Rachelle Danya M.

Dela Rosa BSRT 1-B

GE 105 (Purposive Communication) September 3, 2018

Federalism and Democracy

Federalism in political terms refer to a kind of political organization or a compound mode

of government wherein political power is divided between a national government and a regional
government with the use of a constitution. According to my research, “Federalism” originates
from the Latin word “Foedos” that means “agreement” or “treaty”. Hence, I can presume that
Federalism is a system of government which promotes cooperation and unity among different
groups or states and larger units in order to realize their common goals. The division of
command within a federal government is certainly commendable since it prevents power from
concentrating in one center. It gives the smaller units or states of a country an opportunity to
make their own decisions regarding issues they are involved in. However, even if the federal
government is divided into several political units, the federal association has members from
different states which serves to represent their unit in giving their opinions for the country as a
whole. In addition, federal countries are divided based on geographical regions wherein people
may have different cultures, races, religions, and special features. Although geographical units
bring about some cultural and natural differences, these regions that are located alongside are
united through their common political and economic interests.
On the other hand, democracy is a system of government in which all the people of a
country are involved in making decisions about its affairs, typically by voting to elect
representatives to a parliament or a similar assembly. It is a form of government that is as
quoted, “For the people, by the people, and of the people”. This type of government is prevalent
in our country, the Philippines. We, the citizens of this country are able to govern our nation by
electing representatives that will be duty bound for the citizens of the nation. Furthermore, only
legal citizens of a given country are given the right to vote for their chosen representative. Even
though there is no specific and universally accepted definition of “democracy”, there are two
principles that any definition of democracy includes, equality and freedom. When one talks
about democracy, usually, the first thing one would think about is freedom since citizens are
given the political power to choose their leader. Also, all citizens are equal before the law which
means that everyone has an equal access to power over the nation itself. Moreover, all citizens
are able to enjoy legitimized freedoms and liberties, which are usually protected by a
constitution.
Democracy is distinct from federalism as it is only the process on the source of power in
the government which does not include the method on how to manage a government. Democracy
answers questions such as who has the authority to make decisions about government policies.
Wherein federalism is a system in which the power to govern is shared between national and
regional government, creating what is often called a federation. Lastly, federalism is only
possible in a democratic state because it is limited by constitutional principles of federalism so
that the central government cannot interfere when and where it pleases.