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Very Short Introductions #629
Federalism: A Very Short Introduction
Early Americans were suspicious of centralized authority and executive power. Casting away the yoke of England and its king, the founding fathers shared in this distrust as they set out to pen the Constitution. Weighing a need for consolidated leadership with a demand for states' rights, they established a large federal republic with limited dominion over the states, leaving most of the governing responsibility with the former colonies. With this dual system of federalism, the national government held the powers of war, taxation, and commerce, and the ability to pass the laws necessary to uphold these functions. Although the federal role has grown substantially since then, states and local governments continue to perform most of the duties in civil and criminal law, business and professional licensing, the management of infrastructure and public roads, schools, libraries, sanitation, land use and development, and etc. Despite the critical roles of state and local governments, there is little awareness-or understanding-of the nature and operations of the federal system.This Very Short Introduction provides a concise overview of federalism, from its origins and evolution to the key events and constitutional decisions that have defined its framework. Although the primary focus is on the United States, other federal systems, including Brazil, Canada, India, Germany, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, and the EU, are addressed.
159 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 24, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 12, 2026
This is a very well constructed and informative overview of Federalism, with a focus on the first and most successful example, American federalism. The authors do have a chapter that compares some other federalist countries.
Federalism was an invention of the founding fathers of the United States of America when they crafted the Constitution. In balancing the need for a strong central government with the opposition from others and the concern that such a government might oppress the citizens, they divided the sovereignty between the national government and local governments. While most people both inside and outside of America think of the national government, local governments actually do a substantial amount of the work, and the federal government has some significant restrictions placed on it in the Constitution.
The book first introduces the idea of federalism and gives some brief examples of differences of implementation in different countries. It then delves into American Federalism, starting with the history of why and how it was invented and describing what it is.
Succeeding chapters deal with the evolution of federalism in law, which mostly means in the US courts, what states and local governments do, fiscal federalism (an important part of American federalism), advantages and disadvantages of federalism, and federalism across the world.
All of the chapters are strong, but I think I learned the most from the middle chapters about the evolution of federalism, fiscal federalism, and, especially, what local governments do. I never really thought about all the responsibilities that are, and have always been, the responsibility of state and local governments. These include such vital things as crime, education, and voting. The way that the federal government has gotten more involved in many of these areas through fiscal federalism - influencing local decisions through federal dollars - is also important to understand.
The authors come from an interesting background. Their job is with the US government and they receive visitors from the governments of other nations who are interested in learning about the US system of government, mostly to determine whether they should adopt it or something similar. The chapters on the disadvantages/advantages of federalism and federalism around the world give an interesting answer. In the last section of the last chapter, the authors say that after they introduce their visitors to US government through education and visits to institutions across the nation, they are often asked if they think American federalism should be introduced into the visitors' countries. And they say the answer is no. Federalism has a lot of benefits, which they enumerate, and some form of federalism would be beneficial, but American federalism works here because of the way the country is composed, both geographically and culturally. Other federal systems do not duplicate American federalism because they have different circumstances that lead to local adaptation.
The only disappointment with this book was the authors' inability to restrain their political bias. While uncommon, they could not help injecting their political opinions in places that were completely unnecessary. They did talk about divisive issues such as abortion and drug legalization and showed themselves to be able to speak impartially. It's too bad they or their editor couldn't restrain their impulse to inject their own partisan opinions. It did not add to the discussion at all and stuck out like a sore thumb as a useless statement.
Federalism was an invention of the founding fathers of the United States of America when they crafted the Constitution. In balancing the need for a strong central government with the opposition from others and the concern that such a government might oppress the citizens, they divided the sovereignty between the national government and local governments. While most people both inside and outside of America think of the national government, local governments actually do a substantial amount of the work, and the federal government has some significant restrictions placed on it in the Constitution.
The book first introduces the idea of federalism and gives some brief examples of differences of implementation in different countries. It then delves into American Federalism, starting with the history of why and how it was invented and describing what it is.
Succeeding chapters deal with the evolution of federalism in law, which mostly means in the US courts, what states and local governments do, fiscal federalism (an important part of American federalism), advantages and disadvantages of federalism, and federalism across the world.
