Comparative Federalism

The Constitution of Kenya of 2010 adopts a bicameral legislative structure, within a
devolved system of governance, consisting of the National Assembly and the Senate. In
keeping with the devolved structure of government, the Senate’s legislative mandate is to
a large extent confined to considering, debating and approving Bills concerning counties
as well as determining the allocation of national revenue among counties and providing
oversight over the national revenue allocated to the 47 county governments. Over the last
ten years, Kenya has witnessed a great consolidation of power by the National Assembly
at the expense of the Senate especially with regards to the roles of the chambers over the
process of enacting the Division of Revenue Bill. Such consolidation of power attempts
to relegate the Senate to a peripheral role within the bicameral legislative institutional
structure. Consequently, the Supreme Court has asserted its advisory power and the High
Court its judicial review power to mete out this inter-institutional conflict between the
National Assembly and the Senate. This paper interrogates the manner Kenyan courts
have discharged the contested role of serving as guardians of a legislative institution in
a conflict within the bicameral legislative system. It makes the point that while courts
have the authority to intervene in inter-cameral conflicts, judicial intervention should be
exercised as an option of last resort, only utilised after exhaustion of the constitutionally
ordained intra-parliament mediation process.

Este segundo trabajo de la "Serie Federalismo y Administración Pública" examina los modelos de gestión pública existentes en países federales.
En particular, se analiza el paso desde un modelo de "federalismo dual" a uno “cooperativo"; esto es, de un comportamiento aislado de los diferentes niveles estatales a otro que pone el énfasis en la articulación y el trabajo conjunto. A más de diferenciarlos, el presente trabajo compara sus potencialidades y amenazas, así como también realiza una primera aproximación a los distintos patrones de relación cooperativa en Argentina.

El nivel intermedio de gobierno en un estado garantiza la articulación de las funciones estatales entre el centro y la periferia, y su adecuada configuración requiere adecuarse a la realidad del estado en que se encuentra. Colombia vivió una época de federalismo durante el siglo XIX, garantizando una elevada autonomía a los Estados que lo componían. Desde la constitución de 1886 y en la actual configuración territorial de la constitución de 1991 el nivel intermedio (ahora denominado departamento) ha perdido importancia y sus competencias se han reducido considerablemente. Los autores que hacen parte de la presente publicación analizaron, desde distintas perspectivas, el nivel intermedio en Colombia. Se revisó desde la necesidad de profundización y fortalecimiento de la actual configuración por departamentos, pasando por la posibilidad de crear regiones, hasta la constitución de un estado federal, tal como el que se tuvo en el siglo XIX.

También se destacan los análisis hechos sobre la época histórica del federalismo en Colombia, el municipio en el posconflicto y las regiones metropolitanas colombianas. Por último, se acude a otros ordenamientos jurídicos, los de Alemania, Brasil, España e Italia, para conocer sus experiencias sobre su configuración actual del nivel intermedio. Los estudios que componen esta obra son el fruto del foro internacional “Colombia, ¿unitaria o federal?”, que se llevó a cabo en la universidad externado de Colombia los días 30 y 31 de mayo de 2013.

Like all other nations Nigeria aspires to greatness but over five decades after Independence still ranks very low on all parameters of good governance. The objective of the paper is to examine the concepts of leadership, participatory democracy and good governance, evaluate their significance as components of the development process and articulate the implications of their absence from the administration of public institutions. The paper argues that all three elements are missing from the development process in Nigeria. Systems Analysis or systems theory as enunciated by David Easton is adopted as the theoretical framework. Methodologically the study relies mainly on secondary historical sources of data collection. The paper is significant for its identification of the need for these concepts as guiding principles of the development process in Nigeria. The scope of the paper is Nigeria as a whole from Independence in 1960 till date. It draws the conclusion that Nigerians must insist...

By a chronological coincidence, this book intended to explain Spanish autonomous state to foreign readers is published in the year in which the Spanish autonomous state has become international news due to the great challenge it is facing from the Catalan independence forces that control the Government of that Autonomous Community. Throughout the book and especially in the section dedicated to the Concise description of subnational constitutional history, I have explained, in the most objective way I can, how this challenge is being dealt with legally.

Minority issues in Africa have surfaced in various dimensions affecting the socio-political landscape of the continent. The protection of minorities is without doubt crucial to securing sustainable peace, economic development as well as protection and enforcement of human rights. Even though domestic mechanisms of accommodating ethnic diversity play a decisive role in the protection of minorities, the African human rights regime is also important in the protection of minorities. The African Bill of Rights embodies numerous innovative provisions which can lend support to the various minorities in Africa. The groundbreaking decisions by the African Commission also add to the existing normative discourse on minorities, especially, those dealing with peoples' rights. However, there is still much to be desired for in extending normative and jurisprudential exercises to reach out to minority issues of all sorts.

