Federalism

Concept and Meaning

100

Describe the contextual relationship between the American colonies and British Empire that influenced and shaped the Federalist and the anti-federalist debate?

• The British were not opposed to the constitutional and political experimentation and adjustment when it was deemed necessary to maintain the order, stability, and integrity of the state. • Nor were the English averse to various forms of constitutional innovation in order to maintain the integrity of the empire. • There was a clear division between central and local powers, even though the latter powers are delegated and theoretically revocable. So, even though the English could at any time take away the political systems in the American colonies, the two co-existed. • Three levels of political relationships • Colonies were a collection of towns or counties, rather than a single, undifferentiated entity. • As long as local governances didn’t conflict with the laws of the English Parliament, it was encouraged. • American colonies had been existing in this way for 150+ years • Protoconstitutions

200

Compare and contrast key elements in federal principles versus parliamentary traditions of responsible government.

• Parliamentary tradition is rooted to concepts of order and stability. It’s manifested by a blend of executive and legislative powers. • Federal government principal goal is based on territorial dispersion of power that emphasis on dividing and sharing powers and competences between different parts of polity.

300

How far can federations successfully reconcile competing national visions and aspirations?

Considerations: Belgium and Russia both adopted fully fledged federal system in the early 1990s; Spain adopted federal arrangements since 1978; and South Africa did too. • So it is possible, to expect that multinational countries to adopt federal systems Differentiating between multicultural vs. multi-national countries. Case in point, Canada. To talk about multicultural issues in Canada is no longer the same as talking about multinationalism in the same state. Limitations of federations –-> no panacea for the problem of relative autonomy and self-determination sought by distinct, self-conscious nations living together. • Nigeria • Malaya • Central African Federation • West Indies Federation • Yugoslavia • Czechoslovakia • Soviet Union

Comparative Analysis

100

What are the Four Development Models, and what are some relationships between them?

*American Federal Model *German Federation Model *Westminster Model *Swiss Model *Some relationships are that the concept of representation is parallel with the representation of individuals. The concept of sovereignty in the Continental European federal tradition is identified with the state, in the US with the sovereignty of the people in the written constitution, and in the Westminster model in Parliament.

200

What is the relationship between political parties and federations?

The structure of parties parallels the structure of federations. When parties are centralized, so is the federation. When they are relatively decentralized, the federation is also decentralized.

300

What is Tarlton’s Theoretical Speculation in reference to symmetry and asymmetry, and what is one of his four principal objections to his ‘theoretical speculations?’

*Tarlton’s theoretical speculation referred to symmetry as “the extent to which component states share in the conditions and thereby the concerns more or less common to the federal system as a whole.” *In opposition, Tarlton states the concept of asymmetry expressed the extent to which component states do not share in the conditions and concerns common to the federal system as a whole. *One of his four principal objections to his ‘theoretical speculations’ is: Tarlton asserted that ‘the degree of harmony or conflict within a federal system can be thought of as a function of the symmetrical or asymmetrical pattern prevailing within the system’.

Lessons of Experience

100

Given that we live in a globalized world and that foreign events can impact domestic discourse, is there any foreseeable effect on federal institutions given this near instant creation of political linkages and global community?

The answer isn’t definitive but their impact on local communities and media seem to create a sense of belonging and solidarity with various movements, one can argue that with enough support garnered, groups can pressure local and higher level politics to at least address international events and concerns.

200

Burgess deals with the ways in which federal coalitions are vulnerable to particular types of rebellion, specifically secession. Do you feel that the devolved authority of federal coalitions is a weakness or a strength, and why?

...Alex?

300

Keeping in mind the federal models in the US/India/Canada/Brazil and the “new” federal model of the EU, do you think that North America can recreate a body resembling the European model?

Highly unlikely, NA is more likely to continue entering trade or economic agreements than establish over arching supranational institutions

Decentralization & Comparative Federalism

100

Is there reliable cross-national data on decentralization and federalism? If there's not than why?

It's scarce, because reliable cross-national data on decentralization and federalism is tangled among the political, fiscal and policy autonomy affecting deficits, inflation and macroeconomic stability, i.e. endogenous fiscal decentralization (y affecting x, not x affecting y).

200

Does decentralization enhance the independent authority of state and municipal governments?

No, decentralization often creates a more complex. inefficient, tangled form of governance that barely resembles decentralization in ways of improving data collection, theory and connecting the links between state and municipal governments together.

300

What is decentralization and what are the three measurements used to define it?

Decentralization is a shift away from central governments and towards local governments. The three measurements used to define it are fiscal decentralization (focus on balance of expenditures and revenues between governments), policy decentralization (difficult to measure) , and political decentralization (tracking regional and local elections over time).

Mystery Category

100

What are the 5 principle bases for studying comparative federalism?

The structure of federations · The sociological bases of federations · Political economy · Political parties and party systems · Constitutional reform and judicial law

200

Looking at the American federal experience, explain how federation (federalist) and confederation (anti-federalist) influenced federalism. Were there any flaws identified with either of the two types of unions?

• Confederation: Membership is voluntary. • Anti-federalist were united by the fear of the loss of liberty. • They firmly believed in a republican government need for a bill of rights, opposition to unlimited taxing power, fear of mob violence, disorder and anarchy, anxieties about standing armies in peacetime and a consistent skepticism about consolidated government. • Flaws argued by Edmund Randolph • Federation: Membership is not voluntary. • Federation is described as a consolidated form of union or compound republic whose national characteristics were expected ultimately to be predominating. • The federalist created the basis for a new state or a federation. They moved away from the idea of a union of states (based on confederation principals) and towards the concept of a single national state. • A federation implied that the laws of national government operated directly upon the persons and property of individuals rather than solely on the constituent states as they would in a confederation. • A federation became established by bargaining between prospective national leaders and officials of constituent governments for the purpose of aggregating territory to better lay taxes and raise armies. • A federal criteria • Influence on federalism: The term “federalism” was the middle term between confederal and national government because it modified and then combined the best characteristics of the two forms of government. • Federalism was characteristic as a cluster of different techniques used to try to establish and maintain a particular kind of balance or equilibrium between to levels of government. • We now have a unique principal that encompasses both federal and national features. • It is important to note that the ideas supported by the anti-federalists have long been retained in American politics. • The modern federalist with the American Constitution did not replace the Articles instead they helped evolved it.

300

According to Michael Burgess, why do federations emerge?

To structure and institutionalize differences and diversity. Or to accommodate and reconcile different forms of unity with different forms of diversity.

400

Federation in the formal sense of a particular kind of liberal democratic state that embraces and celebrates social diversity via constitutional entrenchment, together with federal-types arrangements in formally non-federal states are likely to be the most successful?

Very few states that are multinational in their composition are multinational in their functioning • Canada is a multinational society but is neither organized nor functions as a multinational state. It is a multinational society in a bilingual, multicultural federation • Switzerland: neither multinational society nor a multinational state. Is therefore a multicultural, multilingual federation