Правовая основа, механизм и значение американского федерализма, его влияние на политическую систему США

Abstract

The article is devoted to one of the main principles of using power in the constitutional system of the United States which lies in the separation of governing authority between the federal government and the local (that is, state) government. The purpose of the article is examination of permanent peculiarities of the constitutional system of the United States which lead to stability of the two-party system of the United States and its specific nature. The article analyses the following mechanisms contained in the American Constitution and legislation which are based on federalism and support it: the powers of the states and the powers of the nation are determined, the judicial power follows federal law supremacy, the states actively participate in the formation of the federal authorities, the federal system of the political parties has its base in the states, etc. The main significance of the American federalism is in providing the enormous and diverse country with effective governance. All the beliefs and values of the American people, which were formed in their day by the American history within the states, underlie such constitutional system. The goal of the creation of the federal system was to insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence as well as promote the general welfare. National programs are administered through strong state governments as active partners of the federal government with regard to ethnical, regional and economical particularities of the states and priority of the interests of the nation.