"The Ends of Federalism"

However ambiguous may have been the founders’ view of the federal elements in their Constitution, other prominent commentators on American government subsequently came to appreciate the utility of those elements for sustaining a decent, democratic regime. In this essay, which appeared in Publius: The Journal of Federalism in 1973, Diamond explores Alexis de Tocqueville’s view that American federalism was crucial for cultivating citizenly activity, public-spiritedness, and republican virtue within the framework of the large, commercial republic.