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- Title
Federalism as a Metaphor in the Constitutional Politics of Public Administration.
- Authors
O'Brien, David M.
- Abstract
Federalism is a distinctive feature and integral part of American constitutional politics and the administration of public affairs. A remarkable unity is suggested along with respect for diversity and independence of the states. "Federalism" has integrative force in uniting fact and fiction, passion and principle, and state and national governments. Yet, the simple imagery of limited government, based on a separation of state and national powers, conceals complex and ambiguous connections. As a result, "federalism" is often a metaphor for states' sovereignty and restrictions on the federal government's powers, rather than appreciated as part of the political structure and process created by the U.S. Constitution, which provides the basis for an ongoing dialogue on the roles and responsibilities of federal and state governments in providing social services. In creating a new form of federalism, the U.S. Constitution presumed the existence, not the sovereignty, of the states. The interests of the "States qua States," for better or worse, however adequately or inadequately, are represented in the national political process. Indisputably, the states have a crucial role and responsibility in the administration of social services.
- Subjects
UNITED States; FEDERAL government; PUBLIC administration; METAPHOR; CONSTITUTIONS; UNITED States politics &; government
- Publication
Public Administration Review, 1989, Vol 49, Issue 5, p411
- ISSN
0033-3352
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2307/976385