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political theory was one of restraining government, that

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is, we were fearful of government; government was not to

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be trusted, government was not to be active. It was to

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carry out police functions and leave everything else alone.

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Now, we are in an era of very active government.

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We are demanding a great deal of government. If we are

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interested in a very strong and viable Federal system,

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then, in effect, we've got to figure out ways in which

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states can play a more important role and we've got to

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think of structuring our political institutions in a way

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that states can play this role.

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Throughout American history there has been a

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problem of balanced constitutionalism against democracy.

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Constitutionalism means essentially placing restraints

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upon government and, in a democratic system, it means

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placing restraints upon the majority. So, we fashioned

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a number of things; separation of powers, the bicameral

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legislature, judicial review, all of these things to, in

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effect, restrict the majority.

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So, the question arises, how many restraints

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do we want to place upon the majority? How effectively