Jared Sonnicksen is Chair of Political Systems at the Institute of Political Science at RWTH Aachen University, Germany.

• Prologue 1. Introduction: Exploring the Limited State 2. Towards an Analytical Framework 3. Constitutional Immanence in the USA 4. The State of American Federal Democracy 5. Democratic Divided Government 6. Multilevel Divided Government 7. Politics of the Constitution 8. Conclusion: The Decoupled Polity Epilogue

‘Strangely, American federalism has been largely absent from American political development (APD) scholarship. Jared Sonnicksen’s insightful, stimulating and ambitious book represents a significant contribution to fill this gap. Building on the concept of immanent fragmentation as an institutional reality and regulative idea, this innovative account of American federal democracy "in" and "through" time has a lot to offer, for students of American politics and comparative federalism alike.’Jörg Broschek, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Comparative Federalism and Multilevel Governance, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada

Jared Sonnicksen is Chair of Political Systems at the Institute of Political Science at RWTH Aachen University, Germany.

• Prologue 1. Introduction: Exploring the Limited State 2. Towards an Analytical Framework 3. Constitutional Immanence in the USA 4. The State of American Federal Democracy 5. Democratic Divided Government 6. Multilevel Divided Government 7. Politics of the Constitution 8. Conclusion: The Decoupled Polity Epilogue

‘Strangely, American federalism has been largely absent from American political development (APD) scholarship. Jared Sonnicksen’s insightful, stimulating and ambitious book represents a significant contribution to fill this gap. Building on the concept of immanent fragmentation as an institutional reality and regulative idea, this innovative account of American federal democracy "in" and "through" time has a lot to offer, for students of American politics and comparative federalism alike.’Jörg Broschek, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Comparative Federalism and Multilevel Governance, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada

Jared Sonnicksen is Chair of Political Systems at the Institute of Political Science at RWTH Aachen University, Germany.

• Prologue 1. Introduction: Exploring the Limited State 2. Towards an Analytical Framework 3. Constitutional Immanence in the USA 4. The State of American Federal Democracy 5. Democratic Divided Government 6. Multilevel Divided Government 7. Politics of the Constitution 8. Conclusion: The Decoupled Polity Epilogue

‘Strangely, American federalism has been largely absent from American political development (APD) scholarship. Jared Sonnicksen’s insightful, stimulating and ambitious book represents a significant contribution to fill this gap. Building on the concept of immanent fragmentation as an institutional reality and regulative idea, this innovative account of American federal democracy "in" and "through" time has a lot to offer, for students of American politics and comparative federalism alike.’Jörg Broschek, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Comparative Federalism and Multilevel Governance, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada