This collection of essays addresses the meaning and relevance of the federal principle in the context of late 20th-century political change. The federal traditions of Christian democracy, Protestantism, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Canada and the United States are examined.
A new examination of contemporary federalism and federation, which delivers a detailed theoretical study underpinned by fresh case studies. It is grounded in a clear distinction between 'federations', particular kinds of states, and 'federalism', the thinking that drives and promotes them. It also details the origins, formation, evolution and operations of federal political interests, through an authoritative series of chapters that: analyze the conceptual bases of federalism and federation through the evolution of the intellectual debate on federalism; the American Federal experience; the origins of federal states; and the relationship between state-building and national integration explore comparative federalism and federation by looking at five main pathways into comparative analysis with empirical studies on the US, Canada, Australia, India, Malaysia, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the EU explore the pathology of federations, looking at failures and successes, the impact of globalization. The final chapter also presents a definitive assessment of federal theory. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of federalism, devolution, comparative politics and government.
Based on a variety of contemporary debates on federal theory Understanding Federalism and Federation honours Michael Burgess’ contribution to the study of these topics through a selection of approaches, theories, debates and interpretations. Gathering contributors from diverse subfields to synthesize current debates it offers a snapshot of the immense range of current research on federalism and federation. Leading authors debate key issues such as American federalism, Canada and the role of Quebec, the latest insights into comparative federalism and federation, the European Union as a federal project and the analysis of constitutional courts in federal systems. Different theoretical and empirical fields and perspectives are brought together, synthesizing major findings and addressing emerging issues and these topics are analysed through multiple lenses to provide new insights, original approaches and much-needed theoretical and empirical data on federalism and federation.
This comprehensive scholarly book on comparative federalism and the Covid-19 pandemic is written by some of the world’s leading federal scholars and national experts. The Covid-19 pandemic presented an unprecedented emergency for countries worldwide, including all those with a federal or hybrid-federal system of government, which account for more than 40 per cent of the world’s population. With case studies from 19 federal countries, this book explores the core elements of federalism that came to the fore in combatting the pandemic: the division of responsibilities (disaster management, health care, social welfare, and education), the need for centralisation, and intergovernmental relations and cooperation. As the pandemic struck federal countries at roughly the same time, it provided a unique opportunity for comparative research on the question of how the various federal systems responded. The authors adopt a multidisciplinary approach to question whether federalism has been a help or a hindrance in tackling the pandemic. The value of the book lies in understanding how the Covid-19 pandemic affected federal dynamics and how it may have changed them, as well as providing useful lessons for how to combat such pandemics in federal countries in the future. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of politics and international relations, comparative federalism, health care, and disaster management. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.
Comparative Federalism: A Systematic Inquiry, Second Edition is a uniquely comprehensive, analytic, and genuinely comparative introduction to the principles and practices, as well as the institutional compromises, of federalism. Hueglin and Fenna draw from their diverse research on federal systems to focus on four main models--America, Canada, Germany, and the European Union--but also to range widely over other cases. At the heart of the book is careful analysis of the relationship between constitutional design and amendment, fiscal relations, institutional structures, intergovernmental relations, and judicial review. Such analysis serves the dual role of helping the reader understand federalism and providing a comparative framework from which to assess the record of federal systems. The second edition has been extensively revised and updated, taking into account new developments in federal systems and incorporating insights from the growing body of literature in the field. It includes two new chapters, "Fiscal Federalism" and "The Limits of Federalism."
How and to what degree do federations produce uniform law within their system? This comparative empirical study addresses these questions comprehensively for the first time. Originally produced under the auspices of the International Academy of Comparative Law, this volume examines legal unification in twenty federations around the world. Each of the successive chapters presents the forces of unification through the lens of a particular federal system. A comparative overview chapter provides a detailed analysis of the overall results with compelling visual illustrations of legal unification along different dimensions (e.g. by area of law; by federation; by civil vs common law system). The overview chapter summarizes and analyzes the means and methods of legal unification and the degree of legal unification of each system, and explains the driving forces of legal unity and diversity in federations more generally. The volume presents surprising findings that should make scholars rethink their abandonment of the civil law vs. common law distinction in comparative law. This book is a milestone in the study of federalism. It is a rare and welcome melding of comparative law and comparative politics using both original data and qualitative analysis. Wide-ranging, probing, and definitive, this book is an invaluable resource for students of law, politics, and multi-level governance. Gary Marks, Burton Craige Professor, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Chair in Multilevel Governance, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
The Second Edition of Canadian Federalism: Performance, Effectiveness, and Legitimacy is a collection of eighteen original essays casting a critical eye on the institutions, processes, and policy outcomes of Canadian federalism. Divided into three parts--The Institutions and Processes ofCanadian Federalism; The Social and Economic Union; and Persistent and New Challenges to the Federation--the book documents how Canadian intergovernmental relations have evolved in response to such issues as fiscal deficits; the chronic questioning of the legitimacy of the Canadian state by asignificant minority of Quebec voters and many Aboriginal groups, among others; health care; environmental policies; and international trade. Herman Bakvis and Grace Skogstad have gathered together some of the most prominent Canadian political scientists to evaluate the capacity of the federalsystem to meet these and other challenges, and to offer prescriptions on the institutional changes that are likely to be required.
The COVID-19 pandemic bared the inadequacies in existing structures of public health and governance in most countries. This book provides a comparative analysis of policy approaches and planning adopted by federal governments across the globe to battle and adequately respond to the health emergency as well as the socio-economic fallouts of the pandemic. With twenty-four case studies from across the globe, the book critically analyzes responses to the public health crisis, its fiscal impact and management, as well as decision-making and collaboration between different levels of government of countries worldwide. It explores measures taken to contain the pandemic and to responsibly regulate and manage the health, socio-economic welfare, employment, and education of its people. The authors highlight the deficiencies in planning, tensions between state and local governments, politicization of the crisis, and the challenges of generating political consensus. They also examine effective approaches used to foster greater cooperation and learning for multi-level, polycentric innovation in pandemic governance. One of the first books on federalism and approaches to the COVID-19 pandemic, this volume is an indispensable reference for scholars and researchers of comparative federalism, comparative politics, development studies, political science, public policy and governance, health and wellbeing, and political sociology.
Examining the changing nature of health care federalism within a competitive global context, Comparative Health Care Federalism provides a rich and nuanced account of the way in which the interplay of federal relationships impact health care within an array of systems. The editors have gathered together some of the leading international health policy scholars to provide detailed accounts of the dynamics of federal health policy-making within their respective jurisdictions. Complementing the theoretical and methodological objectives, this book provides a detailed, empirical description of the challenges faced by different states and the ways in which health policy-making works within the federal, quasi-federal, and functional federal systems presented. In chapters on the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, the United Kingdom, the EU, India, China, Brazil, and the Russian Federation the authors consider what variables contribute to, and stand in the way of, the formation of robust and sustainable health care systems.
Federal models of government have shaped history and demonstrated how diverse people can live together and govern together in relative harmony. The Forum of Federations Handbook of Federal Countries 2020 builds on the previous 2005 edition and offers a much-needed update to this signature resource in comparative federalism. Outlining every federal country in the world, each chapter provides a brief yet comprehensive overview of the history of federalism in its specific country, the constitutional nature of federalism, and recent historical dynamics. As new countries have joined the Federal ranks, this handbook brings readers up to speed offering an authoritative look at both the older federal countries as well as new federal countries like Nepal. The Forum of Federations Handbook of Federal Countries 2020 is an essential resource for academics, researchers, university students, libraries, history and governance teachers, politicians and civil servants, and casual observers of federalism.