There are five elements to federalism and we have talked about two: subsidiarity (responsibility at the lowest point) and the separation of functions at the center. But there are three more, of which perhaps the most important is interdependence. The way you hold parts, the individual states, into the whole is not just through a con- tractual constitution but because they would not survive very easily outside. Several of the functions that they need in order to perform effectively are done by other members of the federation. We can’t actually take Massachusetts out of the United States, because the state needs the corn grown in Kansas or financial operations on Wall Street or what- ever. There is an interdependence, and it is very important to structure that in. There is a coordinating device which insures that no one particular business unit could do it all by itself. Of course, there are also inefficiencies in coordinating, but it does mean that it is more difficult to break away, unless there’s another federation that also has those same coordinating devices. But not only does that stop breakaways; it also means that you feel that you have to invest in the total federation, because you get something from it as well as giving something to it. This is this other idea of twin citizenship. You have this emo- tional commitment to your individual unit, but you also have an emotional commitment to the whole federation.

– Charles Handy