Debating Federalism: From the Founding to Today [Paperback]

Well-selected and carefully edited. The readings in this excellent volume show how the drama of American politics has been motivated and made more pronounced by questions of sovereignty. 'Who shall rule' is a question too often given a rote, unthinking answer of 'the people,' without consideration of the important question 'which people?' Would it be the people of Virginia, or Massachusetts, or rather the people of the nation as a whole that would decide the fate of the United States? From civil rights to economic power, central questions of American identity and prosperity hinge on issues of state versus federal powerin short, on the state of our federalism.This is a highly useful collection for all students interested in American constitutional development. The documents are well-chosen to illustrate the peculiar ways Americans have thought about and applied the principle of federalism. The volumes greatest strength is its wide historical scope combined with its more narrow thematic focus. It is strongly recommended.Debating Federalism contains a cache of important primary sources from the sixteenth through the twenty-first centuries covering two of the oldest and most contested topics in American constitutionalism: federalism and sovereignty. From political treatises and pamphlets to speeches and court decisions, the documents reveal that constitutionalism is hardly the dry, dead subject many assume it to be. Aaron N. Coleman and Christopher S. Leskiw provide a learned introduction that speaks to both the past and present relevance of federalism and sovereignty to American history and political life. This book offers an excellent entry point for students and scholars to grapple with these foundational American concepts.This reader includes documents selected to show the tension between federalism and concentrated sovereignty throughout American history. The book is accompanied by an introductory essay and additional annotations, and the editors argue that federl1