The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics (94 page)

 
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The term suggests that everybody can be satisfied (or nobody permanently disadvantaged) by nicely combining national and regional/territorial interests within a complex web of checks and balances between a general, or national, or federal government on the one hand, and a multiplicity of regional governments on the other. This is a very convenient, increasingly popular, always ambiguous, and sometimes dangerous concept, which purports to describe a method of arranging territorial government, and accommodating differing territorial interests that, at one and the same time, avoids both the perceived overcentralization of unitary systems and the extreme decentralization of confederations.
Its principal ambiguities are three. First, in operational terms federal systems operate in a variety of different political contexts and are associated with a variety of significantly different political outcomes. No one distinctively federal pattern of relations between the national and regional levels of government emerges. It is not at all clear that regional interests and governments are always better promoted and protected in most systems called federal than they are in many systems labelled unitary. Secondly, federal theory is similarly confused. The literature on the subject has produced three broad models: dual, co-operative, and organic federalism. If these are static, ‘timeless’ models—that is, at any particular point in time examples of all three will be present—then the problem is that the differences between them are too great to suggest that they apply to the same thing. If, however, it is argued they are developmental in character—such that dual federalism existed in the nineteenth century, co-operative federalism in the mid-twentieth century, and organic federalism in the late twentieth century—there seems to be very little difference between federal and unitary systems. ‘Federalism’ is a classic example of concept overstretch.
Thirdly, supporters of the federal ‘idea’ and the notion that federalism is a distinct principle of governing, are most plausible when they confine their analysis to formal constitutional or institutional matters. What they have never been able to do is to incorporate other political phenomena, political cultures, party systems, the influence of bureaucrats, and external pressures, into these notions of the distinctiveness of federalism and its commitment to decentralization. In consequence, political science is unable to give much support to the federal ‘idea’. Its only academic supporters seem to come from the ranks of constitutional lawyers. These academic ambiguities would not matter so much if federalism was not on so many occasions a symbol of serious division and conflict. This is curious, and dangerous, because federal enthusiasts in the political world often offer this symbol as a way of avoiding territorial conflict. In practice, people have been willing to fight and die to support or oppose the principle. This is because federalism usually becomes a ‘live’ political issue in two highly dangerous circumstances:

(1) when a region wishes to secede from an existing federation; or
(2) when an attempt is made to replace a loose confederation, or alliance, with a more centralized federation.

Federalism, then, is an
essentially contested concept
. It seems to offer a middle way forward to co-operation and consensus between territorial interests. In practice, if these things exist, then a formal commitment to constitutional federalism is not required. If they do not exist, then federalism will not produce them anyway.
JBu 

 
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A series of newspaper articles appearing over the pseudonym Publius in New York city newspapers between 2 October 1787 and 16 August 1788. Most of these 85 articles were written by either Alexander
Hamilton
or James
Madison
, with a handful attributed to John Jay . The purpose of these writings was to make the case for the ratification of the United States Constitution that had been formulated during the summer of 1787. While often turgid and repetitive in content
The Federalist Papers
remains a volume of great significance constantly cited by lawyers, scholars, and commentators seeking to comprehend the meaning of the various clauses of the Constitution. The papers address some of the key problems that arise from attempting to establish liberal democratic government in a vast and diverse society. Topics covered include the nature of representative government, the separation of powers, federalism, pluralism, and judicial review. Among the more important papers can be included numbers 10, 51, 70, and 78.
DM 

 
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See
Democratic Party
;
Republican Party
.

 
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Feminism is a way of looking at the world which women occupy from the perspective of women. It has as its central focus the concept of patriarchy, which can be described as a system of male authority which oppresses women through its social, political, and economic institutions. Feminism is therefore a critique of patriarchy on the one hand, and an ideology committed to women's emancipation on the other. Starting from a point of unity—‘sisterhood is global’—feminism today is an ideology with many practitioners that have situated themselves on various theoretical intersections—Marxist feminists, anarchist feminists, radical feminists, liberal feminists. Feminism has not only looked to the traditional ideologies for inspiration but has also made a significant contribution of its own in the fields of textual/discourse analysis, psychoanalysis, historiography, and development literature. Feminist methodology, which arose from a tradition of ‘consciousness raising’ in the women's movement, has also found an important place in the field of methodological analysis. Issues such as race, sexuality, class, and ethnicity have served to disperse the idea of a unity called ‘woman’ that all women would recognize as themselves. Critiques of first- and second-wave Western feminism by black and Third World women, and lesbian groups, have introduced a diversity of approaches to appear within the feminist discourse. This tendency has been further reinforced by feminism's encounters with
post-structuralism
and
post-modernism
. Feminism today is not simply an ideology but a growing academic discipline. While this is making issues of gender accessible to women in education in a systematic way, its incorporation into academic curricula is also causing concern among many women who see the cutting edge of feminism—its political activism—being blunted in this process.
SR