by Global Urbanist

Created on: November 13, 2009   Last Updated: November 15, 2009

Revolution, civil war, and acts of secession are eventual outcomes of a poor relationship between local and federal governments. The American revolution arose from the unsatisfactory relationship with British Parliament. The American civil war came about from the Confederate States' perception that the Federal government was a threat to their slavery economy. The tension between local and federal governments is related to the economic independence of a region. The more independent a region is from a nation's economy the more local control is promoted.

The Quebec Referendum of 1995 demonstrates independent rural areas promoting local control, while urban and boarder regions benefited from a federal relationship. Quebec has a distinct culture with its own language, customs, and legal system. In 1995 the province held a referendum to secede from Canada. The reasoning was that a culture built on French heritage could not have its needs fulfilled by a federal government dominated by British heritage. The province was concerned of its culture being overwhelmed by the rest of Canada. The election results map out rural regions promoting sovereignty while urban and boarder regions did not. The rural regions that were more self-sufficient wanted more local control supporting a sovereign Quebec. Montreal has been one of Canada's primary business centres housing several national headquarters that service the country.

Citizens of Montreal were dependent on the Canadian economy and were against sovereignty fearing it would isolate opportunities. The communities along the US boarder were also skeptical of local government disrupting international trade opportunities and were against sovereignty. The referendum summarized the tension between local versus federal government as one of self-sufficiency versus opportunity. To maintain a prosperous relationship between federal and local government the federal government must take on the obligation of ensuring local governments benefit from the federation. Infrastructure like interstates, airports, and rail lines are funded by the federal government to promote economic interdependence among the local governments. In the United States, when the federal government wants to promote a policy it often takes into consideration local dissent and offers options to mitigate opposition. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 promoted the drinking age of 21, but the federal government didn't want to take away control of drinking age

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