up more and more of their power to the federal level. This resulted in the dual federalism period. In the first portion of this period, from 1789 1861 the national level became the sovereign and the spheres became equal in power (Walker, 1995). The next stage in the progression of federalism is known as cooperative federalism. In this phase the emphasis was placed on shared functions and providing services for tax payers. This stage lasted for almost one hundred years, from 1861 until 1960. Following cooperative federalism was creative federalism. Creative federalism is based on intergovernmental fiscal transfers (Walker, 1995), or as they are commonly known: transfer payments. Transfer payments are payments from the national government to the states or provinces to pay for provincially run programs such as health care. Creative federalism lasted for twenty years from 1960 to 1980. The final stage of federalism, and the stage we are presently in, is known as cooptive federalism. Cooptive federalism is based on the devolution and deregulation of government. This has been a time riddled with cut backs and spending cuts. Also this is a time period where the deficit has dominated and controlled governments operations.Federal governments have been traditional, fairly successful entities. As previously discussed there are many reasons why countries look to centralized federal government systems. Federal governments allow for an overmind of values to be imposed upon a large or diverse population, while at the same time allowing for unique regional expression. Another reason to promote federalism is due to the economic benefits enjoyed by larger states. The larger and more populated the state is, the more power it will have to wield on the world market, which will increase the prosperity of the state. Other inherent benefits of unification include the creation of a powerful centralized armed forces which helps for defense purp...
