American Government and Politics Today, Brief Edition, 2014-2015

CHAPTER THREE • FEdERAlISM 47

A Federal System

The federal system lies between the unitary and confederal forms of government. As

mentioned in Chapter 2, in a federal system, authority is divided, usually by a written

constitution, between a central government and regional, or subdivisional, governments

(often called constituent governments). The central government and the constituent gov­

ernments both act directly on the people through laws and through the actions of elected

and appointed governmental officials. Within each government’s sphere of authority, each

is supreme, in theory. Thus, a federal system differs sharply from a unitary one, in which

the central government is supreme and the constituent governments derive their author­

ity from it. In addition to the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, and

Mexico are examples of nations with federal systems. See Figure 3–1 below for a compari­

son of the three systems.

Why Federalism?

Why did the United States develop in a federal direction? Here, we look at that question,

as well as at some of the arguments for and against a federal form of government. As you

saw in Chapter 2, the historical basis of our federal system was laid down in Philadelphia

at the Constitutional Convention, where advocates of a strong national government

opposed states’ rights advocates. This conflict continued through to the ratifying conven­

tions in the several states. The resulting federal system was a compromise. The supporters

of the new Constitution were political pragmatists—they realized that without a federal

arrangement, there would be no ratification of the new Constitution. The appeal of fed­

eralism was that it retained state traditions and local power while establishing a strong

national government capable of handling common problems.

Even if the founders had agreed on the desirability of a unitary system, size and

regional isolation would have made such a system difficult operationally. At the time

of the Constitutional Convention, the thirteen states taken together were much larger

geographically than England or France. Slow travel and communication, combined with

LO1: Explain some of the

benefits of the federal system for

the United States.

State State State State State State State State

Central Government Central Government Central Government

FIgURE 3–1: The Flow of Power in Three Systems of government

In a unitary system, power flows from the central government to the local and state governments. In a confederal system, power

flows in the opposite direction—from the state governments to the central government. In a federal system, the flow of power, in

principle, goes both ways.

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