Mussolini, B. Fascism: Doctrine and Institutions.Rome: Ardita
Publishers, 1968.
Nolte, E. Three Faces of Fascism: Action Française, Italian Fas-
cism, National Socialism.New York: Mentor, 1969.
Payne, S. G. Fascism: Comparison and Definition.Madison: Uni-
versity of Wisconsin Press, 1980.
Primo de Rivera, J. A. Selected W ritings,Intr o. by H. Thomas,
ed. London: Cape, 1972.
Rocco, A. La dottrina politica del fascismo.1925.
Sternhell, Z. Neither Right nor Left: Fascist Ideology in France.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.
Turner, H. A., Jr., ed. Reappraisals of Fascism.New York: New
Viewpoints, 1975.
Weber, E. Varieties of Fascism.Princeton, N.J.: Van Nostrand,
1966.
federalism/federalist/federal
A governmental structure in which two levels of gov-
ernment (central or national and decentralized or
state/province) exist within the same country. This
double-tiered government is set up by a CONSTITUTION
that defines the authority and limits of each level of
STATE. For example, in the United States of America, a
federal REPUBLICis established by the U.S. Constitu-
tion, which divides power between the national (or
federal) government, located in Washington, D.C.
(CONGRESS, the president, and the Supreme Court) and
the 50 state governments (Virginia, New York, Texas,
California, etc.). The decentralized state governments
have their own constitutions, delineating the state gov-
ernment’s structure (legislature, executive, judiciary).
Thus, in federalism, the citizens are under two sets of
government (regional and national). Several nations in
the world have federal systems, including Canada,
Germany, Australia, and India.
Federalism, with its dual government, can be con-
trasted with “unitary” government, in which all politi-
cal authority is in the central government (as in
parliament in Great Britain), and “confederate” gov-
ernment, in which political authority is entirely in
decentralized regimes (such as the ancient Greek or
MEDIEVALGerman confederations). In each case, any
alternative government (provincial in Britain or central
in confederacies) is derived from the ultimate source of
government. For example, prior to the U.S. Constitu-
tion that established American federalism, the country
was governed by the Articles of Confederation that rec-
ognized sovereignty only in the states, leaving the cen-
tral, national Congress only with power granted by
those states. This lack of independent political author-
ity rendered the conduct and financing of national pol-
icy (war, military, trade, commerce, treaties) extremely
difficult, so the U.S. Constitution gave specific author-
ity to the central government and left other (primarily
domestic or internal) policies to the state governments.
This division was partly designed by James MADISON
from a Calvinist suspicion of governmental power and
its corrupting influence on rulers and from an attempt
to divide and distribute power to prevent TYRANNY
(either local tyranny of the community or national
tyranny of the president). Such CHECKS AND BALANCES
are a main motive of federalism. Another reason for
establishing federalist states is the attempts to maintain
DEMOCRACYover a large territory. By breaking up the
large country into regional jurisdictions, the citizens
can be closer to government and more involved. Thus,
Thomas JEFFERSONadvocates a “pyramid of republics”
in American federalism. In reality, power in federal sys-
tems tends to drift toward the national government,
which assumes more and more of the duties and func-
tions of the state governments. By conferring more
authority to the national government over CIVIL RIGHTS,
education, business regulation, and commerce, the
U.S. Supreme Court has effectively created a unitary
government in the United States. The tendency toward
greater uniformity and efficiency has always caused
power to drift toward the central governmental author-
ity. CLASSICAL REPUBLICANtheory warns that this ten-
dency threatens democracy and individual RIGHTS.
Various STATES-RIGHTSmovements in U.S. history (espe-
cially the secession of the Southern states during the
American Civil War) resisted this tendency but have
not prevented the increasing concentration of political
power in the federal government.Further Readings
Antieau, Chester James. States’ Rights under Federal Constitu-
tions.London: Oceana Publishers, 1984.
Livingston, W. S. Federalism and Constitutional Change.Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1956.
Sawer, K. Modern Federalism.London: Pitman Publishing, 1969.
Vile, M. J. C. “Federalism in the United States, Canada and Aus-
tralia.” In Royal Commission on the Constitution,I, Cmnd
5460, Research Paper 2. London: H. M. Stationery Off.,
1973.
Wheare, K. Federal Government,4th ed. London: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 1963.
Wheare, K. C. (Kenneth Clinton). Federal Government,3rd ed.
London: Oxford University Press, 1953, repr. 1956.Federalist Papers, The
A series of 85 essays written by Alexander HAMILTON,
James MADISON, and John Jay in support of the ratifi-104 federalism/federalist/federal