Assignment #1

Assignment Assignment

George Cole provides some background about how federalism has been applied and how federal agencies have come into existence . List and define the three levels of government regarding the principles of federalism , as discussed in the textbook , as well as explain the Tenth Amendment 's association with police powers . Then discuss the forms of political subdivision of police powers and the implications for American police . Is this form of federalism effective or is it not effective Why

The fundamental aspect of principle of federalism is that it distributes

the powers among the three levels of government namely federal government , state government and the citizens . Through this distribution of powers among the three levels of government attempt is made to prevent the domination of one level of government . The state government is given the power to initiate the establishment of local units in the provinces . The Tenth Amendment of American constitution has given the powers to the state governments to control the police powers . However in the three levels of government there are local agencies which perform their own independent functions . Thus , principle of federalism can be applied in the case of the American police as well . There is no centralization of police powers in the central authority . Although the federal agencies such as FBI and secret services are found in America they are expected to work within the limited powers given to the Congress . Hence , the federal agencies are not able to encroach on the powers of the local agencies . According to Gaines et .al , there are few significant implications of the application of federalism principle to the American Police system . This has led to the distribution of police power among the different levels of government . This meant that no single government agency is able to control the police power . Further there is clear definition of the powers of the different police agencies at different levels such as central , state and local governments . At the federal level we have the Federal Bureau of Investigation , while at the provincial and local level there are state police force and other such agencies . Consequently , the federal police agency is not able to acquire the powers of the state police . This has resulted in the decentralization of the police force which can be compared to the principle of federalism . Gaines et .al , also suggested that the decentralization of powers leads to greater responsibility and accountability of the police force . Thus , the police agencies are not able to enjoy all the powers . This decentralization of powers is also necessary to assist the dual citizenship rights of the citizens of America . However , the decentralization of police powers also allows the criminals to escape from one state to the other to avoid criminal procedures . In spite of this one can agree with the arguments of Gaines et .al , that federalism of police power is effective in increasing the accountability and responsibility of the police

Wilson found three different styles of policing , as a result of...