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Basic Constitutional Concepts
of it was necessary because the States were either unable or unwilling to
adapt to technological advances requiring uniform regulation and control, or were indifferent and even hostile to the demands of minorities,
especially in the field of civil rights. Critics, on the other hand, assert that
centralization has produced bureaucratic inefficiency and waste, brought
on deficit spending, undermined independence and self-government, contributed to the problem of political apathy, and encouraged judicial excesses that deny citizens a say in their own affairs. Perhaps the most frequently voiced complaint is the allegation that the Federal courts have
excluded the people and their elected representatives from the decisionmaking process by dictating public policy on the scope and meaning of
individual liberty, particularly as it relates to the apprehension and treatment of criminal offenders, control and supervision of neighborhoods
and schools, religion and the family, abortion, pornography, and a wide
assortment of other social concerns.
Whatever the merits of these arguments for and against the growth of
centralization, federalism yet remains; and there seems to be no popular
movement afoot to repudiate federalism, eradicate the States, or weaken
the federal system further. Even in its weakened condition, federalism remains a basic principle of the American constitutional system.
Because the Constitution does not precisely draw a line to indicate
where national power ends and State power begins, the issue of States’
Rights will, it seems, continue to be a source of disagreement and debate
in American public life. The difficulties associate