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Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law [MPECCoL]

Political Philosophy of Federalism

Robert Schütze

Content type:
Encyclopedia entries
Product:
Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law [MPECCoL]
Article last updated:
April 2023

From: Oxford Constitutions (http://oxcon.ouplaw.com). (c) Oxford University Press, 2023. All Rights Reserved.date: 11 December 2024

Subject(s):
Federal constitutions — Central government — Delegated powers — Federal judicial systems — Political philosophy of federalism

General Editors: Rainer Grote, Frauke Lachenmann, Rüdiger Wolfrum
Managing Editor: Martina Mantovani

1 The federal principle has made a long ‘journey through time in quest of meaning’ (Davis). Its etymological origins lie in ‘foedus’—a word that signified ‘contract’. Contractual bonds are variously made; and the federal principle was therefore open to a variety of conceptual directions. Early on, the federal idea became associated with arrangements between political communities. Yet, there was little light for the growth of a political philosophy of federalism in the medieval world. Modern federalism emerges with the rise of the modern European state system. The...
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