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The Influence Of Federalism In The United States

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Federalism is a constitutional mechanism for dividing power between different levels of government, such that federated units can enjoy substantial, constitutionally guaranteed autonomy over certain policy areas while sharing power in accordance with agreed rules over other policy areas (IDEA, 2015:1). Schuck (2006) defines federalism as a system that divides political authority between a nation-state and subnational polities within its territory so that both the national and sub-national polities directly govern individuals within their jurisdiction, and that confers both national and sub-national citizenship. The idea flowing concomitantly from the above definitions gives the impression that federalism is a political arrangement involving varied layers of government, usually between a state or subordinate government and a central or national government in such a way that none is subservient to the other but each works at par towards realizing the goal of …show more content…

Hence, federalism douses the tensions that might arise among and between levels of government in such a way that none colours the existence of other or dominates the workings of the other. The duo further posit that federalism gives minorities the opportunity of governance even though there is the risk of fragmenting sub-national governments and subjecting them to hostilities. They also argue that federalism paves way for cross-ethnic co-operation, especially in countries where ethnic groups and regions are closely tied. Also, by multiplying rewards in politics, federalism reduces the pressure for capturing the central government. Imuetinyan and Ogbeide further posited that federalism is indeed one of the several worthy devices that have been explored as part of the process of national integration in plural

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