Federalism PDF

Federalism 1 Federalism 2 Definition ▪ Federalism is a political form that requires the existence of two distinct levels of government, neither of which is legally or politically subordinate to the other. Its central feature is therefore shared sovereignty....

Federalism 1 Federalism 2 Definition ▪ Federalism is a political form that requires the existence of two distinct levels of government, neither of which is legally or politically subordinate to the other. Its central feature is therefore shared sovereignty. 3 Unitary states ▪ Sovereignty lies solely with the national government; all legitimate political power is derived from that, i.e., local and supranational entities only have as much power as the central government allows them -> local governments are generally weaker than in federal systems National government (sovereign) Local government (not sovereign) 4 Confederations ▪ Sovereignty lies solely with the subnational government; all legitimate political power is derived from that, i.e., national and supranational entities only have as much power as the subnational government allows them -> national governments are generally very weak (not common for nation-states nowadays, e.g. European Union) National government (not sovereign) Local government (sovereign) 5 Federalism: a scale ▪ The difference between federalism and unitary systems can be difficult to detect ▪ Federalism is often a scale: almost every country is somewhat federal in practice, and almost every federal country has features of unitarism ▪ Some unitary states can devolve more power to local governments (quasi- federalism, e.g. Spain) than some federal ones that are federal in name only 6 7 Reasons for federalism 8 Large size and population ▪ Larger countries are more difficult to govern centrally ▪ Federalism might solve logistical problems for the government ▪ Large countries (e.g. Brazil, Canada, Russia) are generally federal, smaller countries (e.g. Hungary) are generally unitary 9 Heterogeneity ▪ The more diverse the population of the country is, the more difficult it is to govern it in a uniform way ▪ Federalism can provide an opportunity to the various groups to govern as they see fit while remaining within the country ▪ Ethnic heterogeneity (e.g. Pakistan) ▪ Cultural heterogeneity, including linguistic heterogeneity (e.g. Canada) ▪ Religious heterogeneity (e.g. Nigeria) ▪ Heterogeneous countries tend to be federal, even if their size does not suggest that they should be (e.g. Bosnia and Herzegovina) 10 Geographic dispersion ▪ Federalism is common among countries that are neither large nor heterogenous, but are dispersed or at least very diverse geographically ▪ It is difficult to solve the logistical issues of dispersion under a unitary system (e.g. Nepal) ▪ Especially common among island nations (e.g. Micronesia) ▪ Even unitary states often grant special autonomies to territories that are far from the rest of the country (e.g. France/French Polynesia) 11 External threat ▪ Federalism often came about as a necessary way to combat an external threat ▪ The smaller entities might be weak to fight against the common enemy individually, but if they unite to become a single country, they might stand a chance ▪ Classic example: USA 12 History ▪ Federalism often is a result of an acknowledgement of longstanding autonomies that do not stem from heterogeneity ▪ Example: the former independent emirates within the UAE are united federally despite being relatively homogenous 13 Ideological reasons for federalism ▪ Federalism has certain political advantages that could be the reason for its establishment ▪ Laboratories of democracy: various policies could be experimented with in the local entities, and these policies could compete so that the best practices are found ▪ Subsidiarity: decisions should be made at the most appropriate level (at the lowest level where they are feasible) -> different areas might require different solutions -> federalism provides a way to do that ▪ Independent bases of power: under federalism, the various local entities all have their respective political institutions and elites -> further checks and balances -> strengthened liberal democracy 13 Ideological reasons against federalism ▪ Combating separatism: federalism empowers local governments, and they might use this power to gain independence (e.g., Singapore from Malaysia) ▪ Incongruent policies: if the local governments choose differing policies, they may be more harmful than one overarching policy (e.g., diverse gun regulations in US states) ▪ Political chaos: the many different levels of government that may act against each other could create political chaos and gridlock while creating a very large bureaucracy 15 Features of federalism 16 Strength: weak or strong ▪ Weak federalism: the central government dominates the local entities -> almost unitary in practice (e.g., Brazil) ▪ Strong federalism: the powers of the local and central levels are more or less balanced (e.g., Canada) 17 Factors impacting the strength of federalism ▪ Tradition of liberal democracy: the stronger checks and balances in general are in a country, the stronger federalism tends to be (otherwise, the central government slowly takes away local powers in practice) ▪ Unity in the federal government: if the federal government is united (i.e., consists of few parties and there is little dissent within), it is more capable of taking away the powers of local entities, leading to weak federalism (e.g., Russia). ▪ Contrarily, if there are numerous opposing groups represented in the central government, it can make only a handful of decisions, leaving a vacuum to be filled by the local governments, leading to strong federalism (e.g., Belgium). 25 Bicameralism ▪ Federal parliaments tend to be bicameral, with the upper chamber representing the local entities ▪ The various territories might be represented according to their population (rare, e.g., India, issue: small states/provinces get dominated) or regardless of their population (common, e.g., Australia, issue: citizens of smaller states are overrepresented) 19 The importance of courts ▪ Courts play a crucial role in federal systems ▪ When a dispute between a local and the federal government occurs, the courts abjudicate it, either strengthening or weakening federalism in the country 20 Types of federalism 21 Territorial federalism ▪ Local entities organized territorially ▪ Boundaries of local entities are determined on a map ▪ Example: Germany, Ethiopia, etc. (very common) 22 Corporative federalism ▪ Local entities organized based on group membership ▪ Local entities can overlap on maps ▪ Example: Belgian communities, Austro-Hungarian Empire (very rare) 23 Dual federalism ▪ A style of federalism in which federal and state/provincial government occupy separate and seemingly indestructible spheres of policy power. ▪ The duties and rights of local and central governments are clearly delineated (usually in the constitution). ▪ Example: UAE 24 Cooperative federalism ▪ A style of federalism in which federal and state/provincial government share most of the policy power. ▪ Local and central governments have a lot of concurrent powers, which can lead to frequent disputes. ▪ Example: USA from the 1920s to the 1960s 25 Coercive federalism ▪ A style of federalism in which the federal level dominates the state/provincial government, which in turn becomes dependent on the central government ▪ Closer to weak federalism ▪ Example: Argentina 26 Asymmetric federalism ▪ Different constituent entities receive different powers ▪ For example, the different level of autonomy for communities and territories in Russia 27