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Federalism Myth, Fernando Laguarda

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

INTRODUCTION: The late Justice Louis Brandeis once remarked on the benefit that our system of government derives from the states acting as the "laboratories of democracy."' This remark not only implies that states should be given the discretion to experiment, it presumes that states actually have the ability to do so. In order to understand Justice Brandeis and those who have followed in his rhetorical footprints, it is important to understand federalism, which is the organizing principle of American government.