How to Use federalism in a Sentence

federalism

noun
  • This is a huge win for property rights, federalism, and the rule of law.
    — Daren Bakst, National Review, 2 June 2023
  • That will set up a legal showdown based on federalism and states’ rights.
    — Roger Showley, sandiegouniontribune.com, 12 Jan. 2018
  • Which speaks to old-fashioned federalism.
    — Sal Rodriguez, Oc Register, 10 Oct. 2025
  • And then because this is a state case, he's also got an argument about what's called federalism.
    — Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 8 Nov. 2024
  • Without a return to federalism and local control, the tide will not be turned.
    — Stanley Kurtz, National Review, 17 Sep. 2020
  • But instead of waging this war with guns, Dutton wages it with federalism.
    — Daniel Bessner, The New Republic, 14 Nov. 2022
  • But the more important point is that this is exactly how federalism is supposed to work.
    — WSJ, 18 May 2022
  • For decades, federalism was the last refuge of reactionaries.
    — Alan Greenblatt, The New Republic, 3 Apr. 2020
  • The high court held that federalism trumps copyright law, effectively giving states a free pass.
    — Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, 24 Mar. 2020
  • Upholding federalism is crucial in a nation as large and diverse as ours.
    — Steve Chapman, chicagotribune.com, 29 Sep. 2021
  • This president has been all about federalism and giving the states more authority, this just flies in the face of that.
    — John Frank, The Denver Post, 27 Feb. 2017
  • Often, in a case such as this one, there are tensions over federalism—what is a state power and what is a federal power.
    — Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2022
  • However, there is a more tempered view among those who see the wisdom of the ethnic federalism system.
    — Samuel Getachew, Quartz Africa, 4 Dec. 2020
  • The appeals court wrote in its order that federalism does not allow the state to break the law or violate the rights of children.
    — Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald, 11 Apr. 2026
  • One of those critical areas is this idea of federalism on which the United States was built.
    — CBS News, 24 Jan. 2021
  • The unity government has also proposed federalism as a way to reach out to the country’s ethnic groups.
    — New York Times, 6 Dec. 2021
  • This year, that aspect of American federalism was a saving grace.
    — New York Times, 7 Nov. 2020
  • Indian federalism and unity will struggle to cope with the fallout.
    — Ramachandra Guha, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
  • Even when the problem is a pathogen that spreads across state and national borders, the principles of federalism still apply.
    — Haley Weiss, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2020
  • In the end, the main kibosh to federalism has come from the technocrats running the economy for Mr Duterte.
    — The Economist, 1 Aug. 2019
  • That variety is itself a strength, akin to that of American federalism.
    — Christopher Demuth, WSJ, 4 Feb. 2022
  • This is not how federalism under our Constitution is supposed to work.
    — Richard Hughes Iv, STAT, 12 Jan. 2026
  • There’s greater risk in undermining fiscal federalism than in taking a wait-and-see approach to another round of state aid.
    — Michael Lucci, National Review, 4 Mar. 2021
  • The courts, which have so often otherwise championed the principles of federalism, should nip this in the bud before then.
    — New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 17 Feb. 2025
  • To avoid the tyranny of the majority of a few populous areas imposing its will on all the rest, the founders came up with the idea of federalism.
    — Randy Blaser, chicagotribune.com, 22 June 2017
  • Parade training followed, in sun or rain, and at night the volunteers learned about federalism, warfare and what the new Myanmar might look like.
    — Washington Post, 30 Mar. 2022
  • But the federalism aspect of the Moore petitioners’ case is not so straightforward.
    — Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2022
  • Many in the resistance have committed to the idea of a federal state—though agreement on the specifics of that vision of federalism remains wanting.
    — Koh Ewe, TIME, 1 Nov. 2024
  • This booster shot of federalism could become the greatest devolution of federal power to the states in the modern era.
    — WSJ, 29 June 2017
  • Federalism saw some good victories.
    — Carlo Versano, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'federalism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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