--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The federalism term is a good term, but…" description: "\"The federalism term is a good term, but it's just below the surface; it's just about to come up into wider public understanding that these practices ar..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/gar-alperovitz-25589_below-the-surface_the-federalism-term-is-a-good-term-but-i_2868575.png" --- # The federalism term is a good term, but it's just below… ![“The federalism term is a good term, but it's just below the surface; it's just about to come up into wider public understanding that these practices are happening and are politically viable.” quote by Gar Alperovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/gar-alperovitz-25589_below-the-surface_the-federalism-term-is-a-good-term-but-i_2868575.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/gar-alperovitz-25589_below-the-surface_the-federalism-term-is-a-good-term-but-i_2868575.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/gar-alperovitz-25589_below-the-surface_the-federalism-term-is-a-good-term-but-i_2868575.png) > “The federalism term is a good term, but it's just below the surface; it's just about to come up into wider public understanding that these practices are happening and are politically viable.” [Gar Alperovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A claim that the concept of federalism is gaining public awareness and acceptance. **In simple terms:** Federalism is becoming more widely understood. Key Takeaway Recognize emerging political ideas. Themes politics public awareness governance Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type educational analytical When to use this quote - community meetings - policy debates - educational workshops Key Concepts Federalism policy diffusion political viability Questions to Reflect On - How can you help explain complex political terms? - What barriers exist to public understanding? A Different Perspective Public acceptance may lag behind political realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Below the surface](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/below-the-surface/) [Federalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/federalism/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Practice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practice/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) ## Related quotes > [“Democrats should reevaluate a lot of our assumptions about which policies are politically viable. 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It looks familiar but, an inch below the surface, it isn't anything like the West at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-davidson/americans-are-so-often-thrown-by-japan-it-looks-familiar-but-an-inch/) [Cathy Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-davidson/) > [Fiona has the same glacial beauty of an iceburg, but unlike the iceburg she has absolutely nothing below the surface.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/fiona-has-the-same-glacial-beauty-of-an-iceburg-but-unlike-the/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) ## More by Gar Alperovitz > [“But if the system is the problem, the truth is that there will not be satisfactory answers in the here and now for lots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/but-if-the-system-is-the-problem-the-truth-is-that-there-will-not-be/) [Gar Alperovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/) > [“… our nation's truly critical problems are built into the very structure of the economic and political system; they are not something passing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/our-nation-s-truly-critical-problems-are-built-into-the-very/) [Gar Alperovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/) > [We've been following many forms of democratized ownership, starting with co-ops, land banks at the neighborhood level, municipal ownership and state ownership of banks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/we-ve-been-following-many-forms-of-democratized-ownership-starting/) [Gar Alperovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/) > [As we move toward the pluralist commonwealth, economic interventions that stabilize communities - for instance by localizing the flows of goods and services or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/as-we-move-toward-the-pluralist-commonwealth-economic-interventions/) [Gar Alperovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/) > [Worker-owned co-ops, on their own, floating in the market, tend to replicate the behavior of worker-owned capitalists in some circumstances. They sometimes develop positive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/worker-owned-co-ops-on-their-own-floating-in-the-market-tend-to/) [Gar Alperovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/) > [Finding ways to organize work in which people are not locked into unequal power relationships is very important. Having said that, it's not easily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/finding-ways-to-organize-work-in-which-people-are-not-locked-into/) [Gar Alperovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/) > [For 40 years, my argument has been that democratizing ownership of wealth has been the key to egalitarian society and the goals of egalitarian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/for-40-years-my-argument-has-been-that-democratizing-ownership-of/) [Gar Alperovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/) > [In America, we need to go forward in nationalizing several large corporations: I think that's possible; we nationalized General Motors; we nationalized several of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/in-america-we-need-to-go-forward-in-nationalizing-several-large/) [Gar Alperovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/) > [Parecon is a very tough-minded economic vision and model, and it sets a standard for us to look at.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/parecon-is-a-very-tough-minded-economic-vision-and-model-and-it-sets/) [Gar Alperovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/) > [We need to learn to listen to what the people need and want and not try to impose on them a whole schema that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/we-need-to-learn-to-listen-to-what-the-people-need-and-want-and-not/) [Gar Alperovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/) > [There are areas using what's called the "checkerboard strategy." They are different cities where you can move around the "checkerboard," doing things you can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/there-are-areas-using-what-s-called-the-checkerboard-strategy-they/) [Gar Alperovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/) > [Internationally, there are countries going well beyond the course, with airlines, transportation. There are systems around the world that have explored mining, rail transport,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/internationally-there-are-countries-going-well-beyond-the-course-with/) [Gar Alperovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/) > [There has been a change in consciousness that makes this one of the most interesting periods of American history, maybe the most