Restore State Government
Americans across the country are anxiously watching the upcoming elections for U.S. president and Congress. Depending on who wins, the results will inevitably alter our nation’s trajectory — or so the thinking goes.
Not so fast. In reality, the American system of government, as designed by the Founding Fathers, has several key firewalls protecting citizens from encroachments on their God-given rights — and one of those firewalls is the principle of federalism. Under our system, the states are sovereign republics, and power is divided between them and the federal government. The states retain the vast majority of powers; the U.S. Constitution delegates only specific, limited powers to the federal government. In The Federalist, No. 51, James Madison highlighted the strength of America’s federalist system. Describing the United States as a “compound republic” with power “divided between two distinct governments,” he noted that this system provides “a double security … to the rights of the people.”
To protect citizens’ God-given rights, states must reclaim the sovereignty that they have lost to federal usurpations, including by nullifying unconstitutional federal acts and rejecting all federal funding. While this is essential, more is needed: State governments must ensure that their own policies protect God-given rights and align with the limited-government principles of the Founding Fathers.
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