A(nother) democratic case for federalism
A(nother) democratic case for federalism
This work offers a new democratic case for federalism, understood as a form of governance in which multiple entities in a country possess final decision-making authority (viz., can make decisions free from others substituting their decisions, issuing fines, etc.) over at least one subject (e.g., immigration, defense). It argues that leading solutions to the democratic boundary problem provide overlapping arguments for federalism. The underlying logic and many details of the most commonly cited solutions focused on those relevantly affected by and subject to decisions each support three distinct arguments (focused on voteshares, other forms of democratic influence, and persistent minorities) for multiple demoi possessing authority in a polity. Federalism is the best available method for recognizing the distinct demoi. This not only supports federal governance as opposed to unitary governance and subsidiarity. It also suggests that democracy and federalism are importantly related and has several implications for institutional design.
Democratic Theory, Constitutional Theory, Federalism, Democracy, Boundary Problem, Political Theory, Political Philosophy
Da Silva, Michael
05ad649f-8409-4012-8edc-88709b1a3182
Da Silva, Michael
05ad649f-8409-4012-8edc-88709b1a3182
Abstract
This work offers a new democratic case for federalism, understood as a form of governance in which multiple entities in a country possess final decision-making authority (viz., can make decisions free from others substituting their decisions, issuing fines, etc.) over at least one subject (e.g., immigration, defense). It argues that leading solutions to the democratic boundary problem provide overlapping arguments for federalism. The underlying logic and many details of the most commonly cited solutions focused on those relevantly affected by and subject to decisions each support three distinct arguments (focused on voteshares, other forms of democratic influence, and persistent minorities) for multiple demoi possessing authority in a polity. Federalism is the best available method for recognizing the distinct demoi. This not only supports federal governance as opposed to unitary governance and subsidiarity. It also suggests that democracy and federalism are importantly related and has several implications for institutional design.
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Accepted/In Press date: 21 February 2024
e-pub ahead of print date: 22 April 2024
Keywords:
Democratic Theory, Constitutional Theory, Federalism, Democracy, Boundary Problem, Political Theory, Political Philosophy
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 487486
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/487486
ISSN: 1474-8851
PURE UUID: 40ddc6f2-71df-4e31-ad33-5da06df87efb
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Date deposited: 21 Feb 2024 17:41
Last modified: 23 Apr 2024 02:04
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Author:
Michael Da Silva
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