interesting. There's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/there-has-been-a-change-in-consciousness-that-makes-this-one-of-the/) [Gar Alperovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/) > [The top 400 people own more wealth now than the bottom 185 million Americans taken together. That is a medieval structure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/the-top-400-people-own-more-wealth-now-than-the-bottom-185-million/) [Gar Alperovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/) > [I am interested in the political economy of institutional power relationships in transition. The question is one of "reconstructive" communities as a cultural, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/i-am-interested-in-the-political-economy-of-institutional-power/) [Gar Alperovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/) [Explore all 22 Gar Alperovitz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/) ## More Below the surface quotes > [Americans are so often thrown by Japan. It looks familiar but, an inch below the surface, it isn't anything like the West at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-davidson/americans-are-so-often-thrown-by-japan-it-looks-familiar-but-an-inch/) [Cathy Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-davidson/) > [Observance of customs and laws can very easily be a cloak for a lie so subtle that our fellow human beings are unable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/observance-of-customs-and-laws-can-very-easily-be-a-cloak-for-a-lie/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [“Philosophy, if it cannot answer so many questions as we could wish, has at least the power of asking questions which increase the interest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/philosophy-if-it-cannot-answer-so-many-questions-as-we-could-wish-has/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [...Was it because a lot of the heat went into melting Arctic sea ice or parts of Greenland and Antarctica, and other glaciers? Was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-e-trenberth/was-it-because-a-lot-of-the-heat-went-into-melting-arctic-sea-ice-or/) Kevin E. Trenberth > [Fiona has the same glacial beauty of an iceburg, but unlike the iceburg she has absolutely nothing below the surface.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/fiona-has-the-same-glacial-beauty-of-an-iceburg-but-unlike-the/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [My photographs don't go below the surface. They don't go below anything. They're readings of the surface. I have great faith in surfaces. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-avedon/my-photographs-don-t-go-below-the-surface-they-don-t-go-below/) [Richard Avedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-avedon/) > [Women want everything of a lover. And too often I would sink below the surface. So armies disappear under sand. And there was her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/women-want-everything-of-a-lover-and-too-often-i-would-sink-below-the/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [Many times when I stop working on a problem consciously, my mind continues to work on it below the surface. Often solutions come on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/many-times-when-i-stop-working-on-a-problem-consciously-my-mind/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [English life is seventh-eighths below the surface, like an iceberg, and living in England for a year constitutes merely an introduction to an introduction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/english-life-is-seventh-eighths-below-the-surface-like-an-iceberg-and/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [Now imagine that you are going beneath the surface of the ocean. Below the surface all is calm, silent, and serene. As you visualize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/now-imagine-that-you-are-going-beneath-the-surface-of-the-ocean-below/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The more familiar people are with the ecosystem that lives below the surface - invisible until you're actually in the ocean - the more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-bowermaster/the-more-familiar-people-are-with-the-ecosystem-that-lives-below-the/) Jon Bowermaster > [Many fires burn below the surface.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/empedocles/many-fires-burn-below-the-surface/) [Empedocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/empedocles/) > [Below the surface stream, shallow and light, Of what we say and feel below the stream, As light, of what we think we feel,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/below-the-surface-stream-shallow-and-light-of-what-we-say-and-feel/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Vermont tradition is based on the idea that group life should leave each person as free as possible to arrange his own life. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-canfield-fisher/vermont-tradition-is-based-on-the-idea-that-group-life-should-leave/) [Dorothy Canfield Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-canfield-fisher/) > [She was doing that thing some people do when they act nice and chipper and interested, while just below the surface they’re thinking really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecily-von-ziegesar/she-was-doing-that-thing-some-people-do-when-they-act-nice-and/) [Cecily von Ziegesar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecily-von-ziegesar/) [Browse all 48 Below the surface quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/below-the-surface/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The federalism term is a good term, but it's just below the surface; it's just about to come up into wider public understanding that these practices are happening and are politically viable.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gar Alperovitz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/the-federalism-term-is-a-good-term-but-it-s-just-below-the-surface-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Below the surface" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/the-federalism-term-is-a-good-term-but-it-s-just-below-the-surface-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/gar-alperovitz-25589_below-the-surface_the-federalism-term-is-a-good-term-but-i_2868575.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/gar-alperovitz-25589_below-the-surface_the-federalism-term-is-a-good-term-but-i_2868575.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/gar-alperovitz-25589_below-the-surface_the-federalism-term-is-a-good-term-but-i_2868575.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The federalism term is a good term, but it's just below the surface; it's just about to come up into wider…” — Gar Alperovitz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gar Alperovitz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gar-alperovitz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The federalism term is a good...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/the-federalism-term-is-a-good-term-but-it-s-just-below-the-surface-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gar-alperovitz/the-federalism-term-is-a-good-term-but-it-s-just-below-the-surface-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```