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The Theory And Practice Of Contestatory Federalism, James A. Gardner
The Theory And Practice Of Contestatory Federalism, James A. Gardner
Journal Articles
Madisonian theory holds that a federal division of power is necessary to the protection of liberty, but that federalism is a naturally unstable form of government organization that is in constant danger of collapsing into either unitarism or fragmentation. Despite its inherent instability, this condition may be permanently maintained, according to Madison, through a constitutional design that keeps the system in equipoise by institutionalizing a form of perpetual contestation between national and subnational governments. The theory, however, does not specify how that contestation actually occurs, and by what means.
This paper investigates Madison’s hypothesis by documenting the methods actually deployed …