Johannes Althusius Medieval Theory of Federalism

Abstract: Federalism is primarily a political theory with a rich and stimulating theoretical history traceable to the medieval Calvinist Protestant thinker, Johannes Althusius (1557-1638). This paper traced and discussed the medieval origins as well as the fundamental theoretical foundations of the theory of federalism. It argued that beyond the general and popular approaches which tend to focus on prescriptive distillations to identify different shades of federal practice and their differing outcomes federalism should most fundamentally be situated within the domain of political theory. It also discussed some fundamental liberal conceptual values embedded in the theory of federalism such as liberty, equality, social contract, consent, civil society and civil rights which are necessary for successful federal practice. The paper adopted the theory of subsidiarity as its theoretical framework. Data gathering was from secondary sources and data analysis was mainly historical and based on content analysis. The study concluded that recognition of the need for local autonomy and sustenance of the core liberal values are very essential for successful federal practice and therefore recommended effective power and resource devolution in contemporary federations.

Keywords: Federalism, Political theory, Liberty, Contract, Consent, Decentralization

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