The Inflexible Nature of Federalism

The twentieth century has generally been a time of prosperity and it has brought to light the strength and dominance of liberal democracy into our political culture. In particular, it has lead to the success of the engine of liberal democracy, federalism. However, like all engines there are inherent weaknesses within the structure that exist from conception and perpetuate over time. Australia, Canada and the United States are federations who share a common weakness: inflexibility. The weaknesses of an engine can sometimes be invisible for a long time, and it usually requires a catalyst to be seen. In these three federations, one such catalyst has been the federal system’s relationship with Aboriginals. A fundamental weakness of federalism is that it is inflexible. Nowhere is this clearer than in federal-aboriginal relationships in Canada, Australia and the United States.[...]