Federalism From Recognition to Implementation (Part 4)
The first source of Federalism in the world
Wikipedia says about federalism: “In a narrow sense, federalism refers to the internal organization of the body politic of a government.” This is the meaning that is used most in the current period. However, political scientists use it in a much broader sense and point to a multi-layered pluralistic concept of social and political life.
In any case, the first forms of federalism in ancient and past eras took place in the form of coordination between governments. Some examples were from the 7th to the 2nd centuries BC in the form of the Aetolian, Delos, Peloponnese, etc. Unions, and the Achaean Union was one of the first ancestors of federalism in Greece.
The first contemporary founders of the federalism system in the world
Dr. Ronald Watts writes in his book: “After the American Revolution, in 1781, the independent and free states of America established a type of political system called Con federalism; But due to some defects and problems that this system had, after seven years, in 1789 AD, this system was dissolved and became the first modern federal system.
Some of the causes of the collapse of the Con federalism system and its transformation into a federalism system have been stated by different authors. They write: “Different language and culture, as well as the difference in the way of life of the urban dwellers and the peasants who mainly lived in the highlands, were among the causes of disharmony in the work of Con federalism. One of the other important factors was that the fusion of religion with the government to the point of absolute domination over it fostered the foundations of corruption within itself. By losing the support of important sections of the people, the grounds for reformation in Christianity were gradually prepared.
Such developments have happened many times in the history of the first world countries as we can testify from some of them. Dr. Ghali Barhume writes: “Swiss government, after its short civil war, changed its confederal system to a federal system in 1848.
We can say that the transformation of the Swiss government into federalism happened immediately after the transformations in America; But which government was the third government that switched to this system? In response to this question, Dr. Ronald writes: “The dawn of the third modern federal state in 1867”; “The country of Canada was formed as the third government and the new federal system in 1867.”
After these three countries, many political developments took place in the world. From all corners of the world, changes were made among the politicians of the world, and the people were able to form a military system based on their wishes and make the rulers of their time understand that the people play a significant role in the country’s political system.
Based on Dr. Ronald’s words, we can mention some countries that switched to federal system after these three countries. For example: In 1867, North Germany was established and in 1871, it became a federal political system; To the extent that this change spread to South Germany as well, and as a result, both parts of North and South Germany became one large federal state. After a short period of time, Australia also became a federal government.
The rapid development of federalism after the 19th century
At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the Latin American republics, with the aim of imitating the federal system of the United States of America, formed an organization and used each of its articles in their governing system. In the second half of the 20th century, this organization expanded greatly; So that it took different forms and types and reached beyond the borders of Europe. British colonies also joined this organization.
