Description
Book SynopsisFederalism is regarded as one of the signal American contributions to modern politics. Its origins are typically traced to the drafting of the Constitution, but the story began decades before the delegates met in Philadelphia. This book traces the history of American federal thought.
Trade ReviewThe virtue of LaCroix's account is to show not only that federalism as it developed was more intellectually coherent than a mere bundle of compromises, but also that its theoretical core had begun to emerge decades before the delegates travelled to Philadelphia in May 1787 [for the Constitutional Convention]. -- Gary L. McDowell * Times Literary Supplement *
As LaCroix shows in this engaging treatise, the who-does-what questions at the heart of federalism have vexed the nation from the get-go. -- Kevin R. Kosar * Weekly Standard *
LaCroix's great achievement is to show that American federalism has an intellectual pedigree: it was not simply an ad hoc institutional arrangement, a bundle of compromises, or a codification of colonial experience in the British Empire. Instead, revolutionaries theorized their way to federalism. This is an important book that will change the way we think about the American founding. -- Peter S. Onuf, University of Virginia
Where did American federalism come from? Although federalism's roots in the institutional practices and structures of the early modern British Empire are well known, we have long needed a history of federalism as a legal and intellectual concept. Thanks to Alison LaCroix's splendid book, that wait is over. -- Eliga H. Gould, University of New Hampshire
