Law
Federalism
Federalism is a system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and constituent political units, such as states or provinces. This division of power allows for a balance between national and regional interests, and it often involves a written constitution that delineates the powers of each level of government. In the United States, for example, federalism is a fundamental principle of the Constitution.
Written by Perlego with AI-assistance
Related key terms
1 of 5
10 Key excerpts on "Federalism"
eBook - PDF- Glen Krutz, Sylvie Waskiewicz(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Openstax(Publisher)
Colorful billboards with simple messages may greet us at state borders (Figure 3.1 ), but behind them lies a complex and evolving federal design that has structured relationships between states and the federal government since the late 1700s. What specific powers and responsibilities are granted to the federal and state governments? How does our process of government keep these separate governing entities in balance? To answer these questions and more, this chapter traces the origins, evolution, and functioning of the American system of Federalism, as well as its advantages and disadvantages for citizens. 3 American Federalism 3.1 The Division of Powers LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of this section, you will be able to: • Explain the concept of Federalism • Discuss the constitutional logic of Federalism • Identify the powers and responsibilities of federal, state, and local governments Modern democracies divide governmental power in two general ways; some, like the United States, use a combination of both structures. The first and more common mechanism shares power among three branches of government—the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. The second, Federalism, apportions power between two levels of government: national and subnational. In the United States, the term federal government refers to the government at the national level, while the term states means governments at the subnational level. Federalism DEFINED AND CONTRASTED Federalism is an institutional arrangement that creates two relatively autonomous levels of government, each possessing the capacity to act directly on behalf of the people with the authority granted to it by the national constitution. 1 Although today’s federal systems vary in design, five structural characteristics are common to the United States and other federal systems around the world, including Germany and Mexico.
eBook - PDF- Edward Sidlow, Beth Henschen, Edward Sidlow(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
Basically, government powers in a federal system are divided between a central government and regional, or subna- tional, governments. Defining Federalism Although the definition given here seems straightforward, its application cer- tainly is not. After all, almost all nations—even the most repressive totalitarian regimes—have some kind of subnational governmental units. Thus, the exis- tence of national and subnational governmental units by itself does not make a system federal. For a sys- tem to be truly federal, the powers of both the national units and the subnational units must be specified and limited. Under true Federalism, individuals are governed by two separate governmental authorities (national and state authorities) whose expressly designated powers cannot be altered without changing the fundamental nature of the system—for example, by amending a written constitution. Table 3.1 lists some of the coun- tries that have a federal system of government. 1 U.S. Federalism in Practice Federalism in theory is one thing—Federalism in practice is another. As you will read shortly, the Constitution sets forth Federalism A system of shared sovereignty between two levels of government— one national and one subnational—occupying the same geographic region. LO 3–1 Explain what Federalism means, how Federalism differs from other systems of government, and why it exists in the United States. Country Population (in Millions) Argentina 44.9 Australia 25.7 Austria 8.9 Brazil 211.6 Canada 38.0 Ethiopia 98.7 Germany 83.1 India 1,362.7 Malaysia 32.8 Mexico 127.8 Nigeria 206.1 Pakistan 220.9 Switzerland 8.6 United States 329.8 Source: Official estimates by governments of the listed nations or by the United Nations. Numbers are for 2020 except Argentina, Ethiopia, Germany, and Switzerland, 2019.
No longer available |Learn moreState and Local Politics
Institutions and Reform
- Todd Donovan, Daniel Smith, Tracy Osborn, Christopher Mooney(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Federalism: State and Local Politics within a Federal System 43 policy responsiveness is enhanced when politi-cal authority is dispersed among subnational units. Finally, subnational units are able to provide and manage governmental services more efficiently than if they were carried out by the central government. Of course, the decentralization of political power can lead to asymmetrical, or uneven, rela-tions among the states. In the United States, not all states have the same degree of power within the federalist system. Although all states are afforded the same protection and authority under the U.S. Constitution, some states have more clout within the federation because of the relative size of their economies and populations, differences in their socioeconomic and demographic makeup, and dis-parities in their social and cultural environments. These variations have led to differential power rela-tions among the states, as well as between each state and the federal government. 9 Why Federalism? America’s Founding One of the most fundamental struggles in Ameri-can political history has been the turf battle for political power waged between the states and the national (or, as mentioned, federal) government. The cyclical ebb and flow of this tension between the national and state governments has been con-tinuous for over two centuries and is rooted in the founding of the country.
