POL 201 Week 2 Short Essay – Policy-making in the Federal System
Short Essay –
Policy-making in the Federal System. The U.S. government’s expansive role in public
policy is caught in a swirl of conflicting cross-currents. On the one hand,
popular expectations about government’s responsibility to solve problems often
exceed the capacity of state and local authorities to respond effectively. On
the other hand, policies developed at the national level may not sufficiently
reflect the great diversity of interests across the U.S. to be effective at the
local level. Moreover, the search for effective policy is further complicated
by theoretical debates about the constitutional framework of federalism, e.g.,
what limits on national power can be derived from the 10th Amendment?
