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FEDERALISM: WHAT IS IT?

Forum of Federations

An Intensive Course on Democratic Federalism

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OVERVIEW

Federalism in context

Federalism: What is it?

Federalism: What is it not?

Decentralized political systems

Some features of federalism

When does federalism make sense?

The critique of federalism

Defence of federalism

Concluding observations

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FEDERALISM IN CONTEXT

Globalization

Multiple governments; multiple identities

Rapid political change

25 federations

40% of the worlds population (2 billion people)

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WHAT IS IT?

Constitutional government: shared rule and self rule

Two orders of government, both relating directly to citizens

Distribution of power and revenue sources between the twoorders of government

Representation of regions in the centre, often in an upperhouse

Basic rules normally amendable only with consent ofconstituent units

Umpire to settle disputes courts or referendums

Intergovernmental relations for overlapping concerns

Within this framework, great variety

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FEDERALISM: WHAT IS IT NOT?

It is not unitary government, where sovereignty is

concentrated in the central government

It is not confederal government, where sovereigntyis retained by the associated states

It is federal government, where sovereignty is shared

between the two orders of government

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DECENTRALIZED SYSTEMS

Decentralized unitary states

Quasi-federal systems

Federations

Confederal arrangements

Mixed systems

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SOME FEATURES OF FEDERALISM

A Matter of choice, mutual agreement

The Result of compromise

The Requirement of balance and restraint

A Pragmatic arrangement

A Highly contemporary form of government

A Highly diverse form of government

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WHEN DOES FEDERALISM MAKE SENSE?

In very large countries

When accommodating history, tradition and local

loyalties as new states are being formed

When accommodating significant ethnic, cultural,

linguistic or religious differentiation in existing

states

When there is a mix of these factors

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THE CRITIQUE OF FEDERALISM

Complex, slow to change, tolerates unevendevelopment and regional inequality, duplicatesfunctions and services

The allocation of responsibilities and resources totwo orders of government is difficult

Thought to be an expensive system of government

Minorities within minorities problem

Unstable: A halfway house en route to secession

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DEFENCE OF FEDERALISM

Helps to establish peace and security, construct commonvalues, and foster pluralist democracy

Protects and moderates human diversity

Losers at the national level can become winners at theregional level

Increases political participation, with multiple access points;greater choice

Encourages experimentation

Brings government closer to the people, fosters responsiveadministration

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CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS

No magic bullet. Federalism by itself is not TheAnswer

Federal government is constitutionalgovernment

For countries in crisis, federalism is often the leastbad option better than any of the alternatives thatpresent themselves. Everyones second choice.

Federalism is typically built on hard-woncompromise, where no party is in a position to winabsolute victory