Federalism Commentary

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CSF Fellow John Kincaid Participates in Brazil Workshop on De/Centralization in Federations

CSF Fellow John Kincaid of Lafayette College co-directed with Paolo Dardanelli of the University of Kent, UK, a workshop in Brazil on De/Centralization in Federations Subject to Periods of Authoritarian Rule. The workshop, held on June 20-24, 2018, was hosted by the Centro de Estudos da Metrópole of the University of Sao Paulo. Other participants included Katherine Adeney, University of Nottingham, UK; Jorge P. Gordin, Universidad Diego Portales, Chile; Juan C. Olmeda, El Colegio de México; and Rogerio Schlegel of the host center.

The workshop was intended to advance implementation of the second phase of a comparative project entitled “Why De/Centralization in Federations?” The project aims to measure by decades de-/centralization trends in federations since their founding. The first phase examined Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Switzerland, and the United States. The results are expected to be published in Publius: The Journal of Federalismin early 2019. The second phase is examining Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, and Pakistan.

Federalism in America: An Encyclopedia

Federalism in America: An Encyclopedia is a comprehensive reference explaining the major concepts, institutions, court cases, evolution, epochs, personalities, and policies that have shaped, or been shaped by, American federalism. Originally published by Greenwood Press in 2005, the encyclopedia is now online with new entries being added and old ones updated.

Table of Contents

Sample entries: Self-Government and Federalism; Coercive Federalism; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare); Bill of Rights; Baker v. Carr

James Madison (1751-1836)

"[T]he proposed government cannot be deemed a national one; since its jurisdiction extends to certain enumerated objects only, and leaves to the several States a residuary and inviolable sovereignty over all other objects . . . in controversies relating to the boundary between the two jurisdictions, the tribunal which is ultimately to decide [i.e., the U.S. Supreme Court], is to be established under the general government."             (Federalist #39)

Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804)

 

"This balance between the National and State governments ought to be dwelt on with peculiar attention, as it is of the utmost importance. It forms a double security to the people. If one encroaches on their rights they will find a powerful protection in the other. Indeed, they will both be prevented from overpassing their constitutional limits by a certain rivalship, which will ever subsist between them."                            (New York Ratifying Convention, First Speech of June 21)

John Jay (1745-1829)

• Author of five of the Federalist Papers
• First Chief Justice of the United States

The states are subject to judicial review.
(John Jay voting with the majority in Chisholm v. Georgia (1793))

Johannes Althusius (c. 1563-1638)

• Father of modern federalism and subsidiarity
• Defended local autonomy against the modern absolutist sovereign state (developed by Bodin, Grotius, and Hobbes)