the ultimate winners in power was again the federal government which showed that it could in fact modify legal authority in times of political reality, showing the states that it was alpha-male in government. The more controversial issue of police power has shown however that even though

states do not hold as much power as their federal counterparts, they do have the authority to do within their states what is not prohibited by the constitution (a loophole) and which is not reprimanded by the federal government and adheres to its own constitution. The example of police power in times of emergency or panic for instance allows a state to have a curfew for its residence as long as it is neither reprimanded by the feds or is hypocritical to its own constitution. Block grants are preferred by states as they were devoted to general purposes with few restrictions, meaning they could be virtually spent on anything. Categorical grants on the contrary, as the name suggests were designated for a specific purpose which were designed by federal law. The block grant thus giving states more freedom to spend. Under federalism the federal government is limited by states rights and cannot pass laws that interfere with them and state governments cannot pass laws deemed irrational or unconstitutional by the federal government. In this relationship the national government is a sort of U.N which helps appropriate power and secure rights. Essay 2A The constitution places human nature among the ranks of self-interest, egocentricity (sometimes even egomaniacal), and one that is willing to attain power from others if the option presents itself. Since government is comprised of the very egomaniacal people it governs, a separation of power and system of checks and balances have been planted into its structure, a preventative measure from the government acting as a single minded entity which functions as a tyrannical master rather than a point of authority, and further more from one of the three branches lashing out more power than the other two. The Montesquieu based ideal of the separation of power allows all branches of government to hold the same authoritative power over one another and at the same time not allow one to become the sole holder of power in the

institution. An example of such checks and balances are the powers the judiciary branch has over the legislative in being able to declare laws unconstitutional and in turn the legislative branch being able to impeach judges. Similarly the judicial branch can declare acts passed by the president unconstitutional, the counter being that the executive nominates judges. The executive also has the power to veto legislation, the legislative thus being able to impeach the president, approve nominations, and override vetoes if the need be. Madison states in this passage that the government is composed of the same selfinterested people as those governed in the society. Since this nature is apparently inherent to human beings, the government is as susceptible to acts of ego-insanity as any individual in society who see the opportunity of power. Thus after the government has fully insured the rights and protection of its governed, it must control itself in the aspect that governmental powers do not trample the rights of its people and that it does not seek only to please itself rather than its people, ensuring all citizens hold the same liberties and equalities as those in the government and each other.