How does federalism and separation of powers affect how well citizens are protectedin emergenie?

Answer 1

The principles of federalism and separation of powers have a direct affect on how well citizens are protected in emergencies. Federalism means that power is shared and denied between local, state, and national government. Local government deals with local emergencies. State government deals with state emergencies and national deals with national(much bigger) emergencies. Local governments respond faster to emergencies because they are closer to the problem, but they do not have enough resources. State and national governments have massive resources but it takes them a long time to arrive on scene.

Separation of powers is another type of government, in which the power is divided into three branches; legislative,executive and judicial branch. Each branch has a different job, legislative branch makes laws, executive branch enforces/carries out the law, and the judicial branch interprets the laws. The advantage of separation of powers is that we have an executive to act quickly, another advantage is that each branch can focus on a different aspect of governing. Therefore, the executive branch can focus on helping people during an emergency.The disadvantage is that if the executive responds to a crisis, the law might not be adequate for that crisis. If so, it might take a while for the legislative branch to pass a new law.

The national and state government has the same role but at different level. For example, the president and the governor of the United States have the same role of being commander-in-Chief; however the president runs the military, while the governor runs national guards. Federalism is most affective when states deal with states emergencies and national with national emergencies, but sometimes there is a problem during a crises, there can be overlapping of work and subsequent confusion regarding who is responsible for what. For example, when Hurricane Katrina hit Greater New Orleans, USA, in 2005, there was delay in the rescue work as there was confusion between the state governments and the federal government on who is responsible for which disaster management work. This resulted in the loss of many lives.

I think the government is maintaining a good balance between protecting citizens in emergencies, and maintaing a free society. One way governmernt maintains balance is that citizens are allowed to sue the government if they believe their rights are violated. Exmple 1, Section 215 of the Patriot Act is supposed to prevent terrorism by increasing the ability the of the FBI to investigate people suspected of terrorism. To detect terrorists they were allowed to get anyone's records,(including books, papers, documents, and other items). Using that authority FBI violated Due Process, some of people were held and questioned extensively. They claimed that Constitution gurantees that there is a process for holding and questioning people, and that process was not followed. Therefor, Section 215 violates a citizens right to due process.

In another case, FBI violated Freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, after the attack on Pearel Harbor by Japan, America entered World War 2. Japanes American were moved to Internment Camp, because Roosevelt and many Americans feared Japanes Americans might support Japan. The FBI searched homes of Japanese Americans often without search warrants, seeking any items identified as being Japanese. Items which appeared as contraband such as short-wave radios were confiscated.

Section 215 violated the First Amendment ( free expression) by investigating individuals who were practicing Free Speech or their religion. Many people who were under investigation had contributed financial support to charities, but the FBI susppected their charities of giving support to terrorist groups. The citizens thought they were helping the needy.