I am alternately amused and saddened that one of the most widely read articles about federalism is my tongue in cheek 2007 National Review piece on federalism in Star Trek’s United Federation of Planets, based on an earlier VC post. Many more people seem to be interested in the fine points of federalism in fictional states than in the federal systems that exist in the real world. Just compare the number and quality of VC comments on my Star Trek federalism post (many based on an incredibly detailed knowledge of the fine points of Federation history) with those on virtually any VC post about real world federalism issues.
Aficionados of science fiction federalism will be happy to know that there is now an entire anthology devoted to stories about SF federations. I hope that the publication of this book will increase interest in real-world federalism among SF fans, but I’m not exactly holding my breath.
For a somewhat more serious post about science fiction federalism than those linked above, see my very first foray into this subject, from back in 2006.