Federalism and Interpretation

Edward L. Rubin and Malcolm M. Feeley

Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 2008, vol. 38, issue 2, 167-191

Abstract: We offer a theoretical approach to federalism by defining a theoretical approach as a general account of the subject. It is general in that it applies in any political situation, at any time in history when political entities that are recognizable as nations existed. It is an account in being a systematic examination of the subject that is connected to the overall structure of analysis in one or more academic disciplines, in this case law and political science. Following this approach, we reach the conclusion that federalism must be understood as a matter of political identity. People's individual commitments in the political realm, their sense of who they are and where they belong, will determine the descriptive reality and the prescriptive necessity of federal arrangements. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.

Date: 2008
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