What is the link between federalism and conservatism?

(written by lawrence krubner, however indented passages are often quotes). You can contact lawrence at: lawrence@krubner.com, or follow me on Twitter.

[Originally published on a weblog called “What Is Liberalism?”]

In America, most of the people who favor federalism (reserving certain powers to the states) are right-of-center in their politics. Why is this? It’s not the case that people left-of-center have an absolute faith in the power of government. Rather, many of their central concerns revolve around limiting government power. People who are left-of-center favor strong limits on police searches and other government invasions of privacy. People who are left-of-center fight passionately against all forms of government censorship. They resist any claim the government might make to regulate what a woman does with her body. Limiting the power of the government is a central cause that those who are left-of-center fight for.

Why is it then that when it comes to the issue of federalism, the people in favor of it are generally right-of-center? The idea that some issues should be left to the states, and to the states alone, does not appeal to many people who are left-of-center. Why is this?

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