No longer available |Learn moreState and Local Government
The Essentials
- Ann O'M. Bowman, Richard C. Kearney(Authors)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
If they see fit, they may change or even abolish the central government. The United States unitary system One in which all authority is derived from a central authority. confederacy A league of sovereign states in which a limited central government exercises few independent powers. Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 24 Chapter 2 Federalism and the States began as a confederacy, and the southern states formed one following their secession in 1861. A federal system falls somewhere between the unitary and confederate forms in the way it divides powers among levels of government. This system has a minimum of two governmental levels, each of which derives its powers directly from the people and can act directly on the people within its jurisdic-tion without permission from any other authority. Each level of government is supreme in the powers assigned to it, and each is protected by a constitution from being destroyed by the other. Thus, Federalism divides the power and functions of government between a central government and a specified num-ber of geographically defined regional jurisdictions. In effect, people hold dual citizenship, in the national government and in their regional government. In the U.S. federal system, the regional governments are called states. In oth-ers, such as Canada, regional governments are known as provinces. Altogether there are approximately twenty federal systems in the world. The Advantages and Disadvantages of Federalism As it has evolved in the United States, Federalism is a reasonably effective system of government.
- Michael A. Pagano, R. Leonardi(Authors)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
The evolutionary pattern of US Federalism highlights these features: even within the US context, views of Federalism are very much “in the eye of the beholder” and continually at the core of contemporary political debates. As Martha Derthick (1996), one of the foremost Federalism scholars, sees it “American Federalism is complicated and unstable.” In both established federal systems as well as newly federalizing governments, therefore, it is reason- able to approach Federalism as an ongoing project as much as a formal prescription for allocation of authority and responsibilities. Federalism’s increasing appeal, it is argued here, can be understood in terms of its advantages in addressing governance dilemmas. Linking federal- ism and governance concepts increases our ability to “think federally.” Taking a governance perspective on Federalism underscores the institutional design features of federal systems that make Federalism amenable to accom- modating governance strategies. This essay sketches the basic dimensions of a governance perspective, the central premise being that governments are increasingly interdependent with other public and private actors – gover- nance processes therefore require that actors seeking mutual gains find ways to coordinate their efforts. Thinking of Federalism from a governance per- spective moves beyond a state-centric approach to Federalism to reflect the distinctive decision contexts and constraints facing public leaders. It pro- vides better specification of the leadership tasks now demanded by these new contexts and the normative issues of accountability, legitimacy, and sustainability attendant to governance configurations. 55 Thinking about governance from a Federalism perspective recognizes that these governance efforts increasingly are across scales or jurisdictions. To be useful, governance arguments must take into account the spatial nature and context of these increasingly multi-level governance processes.
