Federalism is behind a lot of things that matter to many people in this country. For example, what people pay in taxes, speed limits, regulations on the purchase of liquor, pollution, how much money should be spent on schools. Federalism is at the heart of the controversies surrounding the Affordable Care Act. Federalism affects almost every aspect of crime and punishment in America. Federalism is critical to how certain civil liberties and civil rights are defined and protected: for instance, some state constitutions mention G-d and some state laws specifically prohibit funding for religious schools. The Founders used federalism to protect personal liberty. Our government as defined by the Founders is called a "federal republic." It gets its powers from the people and from state governments. Federalism refers to a political system in which there are local units of government as well as a national government that can make final decisions for at least some governmental activities and whose existence is specially protected.