Federalism permeates U.S. history and civics in much the same way as constitutionalism. Each is a political principle as well as a cultural norm that guides the beliefs, deliberations, and actions of individuals and their institutions. Constitutionalism is the belief that power, even constitutionally granted power, must be limited by the rule of law – that no one is above the law and that all are equal before the law. But how? Federalism supplies one answer: to limit power by constitutionally distributing it and sharing it in several hands with the goal that everyone has the powers they need to govern, no one has too much power, and the forces of unity and diversity are balanced. How does federalism accomplish such important goals? Read more