eBook - PDFThe Federal Principle
A Journey Through Time in Quest of Meaning
- Rufus S. Davis(Author)
- 2023(Publication Date)
- University of California Press(Publisher)
See Watts, pp. 128-137, for the influence of earlier federal models on the six new Commonwealth federations proposed in the post-1945 decolonization era. 142 The Federal Principle in most constitutions there are, in varying degrees of generality, provisions relating to the structure, composition, tenure, pow- ers, and interrelations of these organs. Needless to say, there is a great variety of forms, and a great difference in their substance, according to indigenous preferences for one kind of political expression or another. But in the main, these are the matters which all constitutions are about, and in many respects (e.g., the basis of representation, or the relations of the two branches of a bicameral legislature), there is little which is specifically exclusive to federal systems. Indeed, if we take some of these provisions, item by item, there is often more in common be- tween some federal and nonfederal constitutions than between two or more federal constitutions: for example, in the choice between presidential and parliamentary executive systems, or between elected and appointed second chambers, or between proportional and nonproportional systems of representation, or between systems incorporating a Bill of Rights or systems relying on uncodified common-law liberties. The exclusive hallmark of every constitutional system which purports to be federal, however, is the presence of an explicit "division" of legislative power in the constitution. This is the first instruction in any federal engineering manual, and the first checkpoint for any inspector of federal constitutions. Of course each "division of power" ("distribution of authority," as some have named it) varies in manner, content, and scale; and this is so because each division originates in particular calcu- lations about what is advisable, expedient, relevant, or compro- misable in each political setting at a particular moment in time.
eBook - PDFThe Constitution of Pakistan
A Contextual Analysis
- Sadaf Aziz(Author)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Hart Publishing(Publisher)
1 See text in Chapter 2, section II. 6 Federalism Tribal Areas – Kashmir and Northern Areas – Fiscal Federalism – Legislative Powers – Provincial Emergencies – Ethnic Conflict – Muhajir – Balochistan – National Finance Commission Award – Eighteenth Amendment – Local Government I N 1970 BALOCHISTAN was declared a Governor’s province and with the dissolution of the One Unit the borders and boundar-ies were restored for Sindh, Punjab and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) to what they had been under the Government of India Act 1935. Following the secession of Bangladesh in 1971 there was a distinct desire to invigorate this Federalism in design and spirit to a more authentic and organic union between the remaining provin-cial units. In the making of the 1973 Constitution certain vestiges of highly-centralised control and oversight, such as had been the hallmark of the One Unit plan, were done away with. Additionally, whereas the counter-majoritarianism of the first two decades was oriented to the maintenance of parity between East and West, 1 in this design, the principle was employed to bolster the representation of interests by the smaller provinces. This chapter begins with a look at the political structure of feder-alism, including provincial representation at the level of the federal government, the structure of provincial governments and the system of rule for non-provincial territorial entities as provided in the 1973 Constitution. Following that are three further sections: the first looks 152 Federalism 2 See text in Chapter 3, section IB. 3 See text in Chapter 3, section IF. at the division of legislative and executive powers between provinces and the federation; the second investigates two instances of continuing ethnic conflict in Pakistan and their relation to the formal structures of Federalism; the last looks at the constitutional guarantee of local gov-ernment introduced in 2010 and the extent of its realisation.
eBook - PDFPatterns of Regionalism and Federalism
Lessons for the UK
- Jörg Fedtke, Basil S Markesinis, Jörg Fedtke, Basil S Markesinis(Authors)
- 2006(Publication Date)
- Hart Publishing(Publisher)
See eg, V C Jackson, ‘Federalism and the Uses and Limits of Law: Printz and Principle?’ (1998) 111 Harvard Law Review 218 at 221–23. Some commentators have defined ‘decentralisation’ even more narrowly to connote exercise of governmental power by officers of the central authority who are simply located in particu-lar regions of the nation. See Jackson and Leopold, above n 5 at 83. 20 See eg, Jackson and Leopold, above n 5 at 83 (distinguishing devolution in Britain from fed-eralism on precisely this ground). other foundational statutes, such as the reform bills of the nineteenth cen-tury or the Human Rights Act 1998 are constitutive of British govern-ment—but they are not fundamental law in terms of their institutional resistance to change. Professor Oliver’s insightful contribution (Chapter 3) highlights this distinction, characterising Britain’s constitutive arrange-ments as a ‘political Constitution,’ that is, subject to alteration by ordinary political processes, and America’s as ‘law-based,’ binding on all current political actors absent amendment through an extraordinary and onerous process. 21 Adam Tomkins defines ‘political’ Constitutions in a somewhat different but related sense as Constitutions: in which those who exercise political power… are held to constitutional account through political means, and through political institutions. 22 On this view, a federal order is ‘political’ rather than ‘legal’ to the extent that it is enforced through political processes rather than judicial action. One might also note a similar contrast in terms of the origins of govern-mental power. Just as a constitutionally-entrenched federal system fore-closes the US Congress from abolishing the 50 state governments, so too those governments derive their authority in the first instance from their own state Constitutions rather than from any Congressional grant.
