The existence of human society has always been connected with the forms of ruling that people invented for handling their political, economic, and social disputes. Among these forms, much controversy has surrounded the opposition of the centralized authority to the system of federalism and its concept of devolution. Shafritz et al. (2008) argue that federalism and devolution if properly implemented are the most effective forms of the country’s government (Shafritz t al., 2008, Ch. 4).
To prove this, the historical events can be recalled. The two main manifestations of federalism/centralization debate took place in the USA during the severest crises – the Civil War in the middle of the 19th century and the World Wars that destroyed the planet in the first half of the 20th century (Shafritz t al., 2008, Ch. 4). Calling crisis the best tool of centralization, the authors of the chapter argue that having overcome the crisis people always tend to decentralize the authorities, i. e. to carry out devolution. Shafritz et al. (2008) compare the federalist system to the marble-cake in which the cake components represent the federal and local governments interacting closely and permanently.
They also attribute the paramount role in devolution to the concept of mandate interpreted as simple order that should be fulfilled according to the authority hierarchical structure (Shafritz t al., 2008, Ch. 4). Thus, federalism and devolution provide local governments with the appropriate extent of political and economic freedom but preserve the power to control the overall picture of the country’s development.
As for the methods of research, the qualitative method is the most fitting one into the study of federalism and devolution in their opposition to the centralized form of government. This research method allows examining not only the facts of history or today’s politics but also inquires about the underlying reasons of this or that process, thus providing for the understanding of the essence of federalism.
Federalism and devolution have their own strong and weak points. The former include the balance between the central and the local bodies of legislative and executive authority, the appropriate rate of freedom that local bodies have in decision-making, and the mutual assistance that the federal and the local governments can address each other. As for the weaknesses, federalism is associated with the weal power in the country and opens the way to numerous speculations, law violations, and corruption in the authoritative bodies. So, federalism should be implemented only if it ensures following all the laws of the country and provides for certain centralized control over the local affairs.
Accordingly, the sources of federalism in the USA include the Constitution, the will of the nation, and the state and federal laws that regulate the relations between the citizens and between them and the state. The implications of federalism are the multinational and diverse US society and the historical context in which the states forming today’s country were independent federal republics.
To conclude, federalism and devolution are rather efficient forms of the state government provided they are properly implemented in the country. They allow fruitful interaction between the local and federal governments and provide the former with a certain degree of political and economic freedom.
Works Cites
Shafritz, Jay M., E.W Russell and Christopher R. Borick. Introducing public administration. Longman, 6th Edition, 2008.