Editing Federalism (section)

==Overview==
===Etymology===
[[File:The pathway of regional integration or separation.svg|thumb|left|upright=2.2|The pathway of regional integration or regional separation]]

The&nbsp;terms&nbsp;"federalism"&nbsp;and&nbsp;"confederalism" share a root in the [[Latin]] word ''[[foedus]]'', meaning "[[treaty]], pact or [[wikt:covenant|covenant]]". Until the late eighteenth century their two early meanings were essentially the same: a simple league among [[sovereign states]], based on a treaty; (thus, initially the two  were synonyms). It was in this sense that [[James Madison]] referred to the new [[Constitution of the United States|US Constitution]] as "neither a national nor a federal Constitution, but a composition of both"—i.e., constituting neither a single large unitary state nor a league/confederation among several small states, but a hybrid of the two forms—according to Madison; [[Federalist No.39|"The Federalist No. 39"]].<ref>Madison, James, Hamilton, Alexander and Jay, John (1987) ''The Federalist Papers'', Penguin, Harmondsworth, p. 259.</ref> 

Notably, in the course of the nineteenth century in the United States, the meaning of federalism shifted, now referring uniquely to the novel compound-political form established at the [[Philadelphia Convention|Philadelphia Constitution Convention]]—while the meaning of confederalism remained as a league of states.{{sfn|Law|2012|p=544}}

===History===
In a narrow sense, federalism refers to the mode in which the [[body politic]] of a state is organized internally—and this is the meaning most often used in modern times. Political scientists, however, use the term federalism in a much broader sense, referring instead to a "multi-layer or pluralistic concept of social and political life".<ref>{{cite book |last=Bulmer |first=Elliot |date=2017 | orig-year=2015 | title=Federalism |edition=2nd | url=https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/federalism-primer.pdf#page=12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328062951/https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/federalism-primer.pdf#page=12 |archive-date=2021-03-28 |url-status=live |series=International IDEA Constitution-Building Primer | volume=12 | publication-place=Stockholm |publisher=[[International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance]] | isbn=978-91-7671-117-0 | page=12}}</ref>

The first forms of federalism took place in ancient times, in the form of alliances between tribes or city states. According to Historian of world federalist movement, Joseph Baratta, his colleagues generally begin the history of federalism with the [[Twelve Tribes of Israel|Israelite tribal confederacy]] led by military leader called [[Hebrew Bible judges|Judge]] in c.1200 – c.1000 BC. Some examples from the seventh to second century BC were the [[Amphictyonic league|Archaic League]], the [[Aetolian League|Aetolic League]], the [[Peloponnesian League]], and the [[Delian League]]. An early ancestor of federalism was the [[Achaean League]] in [[Hellenistic Greece]]. Unlike the [[Greek city states]] of [[Classical Greece]], each of which insisted on keeping its complete independence, changing conditions in the Hellenistic period drove city states to band together even at the cost of surrendering part of their sovereignty. Several leagues of states existed in the contemporary China. Subsequent unions of states included the first and second [[Old Swiss Confederacy|Swiss Confederations]] (1291–1798 and 1815–48); the [[Dutch Republic|United Provinces of the Netherlands]] (1579–1795); the [[German Confederation|German Bund]] (1815–66); the first American union, known as the [[Articles of Confederation|Confederation of the United States of America]] (1781–89); and the second American union, formed as the [[Constitution of the United States|United States of America]] (1789-present).{{sfn|Forsyth|1981|pp=18, 25, 30, 43, 53, 60}}

===Political theory===
Modern federalism is a political system that (nominally) is based upon operating under [[democracy|democratic]] rules and institutions; and where governing powers are shared between a country's national and provincial/state governments. However, the term ''[[federalist]]'' comprises various political practices that differ in important details among the (so-called) federalist nations—some of which are ''democratic in name only'' (e.g., modern [[Russia]])—leaving the terms "federalist", "federalism", "federation", etc., dependent on context. And, because the term ''federalization'' also proclaims distinctive political processes, its use also depends on context.{{sfn|Broschek|2016|p=23–50}}

Typically, political theory today discusses two main types of the federalization process:
* integrative,{{sfn|Gerven|2005|p=35, 392}} ''(or aggregative)'' federalization,{{sfn|Broschek|2016|pp=27–28, 39}}which encompasses several political processes, including: 1) transforming a [[confederation]] into a federation; 2) incorporating non-federated population(s) into an existing federation; or 3) integrating a non-federated population by creating a new or revised federation.
* devolutive,{{sfn|Gerven|2005|p=35, 392}} ''(or dis-aggregative)'' federalization:{{sfn|Broschek|2016|pp=27–28,39–41, 44}} 1) transforming a [[unitary state]] into a federation.

===Reasons for adoption===
According to [[Daniel Ziblatt]], there are four competing theoretical explanations  for adopting a federal system:
# Ideational theories, which hold: that among subunit population(s), a greater ideological commitment to [[Decentralization|decentralist]] ideas makes federalism more likely to be sought and adopted.
# Cultural-historical theories: that in societies with [[Multiculturalism|culturally]] or ethnically fragmented populations, federalized subunits are more likely to be favored and adopted.
# "[[Social contract]]" theories: that federalism emerges via a bargaining process between the center and a periphery (subunit)—where the center is not powerful enough to dominate the periphery, but the periphery is not powerful enough to secede from the center, (e.g., modern [[Iraq]] re [[Kurdistan]]).
# "Infrastructural power" theories: that federalism is likely to emerge for the subunit population that already has highly developed infrastructures, (e.g., they already are a constitutional, parliamentary, and administratively modernized state).<ref>{{cite book |first=Daniel |last=Ziblatt |url=http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8201.html |title=Structuring the State: The Formation of Italy and Germany and the Puzzle of Federalism |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |date=2008 |isbn=9780691136493 |access-date=2017-03-11 |archive-date=2017-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307232537/http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8201.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Immanuel Kant]] noted that "the problem of setting up a state can be solved even by a nation of devils"<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v7v3CwAAQBAJ&pg=PT79 |title=Kant: Political Writings |first=H.S. |last=Reiss |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107268364}}</ref>—''if'' they possess a constitution that pits opposing factions against each other with a durable system of binding [[Separation of powers#Checks and balances|checks and balances]]. Essentially, particular states may use federation as a mechanism (a safeguard) against the possibilities of rebellion or war—or the rise of repressive government via a would-be dictator or a centralized [[oligarchy]].

Proponents of federal systems have historically argued that the structures of checks-and-balances and power-sharing that are inherent in a federal system reduces threats—both foreign and domestic. And federalism enables a state to be ''both large and diverse'', by mitigating the risk of a central government turning tyrannical.<ref>{{cite book |last=Deudney |first=Daniel H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NalIdFN65e8C |title=Bounding Power: Republican Security Theory from the Polis to the Global Village |date=2007 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-3727-4 |language=en |access-date=2022-04-15 |archive-date=2023-07-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731153735/https://books.google.com/books?id=NalIdFN65e8C |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Deudney |first=Daniel |date=2004 |title=Publius Before Kant: Federal-Republican Security and Democratic Peace |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1354066104045540 |journal=European Journal of International Relations |language=en |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=315–356 |doi=10.1177/1354066104045540 |s2cid=143608840 |issn=1354-0661 |access-date=2022-04-15 |archive-date=2022-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220415013609/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1354066104045540 |url-status=live }}</ref>