The Sweeter Side of Federalism
Throughout American history, the relationship between the federal government and the states has taken various forms, leading historians to coin creative (and culinary) metaphors to describe the different distributions of power. Think you can do better than the examples below? Cook up your own metaphorical descriptor and post it below. (Click here for a Federalism refresher.)
Some of BackStory‘s favorite metaphors (we’re not making these up…):
- Marble Cake Federalism
- Layer Cake Federalism
- Birthday Cake Federalism
- Fruit Cake Federalism
- Fry-Bread Federalism
- Picket Fence Federalism (not as delicious)
How would you describe the relationship between the federal government and the states? Add your suggestion below, and we’ll read our favorite new political metaphors on our next show!
3 Responses
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Laboratories of Democracy: The State of the States | BackStory With The American History Guys :
[...] BackStory’s “Federalism Challenge” Federalism is one of the central principles in American political life, and political scientists have come up with dozens of creative ways to describe it. Think you can do better? [...]
Quote -- September 1, 2010 @ 10:38 am
Turduken Federalism (mmmm, carnivorous)
QuoteEscher Federalism — which hand is doing the drawing!? which staircase is going up? Ow, my brain!
Fingerpainting Federalism (the more you work at it, the more indistinguishable it gets)
Trill Federalism (showing off my Star Trek nerd street cred)
Wetlands Federalism (’cause sometimes it’s mostly ocean, sometimes it’s mostly fresh, and the creatures that live there can’t survive without the mix being in constant flux)
I would go with Amoebic. The borders of Federal powers grow fluidly over time, State powers are like the internal structures with some freedom to move about as needed, and given that we essentially only have two big parties… Well frankly it’s always splitting…
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