Writing Resources
Published in 1964 William Riker’s Federalism Origin operation and significance serves as a foundational novel to better understand federalism and its existence on a global scale As the title suggests Riker examines the origin of different federalist systems in addition to how it is operated and why it continues to remain as the most popular form of government Ultimately Riker completes an in depth analysis of federalism as it appears in one society with the object of generating hypotheses that can be tested against experience in other societies Riker 1964 Riker s work is unique in that it does not contain personal elaboration of details a method most used by political scientists but it is a comparative analysis that is devoted to testable generalizations He goes above the basic questions of federalism and more into an analysis of existential questions focused primarily on the adoption and maintenance of federalist systems around the globe The book begins with a brief overview of the origin of federalism The healthy alternative when compared to empires and other authoritarian governments federalism continues to be the most popular form of government Riker explains that federalism exists on a continuum ranging from minimum to maximum with most governments resting in the middle The maximum side of the scale is considered to be centralized governments which ultimately allows the ruler to make decisions in all categories except one The contrasting side the minimum referred to as peripheralized governments allows the ruler to make all of the decisions in one category However Riker s views on federalism is best expressed through his classification of federalism as a bargain Riker believes that in order for federalism to exist through such a bargain national leaders must come to terms with two special conditions that he deems as the expansion and military conditions
