American Federalism: How Well Does It Support Lady Liberty?

60 Pages Posted: 27 Oct 2013

See all articles by Richard E. Wagner

Richard E. Wagner

George Mason University - Department of Economics; George Mason University - Mercatus Center

Date Written: October 25, 2013

Abstract

Democratic governments can be either national or federal in form. Whether the form of democracy matters, how it matters if, indeed, it does matter, and for whom it might matter are the types of questions this paper explores. Federalism is generally described as a pro-liberty form of government. Yet it is surely reasonable to wonder how the presence of two sources of political power within the same territory can be more favorable to liberty than when there is but a single source. It turns out that the pro-liberty quality of federalism is a possible but not a necessary feature of federalism. This essay explores this two-edged quality of federalism to discern more clearly the relation between federalism and liberty.

Keywords: federalism; simple republics; compound republics; competitive federalism; cartel federalism

JEL Classification: D02, D72, H11, H77, P16

Suggested Citation

Wagner, Richard E., American Federalism: How Well Does It Support Lady Liberty? (October 25, 2013). GMU Working Paper in Economics No. 13-25, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2345514 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2345514

Richard E. Wagner (Contact Author)

George Mason University - Department of Economics ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://mason.gmu.edu/~rwagner/

George Mason University - Mercatus Center ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://ppe.mercatus.org/scholars/richard-wagner

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