How Exceptional is or was the American Federalism Compared to Canada Essay

How Exceptional is or was the American Federalism Compared to Canada and Germany federalism - Essay Example In accordance with LaCroix, federalism has been based on ‘the necessity for the existence of states’ (LaCroix 2) and the theory that a country with extensive territory, such as USA, cannot be easily organized as a republic (LaCroix 2). Moreover, Obinger (2005) noted that the development of a precise definition of federalism would be quite difficult, mostly because the specific term is used in order to describe a series of conditions and events, including a series of ‘institutional and jurisdictional arrangements’ (Obinger 9) for protecting the interests of local populations – referring to the population of the states. Despite its complexity, the federal system of governance is preferred by many states worldwide. About 23 countries in the international community are based on the specific system of governance; their influence on the global political system is quite important taking into consideration the fact that a percentage of 40% of the global popul ation are governed through the particular system of governance (Obinger 9). The characteristics of federalism as developed in USA are critically discussed in this paper; emphasis is given on the advantages of American federalism compared to other forms of federalism worldwide, especially the Canadian and the German forms of federalism. The key characteristics of federalism can be identified in the following definition: ‘the activities of government are divided between regional governments and a central government’ (Riker 1975 in Obinger 9).... government and the regional governments have the power to develop their own decisions on the activities under their control – meaning the political, social and economic activities being under the control of central or the regional governments, as defined in relevant arrangements (as noted in the definition of Obinger above). Federalism, as described above, has certain priorities. These priorities have been described in the Federalist Papers, through which Federalism has been established. The key priorities of federalism, are the following ones a) specific measures need to be developed by the government – referring to either the central government or the regional governments, as noted above, so that the concentration of power (meaning the political power) is avoided; at the same time, political and economic freedom needs to be guaranteed (Obinger 10), b) in the context of federalism emphasis is given on the rights of minorities; in fact, these rights have key importance for federalism, a type of governance which has been developed mostly for covering the needs of areas with high cultural and geographic diversity (Obinger 10). Reference can be made to the case of Canada, a country where federalism has been used for ensuring the protection of rights of citizens who have different cultural background and ethics (Obinger 10). At this point, the following issue should be highlighted: despite the fact that federalism has been introduced in order to respond to specific needs, as described above, it is difficult for the specific system to have a common level or form of development worldwide – reference is made to the countries that their system of governance is based on federalism. An indicative example of this prospect is mentioned in the study of Obinger. In accordance