All of the chapters are strong, but I think I learned the most from the middle chapters about the evolution of federalism, fiscal federalism, and, especially, what local governments do. I never really thought about all the responsibilities that are, and have always been, the responsibility of state and local governments. These include such vital things as crime, education, and voting. The way that the federal government has gotten more involved in many of these areas through fiscal federalism - influencing local decisions through federal dollars - is also important to understand.
The authors come from an interesting background. Their job is with the US government and they receive visitors from the governments of other nations who are interested in learning about the US system of government, mostly to determine whether they should adopt it or something similar. The chapters on the disadvantages/advantages of federalism and federalism around the world give an interesting answer. In the last section of the last chapter, the authors say that after they introduce their visitors to US government through education and visits to institutions across the nation, they are often asked if they think American federalism should be introduced into the visitors' countries. And they say the answer is no. Federalism has a lot of benefits, which they enumerate, and some form of federalism would be beneficial, but American federalism works here because of the way the country is composed, both geographically and culturally. Other federal systems do not duplicate American federalism because they have different circumstances that lead to local adaptation.
The only disappointment with this book was the authors' inability to restrain their political bias. While uncommon, they could not help injecting their political opinions in places that were completely unnecessary. They did talk about divisive issues such as abortion and drug legalization and showed themselves to be able to speak impartially. It's too bad they or their editor couldn't restrain their impulse to inject their own partisan opinions. It did not add to the discussion at all and stuck out like a sore thumb as a useless statement.
May 15, 2024
Two professors of government, Clyde Wilcox and Mark J. Rozell published Federalism: A Very Short Introduction in 2019. Federalism is defined by Wilcox and Rozell as “the political system in which subnational units have some autonomy and authority and where there is power sharing between a national government and its subnational units” (Wilcox & Rozell xxi). The first federalist government was created by the United States Constitution of 1787 (Wilcox & Rozell 1). Wilcox and Rozell write that “the final draft created a more powerful national government with powers to declare war, negotiate treaties, raise a permanent navy, raise revenue and more generally (and vaguely) provide for the public welfare. States retained considerable sovereign, including their own criminal law, civil law, and business regulations and to collect their taxes” (Wilcox & Rozell 1). The government of the United States has changed a lot since 1787 but the United States is still a federal system. I read the book on my Kindle. The book also looks at other governments that follow the federal system especially Switzerland after 1848, Canada, Brazil, Australia, India, and Nigeria. The book has a section of references, an index, and illustrations. The book covers the advantages and disadvantages of federalism. I thought the book was a well-done introduction to the concept of federalism.
June 25, 2025
Quite an in-depth introduction on a topic I knew very little about. I knew what federalism was, in essence, but I did not know the ideological and sometimes violent early history of federalism and anti-federalism. It is really a political and philosophical topic to think about for oneself, and I believe this booklet encourages the reader to do so. The chapter on states' rights and the modern federal and state legal systems was also very good and explained a lot of things about the USA that I have often wondered about.
November 3, 2021
A clear overview of Federalism. Focused on the US System it discusses the path federalism took in the country as well as advantages and disadvantages. The book briefly looks at other federalist systems and encourages us to think about what some systems do that are better what may be worse and why. Written in a clear and neutral academic tone, this is a good start with understanding Federalist governments.
June 16, 2025
Another CLI book, I really enjoyed this one. It’s exactly what it says it is, an introduction to federalism. It specifically talks about federalism in the US but then ends by using examples of how other countries do federalism in their governments. Cool nerdy government stuff.
March 18, 2021
Great civics refresher on foundational concepts of US national and state government.
March 26, 2022
USA centric.
March 23, 2025
Good introduction to federalism, including surveys of federalism beyond America.
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May 21, 2025A helpful starting point for considering distribution of power between centralized government and states. Includes overviews of federalist systems outside of the U.S. as well.
June 25, 2026
More interesting than I expected. I enjoyed exploring the roles of federal and state governments.
July 14, 2023
Short, which is good. I bought it mainly to inform me more about the Lib Dem suggestion that UK should federalise. Now, obviously I didn't expect the book to focus on that (that'd be crazy!) but I was disappointed to see that it focussed so heavily on American federalism (although there are also mentions of other federal systems). I don't really feel like I read a cohesive discussion of the different pros and cons of federalism, so it didn't really do it for me.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews