Federalism

1. Federalism is a modern alternative to empire for territorial expansion.

In this sense federalism is the main alternative to empire as a technique of aggregating large areas under one government.

Technological expansion. Rapid advancements in transportation and communication technologies historically forced governments to expand their geographic reach to survive. While empire was the traditional method of consolidating vast territories, the collapse of imperialism in the 20th century demanded a new constitutional alternative.

The federal alternative. Federalism emerged as a highly successful mechanism for joining separate political units without the offensive subjugation of imperial conquest. It allows newly independent regions to pool their resources, build larger treasuries, and field stronger armies while maintaining local self-control.

Modern popularity. Today, almost all massive landmasses—with the exception of China—rely on federal structures to govern. This popularity is driven by:

• The need to defend against aggressive neighbors
• The desire to exploit technological scale
• The rejection of centralized imperial rule

2. The federal bargain requires two necessary conditions: expansionist desire and a military threat.

The hypothesis of this chapter is that these two predispositions are always present in the federal bargain and that each one is a necessary condition for the creation of a federalism.

The expansion condition. The first necessary condition for a federal union is that the politicians offering the bargain must desire to expand their territorial control. Because they lack the military capacity or the ideological mandate to conquer their neighbors by force, they must offer constitutional concessions to local rulers.

The military condition. The second necessary condition is that the local politicians accepting the bargain must recognize an external military or diplomatic threat. They are willing to sacrifice a degree of independence only because they desperately need the security and diplomatic leverage of a larger state.

A political bargain. These two conditions represent a highly practical, calculated trade-off between national and local elites. Historical examples illustrate this dynamic:

• The US states uniting against European imperial powers
• The Canadian provinces consolidating under the threat of American annexation
• The Swiss cantons banding together to resist Austrian encroachment

3. The belief that federalism inherently protects individual freedom is an ideological fallacy.

The worst error involved in this fallacy is the simple association of (1) federalism and (2) freedom or a non-dictatorial regime,

The ideological fallacy. Many constitutional theorists mistakenly argue that federalism is designed to guarantee personal liberty by dividing power. In reality, there is no simple causal relationship between a federal structure and a free society, as federal forms can easily coexist with authoritarian rule.

Authoritarian federalism. Dictatorial regimes frequently maintain the outward legal structures of federalism while completely suppressing individual rights. For instance, countries like the Soviet Union, Mexico, and Brazil have historically operated highly centralized, single-party dictatorships under federal constitutions.

Local tyranny. Rather than protecting freedom, the division of power often creates safe havens for local elites to oppress minorities within their jurisdictions. By shielding provincial authorities from national majorities, federalism can actively frustrate the protection of basic civil rights.

4. Federalisms exist on a spectrum between centralized and peripheralized systems.

Those which are closer to the maximum than to the minimum are described as centralized, whereas those closer to the minimum than to the maximum are peripheralized.

The federal spectrum. Federal constitutions are not static; they exist on a continuum defined by the degree of independence maintained by each level of government. At one extreme, peripheralized systems grant the central government minimal authority, while centralized systems vest dominant power in the national rulers.

Inherent tendencies. These two forms of federalism exhibit distinct developmental trajectories over time. Centralized systems tend to see the national government gradually overawe and subordinate the states, whereas peripheralized systems often disintegrate as local units claw back authority.

Historical outcomes. History shows that peripheralized federations rarely survive because they cannot maintain the military and diplomatic cohesion required in a hostile world. Key differences include:

• Peripheralized systems: Ancient Greek leagues and medieval city alliances that collapsed under external pressure
• Centralized systems: The modern United States and its 19th-century imitators that consolidated national power

5. Administrative sharing does not maintain the federal balance.

I conclude, therefore, that the administrative theory is totally inadequate to explain the maintenance of federalism.

The administrative theory. A popular scholarly theory suggests that federalism is maintained through the cooperative sharing and gradual transfer of administrative duties between the center and the states. However, a close examination of functional areas—such as taxation, public safety, and trade—reveals that administrative division does not dictate constitutional survival.

