Federalism is as defined by the United States Constitution, federalism is a fundamental aspect of American government, whereby the states are not merely regional representatives of the federal government, but are granted independent powers and responsibilities. (Dictionary.com) Federalism was created because it a compromise because the Framers could not agree upon a government. Some framers wanted a central federal government and some wanted a bunch of little individual state governments. So instead
How Federalism Has Evolved When the forefathers created the Constitution and laid down the outline for the government of the United States, they gave the federal government far more power than they originally had. However, a main goal of theirs was to maintain the power of the states. The Federalists supported this change. The anti-Federalists, on the other hand, were strictly opposed to it and protested it bitterly. They feared that a central government with so much power would take away power
revitalization programs. (HUD.gov) It was created differently from traditional federal funding that dictated how states and local governments spent funds. Instead, CDBG allowed “grantees to use funds at their discretion as long as they followed broad guidelines” (Orlebeke and Weicher 2014). This approach reflects a compromise between those who wanted to devolve decision-making power to state and local governments and those who wanted to create a national program benefiting low-income communities.