The reason that the United States has experience the biggest
drop in terms of economic freedom was mainly because of the controlling impact
in regards of the economic stimuli during the year 2008-2009. Controlling the
impact of the economic stimuli causes the economic freedom to drop because
rules are being set and some actions are being limited.
The correct answer to this open question is the following.
To what extent was any level of the government (national, state, or local) of 1786-87 able to carry out the functions for which government is established?
Well, the big issue in those years was that the Articles of Confederation -the first form of Constitution in the United States- left a weak central government that was very limited. It only could manage the post office and deal with the Native American Indian tribe's issues, among other minor things. The states remained sovereign and had more power. The states could collect money through taxation. And if the central government needed money, it had to ask for it from the states.
To what extent were the purpose(s) of government listed in the Preamble threatened by anarchy during this period?
The risk was major and the government realized this with the incidents of the Shay Rebellion in Massachusetts. The central government could not raise an army, and the Shay Rebellion was a tough lesson to learn.
That is why the delegates of the states participated in the Constitutional Convention of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the summer of 1787, to create a new form of government based in a new Constitution.
Formal powers are changed over time, while informal powers cannot be changed. Formal powers are created in the executive branch. Informal powers are not. Formal powers are created by Congress, and informal powers aren’t .
