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Sarai Garcia  

3rd Period | Civics 


Quarantine | DBQ 
Monday, June 1st, 2020 
Does more Federal Power benefit or hurt Policymaking 
 
The United States of America started the government with the Articles of 
Confederation. This proved to be too weak and led to minimal progress. The 
Founding Fathers then made the Constitution. Afterward, the bill of rights was 
added. These documents lead to improvements in the government and how it is 
run. Some of the people in favor of the Constitution were called the Federalists. 
They favored a strong centralized government. More power for the Federal 
government benefits policy making based on political, economic, and social 
issues. 
To begin, expanding powers of the Federal Government benefits 
policymaking politically because there is an equal order reigning over all the 
states, and it doesn’t allow for the states to take detrimental actions over a local 
feud. In Document 4, Bill Frenzel said that "‘Gridlock is a natural gift the framers 
of our Constitution gave us so that the country would not be subjected to policy 
swings resulting from the whimsy of the public.’" This quote shows that more 
Federal Government powers benefit policy making politically because gridlock is 
essential to the country, so that there is compromise within the government aside 
from what the public may think. There needs to be a common agreement from 
both sides so that the general public can see unity among the Federal 
Government. Looking at Document 5, the National Government has the power to 
declare war while the states do not. The State Government does however, 
maintain state militia. Then both Federal and State Governments can make and 
enforce laws according to the Venn Diagram. This shows that politically, more 
powers in the National Government benefit policymaking, because extreme 
measures and actions will be filtered out in the Federal Government, which 
needs votes on before anything happens.  
To further elaborate on this statement, more power for the Federal 
Government benefits policy making e​conomically, because dealing with the 
nation’s income involves a central power that can provide equal access 
nationwide​. Document 6 states that the Obama administration “passed a massive 
stimulus package in February 2009 to jumpstart the economy- and it was 
successful… GDP growth was higher from 2009-2012 in part due to the legislation. 
Trump has benefited from Obama's economic stewardship”. This evidence proves 
the claim that more federal power benefits policy making economically because 
the legislation, one of the government branches, helped for there to be an 
economic increase nationally, starting from one presidential term to the next. In 
Document 1, James Madison writes, “those who are without property, have ever 
formed distinct interests in society. Those who are creditors, and those who are 
debtors, . . . grow up of necessity in civilized nations, and divide them into 
different classes, actuated by different sentiments and views. The regulation of 
these various and interfering interests forms the principal task of modern 
Legislation”. This quote shows that economically speaking, more federal power 
benefits policy making, because in a divided country by social and economic 
classes, interests, viewpoints and more, there needs to be more power for the 
Federal Government to control it all. 
Lastly, the Federal Government receiving more power benefits policy 
making s​ocially, because it can sway so​cial media platforms and impact people of 
all no matter their social backgrounds. Document 7 states, “Trump signed an 
executive order that aims to curtail legal protections that shield…online 
companies from liability for content posted by their users. Twitter labeled two of 
Trump's tweets about mail-in ballots, saying they contain "potentially misleading 
information about voting processes.’" This shows that socially, more power to the 
Federal Government benefits policy making, because the current U.S. President 
was highly offended and upset about Twitter’s actions towards his posts, and he 
can then sign an executive order with his power. Document 10 is a bar graph that 
shows those receiving and not receiving tax credit benefited more from the 
affordable health care act, as well as independents, low and high deductible plans 
and total marketplace enrollees. This shows that more power to the Federal 
Government benefits policy making socially, because most people of different 
social classes benefited more from the ACA rather than being negatively affected. 
Because of the Federal Government and its powers, more people were able to get 
healthcare because it was affordable. 
Some may say that the Federal Government having more power actually 
negatively affects policy making, because there have been unnecessary wars of 
greed. An example of this can be seen through the war in Iraq. Document 8 states, 
“Before the 2003 invasion, Iraq's domestic oil industry was fully nationalized and 
closed to Western oil companies. A decade of war later, it is largely privatized 
and utterly dominated by foreign firms”. This drastic change shows that more 
power to the Federal Government harms policy making because the U.S. decided 
to go to war in Iraq to steal their oil to benefit oil companies elsewhere, in this 
case, the United States businesses and companies. However, it is better for the 
Federal Government to declare war on another country rather than the State 
Government. This is said because if there is less power in the Federal 
Government, then there will be more power in the State Government as the 
United States is ruled under federalism. 

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