A house divided against itself cannot stand," said Senate candidate Abraham Lincoln in a speech on June 16, 1858. Just short of three years later, on April 12, 1861, Confederate shore batteries fired the first shots of the Civil War at Fort Sumter. Most of our chapter this week is devoted to division of power. Federalism is the division of power between the sovereign federal government and the sovereign states. Separation of powers refers to the division of power between the three branches of the federal government that is mirrored in state governments.

Lincoln's prophetic words lead us to a fundamental question: Why divide governmental authority between the states and the federal government and between branches within the federal and state governments? What advantages do we derive from federalism and separation of powers, and what are some inherent disadvantages of both?