The evolution of Russia's center-regional relations represents a unique political puzzle. At first glance, the country's territorial, cultural, and ethnic diversity may well lead to the emergence of a federal society. This should make federalism the most distinct and natural structural answer to the problem of territorial governance. 1 Yet, Russia's path towards federalism has proven to be difficult and tumultuous. It often seems that federalism is being almost subconsciously rejected by Russia at the cultural and socio-historic levels. This essay will examine Russia's socio-cultural, historical, and theo-philosophical relations to the original idea of federalism developed in the West, and will realize and understand the cultural and societal constraints that inhibit the successful entrenchment of Western-type federal structures in Russia. This article departs from the examination of the original federal thought developed during the Reformation era by focusing on its central idea of covenant. The discussion then proceeds to analyze the extent to which Russian Orthodox theology and the subsequent political thought addressed the same issues that led to the emergence of federal ideology and practice in the West. The essay argues that Russia developed some unique answers to the most fundamental questions posed by Western federal thought and theology. First, it denied the principles of covenant on moral ideological grounds. Second, it viewed liberty and authority in extreme, unlimited

Finding the appropriate balance between diversity and social cohesion is a common concern in constitutional design, particularly in societies divided along ethno-linguistic and religious lines. Constitution drafters have often addressed this quest through federalism: in fact, federal arrangements seek to facilitate a balance between unity and diversity to curb tensions typical of highly diverse societies.
Aside from designing the institutional architecture and power division within a state, constitutions are also repositories of shared values (...)

Argentina is a major producer of lithium, a vital mineral for making a transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy. Mining is concentrated in three Northwestern provinces, Catamarca, Jujuy, and Salta. Although they have shared historical roots, cultural traditions, socioeconomic profiles, and political institutions as provincial subnational units in a federal system, there is striking variation in how mining projects articulate with local indigenous communities. In some lithium mining projects, companies offered concessions that improved local socioeconomic indicators and mitigated environmental damage. In others, mining companies either made minimal concessions or, alternatively chose to halt projects, usually in response to organized local resistance. Why do lithium mining ventures result in negotiated, unnegotiated, or aborted extraction? The article proposes a typology of modes of extraction together with an explanatory framework that centers on the strengths and strategies of communities and subnational governments in setting the terms of mining.

Like all other nations Nigeria aspires to greatness but over five decades after Independence still ranks very low on all parameters of good governance. The objective of the paper is to examine the concepts of leadership, participatory democracy and good governance, evaluate their significance as components of the development process and articulate the implications of their absence from the administration of public institutions. The paper argues that all three elements are missing from the development process in Nigeria. Systems Analysis or systems theory as enunciated by David Easton is adopted as the theoretical framework. Methodologically the study relies mainly on secondary historical sources of data collection. The paper is significant for its identification of the need for these concepts as guiding principles of the development process in Nigeria. The scope of the paper is Nigeria as a whole from Independence in 1960 till date. It draws the conclusion that Nigerians must insist on good leadership, participatory or inclusive democracy and good governance from their leaders at all levels.

This article shows the demos-enabling elements of the Brazilian federal state by examining the decision-making process of 59 legislative initiatives regarding the taxes, policies and expenditures of subnational units submitted to the Brazilian Congress between 1989 and 2006. The combination of two political institutions – the federal government’s broad powers to make decisions on subnational matters (right to decide) and the majority principle for approving changes in the federal status quo empowers the center without diminishing the rights of subunits. It is not necessary to obtain supermajorities in numerous veto arenas in order to approve legislation
aimed at providing national goods, and regional minorities have few
opportunities for vetoing. The center is empowered, not weak.

With some exceptions, efforts to systematically apply a historical-institutionalist framework to the study of federalism have been few and far between. This paper argues, however, that historical institutionalism lends itself particularly well for addressing two important research questions in the field of comparative federalism: the origins of federal systems and their dynamics. It is suggested that a historical-institutionalist framework can significantly contribute to encourage theoretical cross-fertilization within the field of comparative federalism.

This article embraces comparative law to consider some of the moments that, in over 70 years, led from the granting to the revocation of the autonomy of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). It argues that the epilogue of this path, that is, the controversial move by the Indian Government on 5th August 2019, is not at all surprising, as often described. Rather, it represents only the last and foretold moment of the progressive erosion of Kashmir's federal asymmetry, crystallized in Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, and carried out by governments of different political colours, with the endorsement of the Supreme Court. Ultimately, the trajectory of J&K does not resemble that of Indian federalism, proving to be a different story important to be recorded.

This volume presents the first systematic comparative analysis of national traditions of local democracy across the developed world, as well as their origins and evolution. It reveals how inclusive local institutions that integrate national and local governance make democracy work better. Across most of the developed world, early forms of the national state entrenched the local power of elites. In Anglo-American and Swiss democracies, state formation imposed enduring tensions with local civic governance. In contrast, inclusive, integrative local institutions in Northern Europe enabled close links with central government around common local and national agendas, producing better governance and fuller democracy to the present day. Through comparative analysis, the authors demonstrate how institutions for local governance and the participation of civil society differ widely among developed democracies, and how local democracy relates to national democracy. The resulting insights fundamentally recast our understanding of how to build and maintain more effective democracies.

