Federalism
Subtitle: a normative theory and its practical relevance
By: Kyle Scott
Publisher: Continuum
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 216
ISBN-13: 9781441197641; 9781441177148
Subjects: Federal government; Case studies
Description: "Federalism: A Normative Theory and Its Practical Relevance is an innovative attempt to defend federalism as a desirable institutional form for contemporary democracies by means of a tightly argued, coherent normative theory, which is applied to case studies of conflict resolution around the world. Welding a communitarian theory of human teleology to commonly accepted empirical generalizations about democratic politics, author Kyle Scott makes a strong case that the decentralized governance characteristic of federalism can allow politics to operate at a "human scale" while facilitating constructive deliberation. Scott sees the polity as an organic whole, in sharp contrast to most contemporary liberals and libertarians. Unlike utilitarians, he does not defend federalism principally on its economic advantages. Instead, Scott argues that human flourishing is possible only when citizens participate actively in the governance of a community of shared customs and intimate familiarity, and that proper skepticism of the efficacy of uniform schemes for human improvement should lead us to appreciate the diverse experimentation characteristic of robust autonomy for a large number of political jurisdictions."--Bloomsbury Publishing.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.