ABSTRACT
The development of semiautonomous constituencies is inevitable, even in the most totalitarian states. They are a clear indication of the impracticality of purely unitary democracy and a refutation of any liberal/utilitarian theory that restricts politics to an interaction between individuals and the state. For many Americans who became revolutionaries, the actual money involved was not the principal issue. Their main complaint, as James Otis summed it up in his memorable phrase, was that taxation without representation was tyranny. Northern politicians and journalists, who had been vocal in urging Southerners to secede, now cried treason. The federal principle, therefore, provides a partial answer to the problem of tyranny and treason. If the question is one of community or states' rights, then the community or the state is the only proper level of action. All that separates such activity from treason is their apparent willingness to subject themselves to the judicial process.
