Only 60 of 500 colonists survived the period, now known as “the starving time.” Historians have never determined exactly why so many perished, although disease, famine (spurred by the worst drought in 800 years, as climate records indicate), and Indian attacks took their toll.
Well the question is slightly vague, you're not giving a time period or the subject at hand. But my best guess is possibly Federalism if we are talking early US.