Federalism refers to a form of government where different units are answerable to a central authority or power, even though the units are self sustaining. The factors that bind these units include; a constitution or written laws stipulating about how power ought to be distributed the organization. Federalism is a political theory where member are joined together by a covenant with a leading head. Federalism can also refer to a governing system where sovereignty and constitutionalism is fully embraced fully as the way to rule. In federalism governance power is divided between constituent political units and the central governing authority. Examples of federal governments in this century include the U.S., Nigeria, Brazil, and Germany. Federalism has several advantages that go to empower the organization. For instance, countries with federal governments are more powerful and united. They also share a currency which acts to empower them in the global market as they also gain international respect. Lastly, federalism fosters unity and loyalty amongst the nationals; this is because it helps to maintain the connection within the units as allows them to continue to maintain their power. Although federalism has its fair share of advantages, several people do not share the same opinion. This paper will focus on the opinions of Robert Yates (Brutus) who is anti federalist and Madison who is a supporter of federalism.
There were several issues raised by Brutus opposing the federal government. For instance, Brutus was not comfortable with the amount of power the federal government was endowing on a few selected individuals. According to him, citizens were sacrificing their liberties by accepting federalism. He, like several other anti- federalists, believed that once the people gave up their freedom, the government would take advantage of them. Thus, to avert this problem, they proposed a bill of rights which was aimed at protecting the rights of the citizens.
