Federalism and the old and new liberalisms
Social Philosophy and Policy 24 (1):306-326 (2007)
| Abstract | The transition from a relatively federal to a relatively centralized constitutional structure in the United States has often been identified with the shift from classical to welfare liberalism as a matter of public philosophy. This article argues against that distinction. The liberal argument for federalism is a contingent one, built on approximations, counterbalancing, and political power. A more federalist constitution is not automatically a freer one on classical liberal understandings of freedom. Neither is a more centralized constitution automatically a better match with the ideals of welfare liberalism. The article sketches a constitutional history of federalism from the founding, through an era in which centralization was aligned with skepticism about liberal constitutionalism (for both meanings of liberal), to an era in which centralization was aligned with increases in liberal freedom (for both meanings of liberal). | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,709 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesNicholas Capaldi (1990). Liberal Values Vs. Liberal Social Philosophy. Philosophy and Theology 4 (3):283-296.
Sotirios A. Barber (2007). Liberalism and the Constitution. Social Philosophy and Policy 24 (1):234-265.
Andrew Arato (2005). Constitutional Learning. Theoria 44 (106):1-36.
Ronald Beiner (1994). Revising the Self. Critical Review 8 (2):247-256.
H. G. Callaway (2011). Review of Alison L. LaCroix Ideological Origins of American Federalism. [REVIEW] Law and Politics Book Review 21 (10):619-627.
Alan Brudner (2007). Constitutional Goods. Oxford University Press.
Michael P. Zuckert (2007). On Constitutional Welfare Liberalism: An Old-Liberal Perspective. Social Philosophy and Policy 24 (1):266-288.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads17 ( #71,199 of 549,754 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,425 of 549,754 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
