Federalism

"Crucial to understanding federalism in modern day America is the concept of mobility, or 'the ability to vote with your feet.' If you don't support the death penalty and citizens packing a pistol - don't come to Texas. If you don't like medicinal marijuana and gay marriage, don't move to California."
Rick Perry, Fed Up!: Our Fight to Save America from Washington

Federalism is a non-quadrant system that combines File:Region.png multiple regional governments into one central or "federal" government. The main characteristic is the equivalence between the two or more levels of government.

History

The concept of federalism has its roots in ancient history, with one of the earliest known implementations being the Achaean League in Hellenistic Greece, which lasted from 280 to 146 BC. This league was formed as a union of independent city-states in the northern and central Peloponnese that sought to strengthen themselves against larger powers like Macedon. The Achaean League had a complex system of governance featuring three main institutions: an assembly of citizens called the synodos, where representatives from member cities gathered to discuss and vote on matters; a smaller council known as the (boule), which handled everyday administration and prepared issues for the assembly; and a general (strategos), who served as the military commander and executive head, supported by a board of ten officials. This structure allowed for a balance between the autonomy of each city-state and the unity required for collective defense and policy-making.

Later, philosophers such as Immanuel Kant expanded on the idea of federalism in political theory. Kant argued that a federal system could ensure lasting peace and stability among different communities if it was built upon a strong constitution and a system of checks and balances that prevented any single branch of government from gaining absolute power. His vision laid intellectual foundations for modern constitutional federalism.

Today, federalism is used in various forms across the world, allowing diverse regions and peoples to coexist under a single national government while maintaining a degree of self-rule. Some of the most notable federal systems include the United States, where individual states have significant legislative powers; Brazil, which has strong state governments within a presidential federation; Russia, with its republics and oblasts having varying degrees of autonomy; India, where states have their own governments while the center retains significant control; Germany, which functions as a federation of Länder with shared competencies; and Nigeria, where federalism helps manage the country’s large ethnic and cultural diversity. These examples show how federalism adapts to different historical, cultural, and social contexts to maintain national unity while respecting regional differences.

Variants

Regional Tendencies

Argentinian Federalism

1813-1828

Federalism in Argentina originated during the War of Independence in the Banda Oriental (present-day Uruguay), where the caudillo José Artigas, who began to gain fame for his campaign against the royalists with the support of the rural lowe-class, formed the Federalist Party and the League of Free Peoples, an independent File:Confed.png confederation separate from the Directory. Artigas himself became its "Protector", following a File:RadLib.png radical and progressive program for the time: advocating for File:LandReform.png agrarian reform, civil and religious liberty, the abolition of slavery, the election of each province's governor, and protectionism to promote national industry. However, this project clashed with the Unitarians of Buenos Aires, who sought to secure their hegemony over all provincial autonomy.

1828-1852

After defeating the Unitarians in the first civil war, Manuel Dorrego, a populist and federalist, assumed the governorship of Buenos Aires, which at the time was the closest thing to leading the country. However, he was deposed and executed by the Unitarians, causing a national power vacuum and a second civil war. In this context, File:Manuel de Rosas.png Juan Manuel de Rosas assumed the governorship of Buenos Aires after defeating the Unitarian forces. Rosas purged the federalists who wanted to continue with Artigas's File:ProgLib.png liberal and progressive project, known as "Lomos Negros" or "Doctrinarians", and changed the Federalist Party's platform to a conservative one, rejecting the creation of a constitution and relying more on agreements with provincial caudillos.

1852-1874

In 1852, several federalist caudillos, headed by File:Urquiza.png Justo José de Urquiza, rebelled against Rosas because he ruled Argentina autocratically, continued to postpone the creation of a constitution, and refused to share the customs revenue from the port of Buenos Aires with the other provinces. This rebellion succeeded, and the federalists signed a federal constitution and elected Urquiza as president. However, the Unitarians of Buenos Aires, led by File:Mitre1.png Bartolomé Mitre, rebelled against Urquiza and deposed him after the Battle of Pavón. Despite their violent deposition, the federalists decided to maintain peace and engage in political and democratic activities. Many of them joined the File:Partido Autonomista Nacional.png National Autonomist Party, which governed Argentina from 1880 to 1916.

How to Draw

File:Federalism flag.svg

Flag of Federalism

Draw a ball
Divide it into three slanted stripes
Color the top one white, the middle one red and the bottom one blue
Draw a black start instead of its eye on the left and a normal eye on the right and you're done!

	HEX	RGB
White	#FFFFFF	rgb(255, 255, 255)
Red	#FF0000	rgb(255, 0, 0)
Blue	#3629BD	rgb(54, 41, 189)
Black	#141414	rgb(20, 20, 20)

Relations

Friends

European Federalism - Stronger EU means MORE levels of government!
American Model - The most powerful federation of the modern age.
Helvetic Model - My most loyal supporters on the right.
File:Hamiltonianism.png Hamiltonianism - My banking, tariffing son.
Carlism - Long live the federal monarchy! ¡Vivan las Españas y viva Cristo Rey!
File:Tito.png Titoism - Yugoslavia was pretty epic. Shame that it collapsed though.
File:Local.png Localism - I give you money to bulid and maintain roads and infrastructures, and fund your schools, colleges and universities.
World Federalism - Probably the apex of my ideas.
Bismarckism - Thanks for making Germany a federal state, with it staying that way ever since (except for The dark times ). ~~Just nerf Prussia, please.~~
File:Yeltsin.png Yeltsinism - A lot of Russians dislike you, but almost none have complained about how you made Russia federal, so I think that's at least one thing you did correctly.

Frenemies

File:Confed.png Confederalism - Look, son, I'm all for states' rights, but the states can't do everything. And there can be no tolerance for secession.
File:Panarchy.png Panarchism - Same as above but even stranger.
File:Urb.png Ultramunicipialism - Microstates are too small for me. But I do sometimes have individual cities as constituent states or have the capital as the only place under direct federal control.
Separatism - Independence? How about some autonomy instead?
File:Feud.png Feudalism - Understands the value of decentralization, but is much more messy and prone to infighting. I modernized your delegation to nobility in UAE and Malaysia.
Tridemism - My Chinese supporters overthrew his outdated emperor with him, but it turned out he just wanted all the power centralized to himself.
Marxism-Leninism - Thanks for making the USSR federal, though I don't like how centralized it wound up being. And I wish you made more of your satellite states federal too. At least we got Czechoslovakia.
Zionism and Palestinian Nationalism - I came up with the perfect solution for these two and they won't listen.^[1]
Putinism - You keep Russia nominally federal, but unfortunately your "power vertical" renders it increasingly moot.

Enemies

Centralism - Just because I believe in federal authority doesn't mean I want to abolish state-level governments.
Fascism - The state should comprise multiple states.
Juche - Kim-Jong-un has too much power!
Maoism - Not every Chinese decision needs to be made in Beijing!
File:XiJinpingThoughtf.png Xi Jinping Thought - Same as the above but even worse!