Federalism is a very familiar form of government. It characterises the first modern constitution-that of the United States-and has been deployed by constitution-makers to manage large and internally diverse polities at various key stages in the history of the modern state. Despite its pervasiveness in practice, this book argues that federalism has been strangely neglected by constitutional theory. It has tended either to be subsumed within one default account of modern constitutionalism, or it has been treated as an exotic outlier - a sui generis model of the state, rather than a form of constitutional ordering for the state. This neglect is both unsatisfactory in conceptual terms and problematic for constitutional practitioners, obscuring as it does the core meaning, purpose and applicability of federalism as a specific model of constitutionalism with which to organise territorially pluralised and demotically complex states. In fact, the federal contract represents a highly distinctive order of rule which in turn requires a particular, 'territorialised' approach to many of the fundamental concepts with which constitutionalists and political actors operate: constituent power, the nature of sovereignty, subjecthood and citizenship, the relationship between institutions and constitutional authority, patterns of constitutional change and, ultimately, the legitimacy link between constitutionalism and democracy.
In rethinking the idea and practice of federalism, this book adopts a root and branch recalibration of the federal contract. It does so by analysing federalism through the conceptual categories that characterise the nature of modern constitutionalism: foundations, authority, subjecthood, purpose, design and dynamics. This approach seeks to explain and in so doing revitalise federalism as a discrete, capacious and adaptable concept of rule that can be deployed imaginatively to facilitate the deep territorial variety that characterises so many states in the 21st century.
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Stephen Tierney's The Federal Contract: A Constitutional Theory of Federalism combines insights from legal and political philosophy and comparative law but explicitly distinguishes itself by its application of Tierney's conception of constitutional theory. It should interest scholars in each of these fields. * Michael Da Silva, University of Southampton, UK, Publius * Stephen Tierney's trailblazing theory of federalism is a masterpiece in constitutional studies. Theoretically rigorous and full of vivid illustrations from the world around, The Federal Contract disrupts much of what we know about federalism and opens our eyes to new possibilities for this common form of government. No future scholarship on federalism will be complete without confronting Tierney's paradigm-shifting thesis on federalism's first principles. * Richard Albert William Stamps Farish Professor in Law and Director of Constitutional Studies at the University of Texas at Austin; founding co-editor of I-CONnect, the blog of the International Journal of Constitutional Law * This book is a major achievement. A product of deep expertise and sustained critical reflection, it sets out to rethink the idea and practice of federalism - and triumphantly succeeds. Building on Tierney's previous work, it draws out the radical potential of the 'federal turn'. In particular, this book shows that taking federalism seriously requires a root and branch rethinking of constitutional orthodoxy. And it does so with remarkable intellectual acuity, rigorous scholarship and pellucid prose. All in all, The Federal Contract is a landmark work of constitutional theory. * Colm O'Cinneide, Professor of Constitutional and Human Rights Law, Faculty of Laws, University College London * Countless authors, writing from various disciplinary angles, have sought to explain what federalism is for or how it works (or not). Tierney takes us on a journey to unveil what, from the perspective of constitutional theory, federalism actually is. With breath-taking erudition, Tierney brings the reader to revisit concepts of constitutionalism, constituent power, sovereignty, state, nation, and people to compellingly argue that federal states are born of a distinctive, original, and inherent constitutional recognition of territorial pluralism. * Johanne Poirier, Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism, Faculty of Law, McGill University * The Federal Contract is the most significant work of federal theory and constitutionalism in a generation. Tierney lays bare the elisions and omissions in modern constitutional theory that have worked to sideline the federal idea as a distinct form of constitutional government. He responds in resounding fashion with a robust theory of federal constitutionalism, articulating the core constitutional purposes of federalism and showcasing the wide institutional variation that can achieve those aims. Tierney thus reanimates federalism's radical potential as a constitutional idea for complex societies. In so doing, he has produced a brilliant book of exceptional importance for scholars and constitutional drafters alike. * Erin F. Delaney, Professor of Law, Pritzker School of Law, Northwestern University * A comprehensive constitutional theory of federalism as a discrete approach to the organisation of the state has been needed for a long time. It has become increasingly pressing as the number and diversity of federal-type systems proliferate. This splendid book meets the need by adapting the construct of a social contract to the essential pluralism of a federal democratic state. In doing so, it provides a distinctively federal account of core constitutional concepts, from sovereignty to democracy. It deserves to be in high demand. * Cheryl Saunders AO, Laureate Professor Emeritus, University of Melbourne Law School, President Emeritus of the International Association of Constitutional Law and former President of the International Association of Centres for Federal Studies * We now have the answer to a question all serious scholars of things constitutional will welcome. Thus, to the question whether there is one book that must be read to grasp the conceptual intricacies of federalism, the answer could not be any clearer: Stephen Tierney's The Federal Contract. Rich in philosophical acuity and constructive in its provocations, this re-thinking of the fundamentals of a healthy constitutional federalism should quickly become essential reading for constitutional theorists and designers alike. Tierney's masterly deployment of comparative examples results in a commendable openness to the multiple ways in which the federal solution can culminate in a salutary outcome. * Gary J. Jacobsohn, H. Malcolm Macdonald Professor of Constitutional and Comparative Law University of Texas at Austin Department of Government * The Federal Contract is a ground-breaking work that unearths the core purpose of federalism by reconceiving it through constitutional theory. A masterful opus on federalism and constitutionalism, it makes inherently pluralised constituent power key to the federal foundational moment, hence grounding the specificity of federalism as a genus of constitutionalism.? It is an invaluable contribution to legal and political theory. * Genevieve Nootens, Professor of Political Science, University of Quebec * Professor Tierney has given us an urgently needed constitutional theory of federalism, one that is historically placed and comparatively informed. Along the road, he contributes in major ways to - and challenges - contemporary understandings of sovereignty, constituent power, the state, constitutional authority, and of other key concepts of constitutional thought. The Federal Contract is a book that we all should read and learn from. * Joel Colon-Rios, Professor, Faculty of Law, Victoria University of Wellington * The Federal Contract presents an original and carefully constructed constitutional theory of federalism in conditions of territorial pluralism. In addition, the theory is grounded in an outstanding history of federalism. It will be of interest to scholars and students of both federalism and constitutionalism. * James Tully, Emeritus Professor, University of Victoria *
Stephen Tierney is Professor of Constitutional Theory in the School of Law, University of Edinburgh, UK and Visiting Professor and Distinguished Research Fellow at Notre Dame Law School, USA. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and has held Senior Research Fellowships with both the British Academy and the ESRC. He serves as Legal Adviser to the House of Lords Constitution Committee and is a member of the Executive Committee of the UK Constitutional Law Association. He has published ten books, including two monographs with Oxford University Press: Constitutional Law and National Pluralism (2004) and Constitutional Referendums: The Theory and Practice of Republican Deliberation (2012).
Autor*in
Professor of Constitutional TheoryProfessor of Constitutional Theory, University of Edinburgh
