1. federalist - Noun
2. federalist - Adjective
An advocate of confederation; specifically (Amer. Hist.), a friend of the Constitution of the United States at its formation and adoption; a member of the political party which favored the administration of president Washington.
Source: Webster's dictionaryThe whole basis of the Constitution was a restriction of power, and the whole basis of the federalist system was that there was not one sovereign centralized power from which all authority flows. Roy Moore
The best critical consideration of the inherent weakness of a federation of states in which the law of the federation has to be enforced on the states who are its members is contained in the Federalist Papers. Kenneth Waltz
When Jefferson and the Republicans rallied to the Union and to the existing Federalist organization, the fabric of traditional American democracy was almost completely woven. Herbert Croly
The framers of the Constitution were so clear in the federalist papers and elsewhere that they felt an independent judiciary was critical to the success of the nation. Sandra Day O'Connor
Some of the same people who were instrumental in the Federalist Society's effort to change our legal system are now working to help corporations increase their control over the flow of information. Al Franken
Democracy is an experimental system. I like it when states try out new ideas. I think we ought to expand, not contract, our federalist system. Alex Tabarrok