Federalism: Origins and Traditions

Federalism Roots

• Federalism stems from intellectual thought and philosophy
• It has connections to federal advancements
• Federalism emerges in nations like the US, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, India, Spain, Belgium, and South Africa
• Kymlicka identifies challenges to federalism

Three Traditions of Federal Thought

• Federalism originated as an American invention
• It is based on The Federalist Papers and a codified constitution
• Federalism includes the separation of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches
• It involves the allocation of powers at different levels of government on behalf of the people
• Federalism can trace its roots to ancient concepts in Greece and Israel
• The Holy Roman Empire resembled a confederation in the Middle Ages
• Switzerland in the 13th century and Indigenous peoples in North America also had federalist ideas
• Modern federal principles include consociational, republican, and socioeconomic federalism

Absolutist, Centralized Government

• Machiavelli, Bodin, and Hobbes advocated for absolutist, centralized government

Decentralized Power

• Decentralized power focuses on local and regional autonomy/independence
• Johannes Althusius Politica said that politics is the art of uniting people to establish, cultivate, and conserve social life
• Social harmony involves government managing conflict
• Consociations are self-governing communities
• A commonwealth is a federal consociation of consociations, managed by a federal council
• Otto von Gierke wrote about decentralized power and federalism

Consociational Federalism

• Consociational federalism has been renewed
• Consociational practices are evident in countries like Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland
• The EU is an example of consociational federalism, that uses the Council of Ministers, subsidiarity, and consensus in treaties
• The idea of a world divided into communities of culture and religion is related

Republican Federalism

• The New England Confederation of 1643 aimed to form a Consociation
• Locke/Declaration of Independence stated that all people are created equal and have rights, and government relies on the consent of the governed
• Confederation transitions to federal union to create stronger central authority
• James Madison created a "system without precedent"
• The Six Nations Confederacy of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) inspired the system
• Concepts from Montesquieu's Spirit of the Laws (1748) guided the effort, and sought a mix democracies with the protection of property and status

Montesquieu's Principles

• Features intermediate powers between the people and the government
• Nobility, clergy, and cities function as intermediate channels of administration, law and order
• Separation of powers based British monarch/parliament/judiciary

Large Federal Republic

• A large federal republic avoids risks of despotism from large states
• It avoids external aggression from small states
• It promotes benefits, cooperation at smaller scale, and security and prosperity from larger entities
• Federalist papers by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton proposed shared sovereignty between levels of government
• Each level of government has a direct relationship with the population
• Aims at citizen protection through checks and balances National and federal bicameral legislatures
• It adheres to constitutional principles enforced through judicial oversight
• A strong federal government avoids past confederation issues
• Individual representation at state and federal levels
• Opposition by Anti-Federalists supports states' rights
• Republicanism focuses on the rights and liberties of people over states

Federalist Papers

• Aims to balance democracy with the risk of tyranny and individual rights
• A large polity decreases chance of any single faction becoming tyrannical
• It promotes democratic government and connection at the local level
• Limits the power of the national government
• Features a compound republic with security, vertical division of powers, and horizontal separation of powers at each level
• The House of Representatives and Senate provide balanced proportional representation
• The Supreme Court decides cases under the Constitution
• Judicial independence by Hamilton is vital with a constitution that limits legislative power

Socioeconomic Federalism

• European treaty federalism is an agreement among communities
• Rights are protected by the judiciary through American constitutional federalism
• The French Revolution rejected federalism in favor of democratic centralism
• Pierre-Joseph Prouhon introduced federal socialism
• Integral federalism ties communities through interests and identities
• It promotes "plural relationships", community connections vs liberalism
• Sought to blunt conflict and reconcile France and Germany after WW2
• Economic integration in Europe

Kymlicka: Multinational Federalism in Canada

• Federalism is challenged by multiculturalism
• Kymlicka distinguishes between these two visions of federalism
• "Territorial" federalism, or provincial equality, calls of equal territorial units with with in a national community, that lacks space for minority self-government, which could make circumstances worse
• "Multination" federalism, or cultural diversity, calls for national minority government, consent and shared sovereignty, structural elements, and constitutional law
• The protection of national minorities may come at the cost of smaller minorities

Conception of Federalism

• Conceptions of federalism may combine differently
• Differential treatment of some components
• The units will seek different and more extensive powers
• Decentralization/separatist impulses in nationality-based units
• Catalonian and Basque in Spain
• Belgium
• Czechoslovakia transforms into Czechia and Slovakia

Asymmetrical Federalism

• Asymmetrical federalism includes demands from Québéc and Indigenous peoples
• Equality for citizens doesn't equal powers for federal units
• Minorities within provinces
• Reconciliation is seeing Canada in language community terms
• English-speaking Canadians lack group identity, xenophobia and culture
• The lack of values includes the right to use English

Pan-Canadian Nationalism

• Pan-Canadian nationalism threatens Québécois and Indigenous peoples
• Denies the Q and I conception of Canada as multinational
• Federal spending power for intervention
• Asymmetry benefits both perspectives
• English-speaking Canadians uses spending power to defend interests
• This requires Canada to accept the Canadians
• Diminishing connections result in cession

Advantages of Asymmetry

• Multination preservation, and participation in Pan-Canadian institutions
• There's contributing, and belonging
• Tangible benefits
• Risks/costs of secession include unpredictability, internal conflict, and partition

Explore the intellectual roots of federalism and its connections to federal advancements in various nations. Examining the origins of federalism as an American invention, its basis in The Federalist Papers, and the separation of powers. Considering ancient concepts in Greece, Israel, and the Holy Roman Empire.