Exploring Federalism by Daniel Elazar is a 335-page book providing important insights about federalism. Through the book, Elazar establishes himself as the leading contemporary scholar of American federalism. He diligently explores the roots of federalism and traces its historical development. Elazar finally proposes how federalism can be employed today to promote a workable and effective governmental system in states comprising diverse traditions. Exploring Federalism has seven interesting chapters focusing on a specific aspect of federalism. The first chapter addresses the reasons behind the popularity of federalism, exploring federalism as well as the origin of the polity. The last chapter seeks to explain how federalism can be employed in the modern world. Elazar engages the reader's mind throughout the book with insightful thoughts and ideas about federalism. It is interesting how such an old political concept as federalism has the potential to solve some of the problems facing modern governments. Elazar simply defines federalism as “self rule plus shared rule”. According to him, federalism is generally concerned with the diffusion of political power in the name of liberty as well as its concentration on behalf of unity. He asserts that federalism is based on the idea that political and social institutions and relationships are best established through covenants. In essence, Elazar suggests that humans are capable of making constitutional choices. In his entire discourse, Elazar emphasizes the primacy of the constitution. This is because the powers of the governments within polities are generally diffused among many centers. The existence and authority of such centers are guaranteed by a centralized constitution. There are several definitions of federalism. Interestingly, notable parallels can be drawn between Elazar’s definition of federalism and those of other authors. Some of the key authors that sought to define federalism include Karmis and Norman and Ronald Watts. According to Karmis and Norman, (2005), “federalism is an arrangement in which two or more self-governing communities share the same political space”. It is clear that the element of sharing is common in both Elazar’s and Karmis and Norman’s definitions. The two definitions agree in the sense that federalism involves self-governing entities sharing political power. Essentially, federalism is a field of studies that is relatively difficult to define due to its polymorphism. Nonetheless, it is apparent that that federalism is a form of political system that embraces all forms of organizations that do not fit within the centralized polity. Simply stated, federalism emphasizes the diffusion of power instead of centralization. Ronald Watts’ definition of federalism deviates a little from that of Elazar. Interestingly, Watts’ definition was inspired by the latter’s classical definition of federalism. According to Watts, “federalism is a broad category of political systems in which there are two (or more) levels of government combining elements of shared rule through a common government and regional self-rule for the government of constituent units. It is clear that Watts’ definition agrees that federalism is a combination of self and shared rule. However, the definition is more specific compared to that of Elazar. Watts includes an overarching common government in his definition, reducing the perception of federalism to a close polity. The inclusion demonstrates Watts’ attempt to conceptualize federalism for comparative state studies. On the other hand, Elazar’s definition opens the federalist perspective to broader combinations as it simply considers federalism as a combination of self-rule and shared rule. While Elazar’s definition is broad, Watts’ definition is more precise. Elazar justifies his definition of federalism from scripture by asserting that the federal idea has its roots in the Bible. According to him, federalism was first used by theologians and political theorists to define the partnership between man and God in the Bible. The relationship between man and God gave rise to the body politic and compound polities. I generally agree with Elazar’s justification of his definition of federalism based on scripture. Essentially, the term federal is like the Hebrew term brit, which means a covenant. Being a partnership arrangement, federalism is established and regulated by a covenant (Elazar, 1987). Elazar suggests that true peace can only be achieved through the creation of covenantal wholeness. Federal principles are generally concerned with the combination of self-rule and shared rule. This implies that federalism links individuals, groups, and polities in a lasting but limited union, providing for the energetic pursuit of common ends while maintaining the integrities of the parties involved. Essentially, federalism is primarily concerned with the constitutional diffusion of power in such as way that the constituting elements in a federal setup share in the processes of policymaking and administration by right. Additionally, the activities of the common government are conducted in such a manner that they maintain the respective integrities of the constituting elements. In this case, the constitution serves as a covenant. Scholarly concern with politics generally focuses on three critical elements; the pursuit of political justice, the desire to understand the empirical reality of political power and its exercise, and the establishment of an appropriate civic environment. The covenant encompasses all three elements. The covenant is a federal idea that defines political justice, shapes political conduct, and directs people toward an appropriately civic synthesis (Moots, 2009). This implies that a covenant, indeed, is as important as natural law. For instance, the covenant embodies the idea that the relationship between God and humanity is based on morally sustained compacts of mutual agreement. This can be seen in God’s agreement with Noah (Genesis 9). It is also important to realize that covenant can act as a form of political conceptualization, a source of political ideology, and a factor shaping political culture. Therefore, the constitution is a form of covenant that enables federal systems to distribute power among general and constituent governing bodies in a manner designed to protect the existence and authority of all (Elazar, 1987). It, therefore, goes without saying that federalism is a major means of accommodating the spreading desire of people to revive or preserve the advantages of small societies as well as employ common resources available within extensive polities. The uses of covenant show how political conceptualization and expression go hand in hand. For instance, covenantal thinking was the main mode of political conceptualization and expression during the American Revolution. Covenant also influences the world views of whole societies as it is a source of political ideology. In his definition of federalism, Elazar compares the constitution to the Biblical covenant. The constitution plays a critical role in “structuring relationships that permit groups bearing differences to function together within the same political system” (Elazar, 1987). Like a covenant, the constitution is a morally informed agreement based on voluntary consent and is established by mutual oaths between parties having independent status, equal in connection to the pact. The moral basis of the constitution refers to general principles that govern the way people in a given polity should live.
Conclusion
Exploring Federalism is an insightful book that not only provides a practical definition of federalism but also suggests how it can be used to address challenges facing modern governments. While other definitions of federalism exist, Elazar’s definition provides a general conceptualization of the federal idea. He justifies his definition based on scripture, asserting that federalism has its roots in the Bible. The parallels between the covenant and the constitution serve to reinforce his claim as far as the federal idea is concerned.
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Bibliography
Elazar, Daniel J. Exploring federalism. University of Alabama Press, 1987.
Karmis, Dimitrios, and Wayne Norman. "The revival of federalism in normative political theory." In Theories of Federalism: A reader, pp. 3-21. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2005.
Moots, Glenn A. "The covenant tradition of federalism: The pioneering studies of Daniel J. Elazar." The Ashgate Research Companion to Federalism (2009): 391-412.
Watts, Ronald L. "Comparing federal political systems." Understanding federalism and federation 11 (2015).
