Legitimacy in a Federal System

Journal article | Zeitschriftenartikel

Although federalism of various types has existed throughout history, ancient and medieval federations were, on the whole, short-lived.1 Most federations were non-existent by the time of the enlightenment and the rise of nation-states. So-called modern federalism stems from the American republic founded in 1787, which in many ways is the archetypal one, representing the creation of a federal government by compact among several previous constituent units – e pluribus unum. The federalist structure is becoming increasingly popular as 90 percent of states today contain a plurality of national, ethnic or linguistic groups.2 Nevertheless, a normative theory of federalism has not been fully developed.3 Indeed, Wayne Norman notes that in the history of modern political philosophy, questions of federalism have generally attracted no more than a footnote or a chapter, although cursory discussion can be found in the writings of such luminaries as J.S. Mill, Bodin, Grotius, Montesquieu, Bentham, Constant and Sidgwick.4 Such a theory will aid in setting standards with which we can we assess, evaluate, justify, defend or attack the structure and operation of the federal system. Although I do not attempt in this paper to elucidate a complete theory of federalism through a normative lens, I will attempt to demonstrate one of the primary means by which citizens in a federal state (in particular, Canada) evaluate the legitimacy of government action. (author's abstract)

Object Details

• ISSN: 1923-6158
• Extent: Seite(n): 1-14
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: Status: Veröffentlichungsversion; begutachtet (peer reviewed)

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Federal Governance, 2(1)

Classification and Topics

• Subject: Staatsformen und Regierungssysteme ; Politikwissenschaft ; Staat, staatliche Organisationsformen ; politische Willensbildung, politische Soziologie, politische Kultur ; politisches System ; Föderalismus ; Mehrebenensystem ; Multi-Level-Governance ; ethnische Gruppe ; Sprachgruppe ; politische Philosophie ; politische Theorie ; Legitimität ; Regierung ; Kanada

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): MacKay, William R.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (when): 2005

Further information

• URN: urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-47005-4
• Rights: GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften. Bibliothek Köln
• Last update: 21.06.2024, 4:27 PM CEST