Technological pragmatism. The allocation of administrative tasks is usually a pragmatic response to changing technology rather than a conscious effort to preserve federalism. For example, as markets expand from local to national scales, the central government naturally assumes regulatory control simply because local administration becomes ineffective.

Irrelevance to survival. During the most critical periods of federal survival, administrative functions often centralize and peripheralize simultaneously without disrupting the core constitutional bargain. Thus, tracking who spends money or administers programs provides a highly superficial and misleading picture of federal stability.

6. Decentralized political parties are the primary protectors of state autonomy.

As such, this decentralized party system is the main protector of the integrity of states in our federalism.

The partisan shield. While formal constitutional guarantees are easily bypassed, the structure of the political party system serves as the true guardian of provincial autonomy. When political parties are highly decentralized, national leaders cannot easily coerce or control local politicians.

The bargaining dynamic. In a decentralized party system, national leaders must constantly bargain with state and local party bosses to secure nominations, win elections, and pass legislation. This continuous negotiation prevents the central government from completely overawing the constituent units, even when the national government is administratively dominant.

Comparative evidence. The causal link between party structure and federal centralization is visible across various global systems:

• Highly centralized: The Soviet Union and Mexico, where disciplined, single-party hierarchies rendered federal guarantees meaningless
• Highly decentralized: Canada and the United States, where local party organizations maintain independent electoral bases

7. The US Senate failed to function as a permanent state-preserving institution.

The fact that the Senate never served this purpose is one reason why the United States has always been a bit on the centralized side of the scale.

Original design. The framers of the US Constitution intended the Senate to act as a powerful peripheralizing institution that would represent state governments directly at the national level. By allowing state legislatures to elect Senators, they hoped to preserve the state-centered influence of the Articles of Confederation.

Loss of control. However, the framers failed to include mechanisms like the right of recall or binding instructions, which had previously kept delegates subservient to state legislatures. Without these sanctions, Senators quickly asserted their independence from state capitols, rendering the state legislatures' influence tenuous.

Popular emancipation. Over the course of the 19th century, the rise of popular Senatorial campaigns further severed the link between Senators and state officials. This evolution, which culminated in the Seventeenth Amendment, transformed the Senate into a national body rather than a defender of state sovereignty.

8. Nationalism and citizen loyalty gradually shift from the states to the central nation.

Standing behind these specific institutional arrangements is a yet more fundamental feature of our life, which is the sense of national and state identification.

The cultural foundation. The ultimate survival and centralization of any federal system depend on the psychological loyalties of its citizens. If people identify primarily with their local state or province, federalism remains decentralized; if their primary loyalty shifts to the nation, centralization inevitably follows.

Drivers of nationalism. In the United States, several powerful social forces have historically eroded state patriotism in favor of a unified national identity. These forces include:

• High mobility of labor and leaders across state lines
• National military service and veterans' organizations
• The homogenization of culture through national media and television

The melting pot. As regional dialects, architectural styles, and cultural character types merge into a standardized middle-class culture, the distinctiveness of individual states fades. This cultural homogenization removes the emotional barriers to central government expansion.

9. The value of federalism depends entirely on which minority benefits from local rule.

One does not decide on the merits of federalism by an examination of federalism in the abstract, but rather on its actual meaning for particular societies.

A moral evaluation. Abstract debates about whether federalism is "good" or "bad" are politically meaningless. To evaluate a federal system, one must look past the legal rhetoric and identify the specific minority interests that benefit from the division of power.

The beneficiaries. Across different nations, federalism shields various local elites from the democratic decisions of the national majority. For example:

• In the United States: Southern segregationists who used "states' rights" to oppress Black citizens
• In Canada: The French-speaking minority in Quebec seeking to preserve their distinct culture
• In Brazil: Wealthy agrarian landowners resisting national economic reforms

The cost of diversity. While federalism allows for cultural diversity, it often does so at the expense of majoritarian freedom and national efficiency. Ultimately, a citizen's posture toward federalism should be determined by whether they approve or disapprove of the local minorities that the system protects.

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