Origin, Operation, and Significance

The Federalism of William H. Riker

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6375702
AutoresCraig Volden (0000-0003-0046-4510, autor de correspondencia)
Año2004
Volumen34
Número4
Páginas89-108
Fecha de publicación2004-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPublius The Journal of Federalism (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0048-5950 • E-ISSN: 1747-7107
EditorialOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubjof.a005055
OpenAlexW2115995024
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas18

William Riker transformed the study of federalism by advancing both a methodological approach and numerous substantive propositions. Methodologically, he introduced students of federalism to the scientific approach of positive political science, illustrating the development of “testable and tested generalizations.” Substantively, he explained the origins of federal systems as a bargain among political leaders with expansionist and militaristic concerns. He argued that the United States was a politically centralized federal system from its founding. He linked the degree of centralization in federal systems to the degree of centralization among their political parties. Despite all his work, though, Riker ultimately dismissed federalism as a minor institution having little impact on policy outcomes

Algorithm · Economic history · Federalism · Law and economics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Classics · Computer Science · History · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Legal and Constitutional Studies