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federalism

nounC1Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechmostly written

Federalism is a system where power is shared between central and local governments. American federalism, a federalism debate, the case for federalism.

The point is that neither level can simply abolish the other, which is what distinguishes it from devolution, where the centre grants powers it could take back. Germany, the United States and Australia are all federal.

Definitions of federalism

  1. 1nounfederalismA system where power is shared between central and local governments.C1

    “Under federalism, each state can set its own laws on things like driving and education.”

federalism is a system.

Where it comes from

French federalisme comes from Latin foedus, a treaty or league.

  1. French

    fédéralisme

  2. English, today

    federalism

From French fédéralisme. From French fédéralisme. by surface analysis, en + federal + ism.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Politics & Society

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federalism in the wild

  • Johannes Althusius is considered the father of modern federalism, along with Montesquieu.

    Federalism

  • In the modern era, federalism was first adopted by a union of the states of the Old Swiss Confederacy as of the mid-14th century.

    Federalism

  • A federation (also called a federal state) is a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a federal government (federalism).

    Federation

  • The governmental or constitutional structure found in a federation is described as federalist, or as an example of federalism, and is commonly contrasted with the unitary state.

    Federation

  • The rise of federalism in Switzerland began on 12 September 1848, with the creation of a federal constitution in response to a 27-day civil war, the Sonderbundskrieg.

    Federalism in Switzerland

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.