Compact Theory of Federalism / Alexis de Tocqueville | Eastern NC Now

    Publisher's Note: This 4th installment in Diane Rufino's series examining Our Founding Principles considers Compact Federalism, the Federalist Farmer and Alexis de Tocqueville.

    I came across a document that I had never heard of: The Federal Farmer. So I went and looked it up. Quite prophetic actually.

    The Federal Farmer is basically anti-Federalist. It predicts or argues that the plan of the Constitution, while claiming to be a federal system and seeming to be so in some respects, will end up annihilating the states by consolidating them into one national government. This concern over consolidation was among the most important of the Anti-Federalist objections to the Constitution; they saw the destruction of state sovereignty as destructive to freedom. Honest federalists, in the view of the Federal Farmer, wished for the substantial preservation of the state governments, but sought a federal government of a somewhat different nature that that designed with the Constitution. The letters indicate that the Federal Farmer subscribed to the compact theory of federalism, of which Thomas Jefferson and James Madison also subscribed. In fact, it can be argued that this is the basis of the Tenth Amendment. (See below)

    Here is the anti-Federalist concern, in a nut shell: Proper attention to federalism was absolutely key to republicanism. Consequently, any threat to our federal government constituted a menace to republicanism. Without proper attention to and respect for federalism, a republic the size of the United States would have grave difficulty giving fair representation to the varied interests of the people in the different states. Anti-Federalists understood that the more representatives that were sent to the national capital would help guarantee that the people, and all classes, would be fairly represented... that is, if the representatives remained ethical, moral, and loyal.

    In regards to the US Constitution, the Federal Farmer claims that the nation was formed through a compact agreed upon by all the states, and that the national government is consequently a creation of the states. Both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison wrote separately to propose that the Constitution be based on this principle. Under the Compact Theory of Federalism, the United States is made up of a voluntary union of States that agreed to cede some of their authority in order to join the union, but that the states did not and do not, ultimately, surrender their sovereign rights. Under this theory, states can determine if the federal government has violated its agreements, including the Constitution, and nullify such violations or even withdraw from the Union. (Ie, states would be the final judges of whether the national government has overstepped the boundaries of the "compact." This is where the NULLIFICATION doctrine originates from.

    A leading exponent of this theory, aside from Jefferson and Madison, was John C. Calhoun.


Alexis de Toqueville --

    French philosopher, Alexis de Tocqueville came to America in the early 1800's from France for the purpose of studying her prison system. What became of that visit was a very powerful book called "Democracy in America." In that book he compares America to the failed regimes of Europe, and especially France. He asks the question "Why was democracy able to take hold so successfully in America while it failed in other countries.

    One answer, according to de Tocqueville is that the people in nations like France placed a much greater value on Equality (equal things, equal positions) than they did on Liberty. "I think that democratic communities have a natural taste for freedom: left to themselves, they will seek it, cherish it, and view any privation of it with regret." While there is a natural taste for freedom, the need for equality is greater. "But for equality, their passion is ardent, insatiable, incessant, invincible: they call for equality in freedom; and if they cannot obtain that, they still call for equality in slavery. They will endure poverty, servitude, barbarism - but they will not endure aristocracy. This is true at all times, and especially true in our own. All men and all powers seeking to cope with this irresistible passion, will be overthrown and destroyed by it. In our age, freedom cannot be established without it, and despotism itself cannot reign without its support..... I contend that in order to combat the evils which equality may produce, there is only one effectual remedy - namely, political freedom."

    "A democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it." -- Alexis de Tocqueville

    "Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith." -- Alexis de Tocqueville

    "The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money." -- Alexis de Tocqueville

    Diane Rufino has her own blog For Love of God and Country. Come and visit her. She'd love your company.