"The Federalist" on Federalism: "Neither a National nor a Federal Constitution, but a Composition of Both"

Something surprising confronts the contemporary reader who turns to The Federalist to see what it has to say about federalism.Expecting to find the original source of his view of American federalism, he finds instead a very different understanding from ours of the nature of federalism and of the federal character of American government.We think that the invention of federal government was the most important contribution made by the American founders to the art of government and we thus regard the system they devised as the very paradigm of what we call "federal government."Indeed, as we shall see, most contemporary definitions of federalism are little more than generalized descriptions of the way we Americans divide governing power between the states and the central government.It is surprising, therefore, to discover that The Federalist does not likewise characterize the American constitutional system as a "federal government."Instead, it tells us that the "proposed Constitution . . . is in strictness neither a national nor a federal constitution; but a composition of both."'This formulation is typical of the way the entire founding generation saw the matter.For example, the proceedings of the Federal Convention-especially in the famous compromise regarding the House and Senate-show that the delegates likewise understood the terms federal and national in a way that required characterizing the Cont Leavey Professor of the Foundations of American Freedom, Georgetown University.The Editors regret the passing of Professor Diamond not long after this essay was completed.All students of the Constitution are greatly indebted to him for what he taught us about the thought and aspirations that inspired our existing form of government.