ABSTRACT
An example of the contemporary preference for the confederal rather than the federal formula are the ups and downs in the progress of the European Community toward a closer political, and possibly federal, union. There is a great variety among modern cooperative associations of nation-states in terms of their importance, success, duration, number of nations involved, geographic area covered, functional scope, specificity of issues to be handled collectively, and chance of further progress toward greater federal unity. In eighteenth-century America, the primary objection to a concentration of decisive powers in the hands of a national authority was based on the political elites’ concern with democratic controls and participation, deemed possible only on a local or state scale. When major confederal themes are extrapolated from the political and social turmoil of postcolonial America and projected onto the world scene, some particular hazards should be noted.
