The distribution of powers among the three federal branches- The Congress, The President and The Judiciary and between the national and the state governments had a positive impact on policy making. In this system there is the check and balance among the three branches which leads to criticism of wrong policies and adoption of good policies. More importantly the policies are discussed by the federal and state government as well and the decisions are taken on the basis of consent which ultimately leads to adoption of efficient policies by the government.
The main thing that made foreign goods more expensive and northern goods more competitive was that the northern factory system was very efficient and foreign goods were in high demand.