eBook - PDFThe Constitution of India
A Contextual Analysis
- Arun K Thiruvengadam(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Hart Publishing(Publisher)
It is too early to tell whether this signals yet another chapter in the tortuous saga of Article 356; a lot will depend on how the judiciary reacts to the renewed manipulation of the provision. D. Fiscal Federalism: The Distribution of Revenues and Finances Between the Union and the States One of the requirements of a classic federal Constitution is that ‘both general and regional governments must each have under their own independent control financial resources sufficient to perform their exclusive functions’. 24 The Indian case fits this classic notion of Federalism rather poorly. Once again, it is a contextual understanding The Structure and Content of Provisions on Federalism 87 25 Austin (n 7) 275. 26 ibid 276. of the existing historical circumstances that enables an understanding of the reasons for this particular departure from the norm. Austin invokes the familiarity of the leaders of the Indian National Congress with the working of the Act of 1935 as a reason, since most of the constitutional provisions in relation to finance are closely modelled on that statute. This, according to Austin, has resulted in a situation ‘mak-ing the union government the banker and collecting agent for the state governments’. 25 Another factor worth recalling is that the provinces had a relatively low bargaining status: no provincial delegation could quit the Assembly and this had to be borne in mind while negotiating for claims on behalf of the provinces in the Constitution. A significant factor that contributed to this mindset was the extremely unstable and uncertain financial situation confronting the newly formed nation. All of this reinforced the view that finances should be tightly regulated and carefully controlled, preferably through a centralised system. There was also a consensus among the decision makers in the Assembly that the primary consideration for distribution of revenues should be based on the ‘need’ of provinces.
- James R. Maxeiner(Author)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
Pieroth, in Hans D. Jarass & Bodo Pieroth, Grundgesetz fu ¨r die Bundesrepublik Deutschland Kommentar Art. 72, p. 816, margin no. 23 (12th ed., 2012). 72 Reinhold Zippelius & Thomas Wu ¨ rtenberger, Deutsches Staatsrecht § 14, V. Bundesrecht und Landesrecht, 152 (32d ed., 2008). 246 Federalism and Localism of coordination is adoption of a federal law – of course, with the consent of the states and to be implemented by the states. From the founding years of the 19th century federation, this was the route to uniform law that a previously disunited Germany so longed for. Thus, today in most areas laws are federal but administered by the states. 73 Hence German Federalism is sometimes called “unitary Federalism.” Germans expect from a government of laws and get a single law that they can follow. 74 Germans do not pay “the price of our Federalism” that Americans do. 75 The vision of states as laboratories of innovation, so common in the United States, is met with in Germany. Federalism inspired constitutional revisions in 1994 and 2006 sought to encourage them. Yet experiments in lawmaking (it may be different in administration) remain unusual and are most often projects of larger states. 76 That states implement federal law has not produced substantial complaints of disparate enforcement. In anticipation of the Federalism reform of 2006, a blue ribbon panel composed of members of both houses of parliament, the government, the state legislatures, associations of municipalities, and experts extensively examined the role of Federalism in Germany. In the resulting hundreds of pages of commission reports and other submissions, nowhere is there any significant criticism founded on legal uncertainty in allocation of lawmaking and law executing authority. 77 Double-jurisdiction of both federal and state law, such that they could govern in different ways, is in principle foreign to the German Constitution.
Index pages curate the most relevant extracts from our library of academic textbooks. They’ve been created using an in-house natural language model (NLM), each adding context and meaning to key research topics.