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the "Content") contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

This text proposes a reflection on the paths covered by some of the central topics of a republican framework regarding the organization of state powers and the very idea of ​​the national community. It focuses on a particular country, Portugal, but its context is deeply European and with current resonances.
Indeed, confederalism, federalism, regionalism, and municipalism were ideals that had gained prominence since the late nineteenth century, gradually being incorporated into the political projects of distinct political forces, both within republicanism and socialism, communism,  Integralismo Lusitano [Portuguese Integralism], and so on. .
We analyze the main programmatic contributions that tried to articulate two or more of these topics in order to reinforce political decentralization and propose a renewed idea of ​​the country, as well as the type of reception and incorporation by the political power, seeking to delimit the evolution of this relation and the weight of the different political conjunctures throughout nine hundred.
The delimitation of this complex and tortuous itinerary (given the frequent advances, setbacks and contradictions) also values ​​the correspondence between the interventions of political elites and their interaction with structures of civil society tuned to this question, such as regionalist associations and certain press.
One starts from the perspective that these collective impulses for the reinvention of a country summon a legacy that surpasses the strict political dimension, on the one hand; and which presuppose an autonomy between this dimension and the social and cultural dimensions by which energies have also been based, irrespective of the inevitable interactions and reciprocal influences, on the other hand.

RESUMO DESTE CAPíTULO:
Este texto propõe uma reflexão sobre os trilhos percorridos por alguns dos tópicos centrais dum quadro republicano quanto à organização dos poderes estatais e à própria ideia da comunidade nacional. Foca-se num determinado país, Portugal, mas o seu contexto é profundamente europeu e com ressonâncias actuais.
Com efeito, confederalismo, federalismo, regionalismo e municipalismo foram ideários que ganharam relevância desde finais de oitocentos, incorporando-se gradualmente nos projectos políticos de distintas forças políticas, tanto no seio do republicanismo como do socialismo, do comunismo, do Integralismo Lusitano, etc..
Analisam-se os principais contributos programáticos que intentaram articular dois ou mais destes tópicos no sentido de reforçar a descentralização política e propor uma ideia renovada de país, bem como o tipo de recepção e incorporação por parte do poder político, procurando delimitar a evolução desta relação e o peso das distintas conjunturas políticas ao longo de novecentos.
A delimitação deste itinerário complexo e tortuoso (dados os frequentes avanços, recuos e contradições) valoriza ainda a correspondência entre as intervenções das elites políticas e a sua interacção com estruturas da sociedade civil sintonizadas com esta questão, como seja o associativismo regionalista e certa imprensa.
Parte-se da perspectiva de que estes impulsos colectivos para a reinvenção de um país convocam um legado que supera a estrita dimensão política, por um lado; e que pressupõem uma autonomia entre esta dimensão e as dimensões sociais e culturais por onde também se escoraram as energias, independentemente das inevitáveis interacções e influências recíprocas, por outro lado.

Graduate work focused on role of South Africa’s upper parliamentary chamber, known as the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) after the creation of the most recent constitution in 1996, within the federal constitutional arrangements. More specifically, I am focusing on the distinction between the theoretical raison d’etre negotiated less than two decades ago, and the life of its own that the chamber took on, constrained by several factors, such as the one party dominance, and the nature of the electoral system, as well as the subordinate role of the NCOP to the lower chamber as entrenched in the constitution. I will thus also try to evaluate how successful the NCOP has been in performing the role(s) it was given by the constitutional negotiators in 1996, looking only if its practical attributions have mirrored the ones on paper, and not by normative or superlative comparisons/cases.

Much of the scholarly work on Brazilian federalism has long focused on the ways in which decentralization has produced institutional paralysis under intergovernmental conflict. This article, by contrast, suggests that Brazil has been under a gradual transformation since its democratization, which led to a recentralization of power in the hands of the federal government. It  presents a framework that explains how an initial decentralization process (1983–1994) turned into a centralization process (1995–2007) that ultimately increased the regulatory and coordination powers of the Brazilian federal government. In addition, the analysis shows that two main blocs of political parties competed to influence the sequence and speed of legislation related to the decentralization and centralization processes. Specifically, these parties used two competing temporal strategies – foot-dragging and pace-setting – to slow down or accelerate the approval of legislation regulating subnational autonomy. Once the centralizing bloc of parties enacted key legislation, they used fence-building to institutionalize intergovernmental relations, thereby consolidating the coordination powers of the center. The main contribution of this article is to advance a temporal approach to federal changes, which explains how the Brazilian federal government centralized authority under a decentralizing Constitution.

This is paperback edition of the 1999 book, unchanged except for a brief Epilogue dealing with Kosovo.  I still think this is the most detailed study of constitutionalism at the end  of Yugoslavia, and in the constitutional design of the successor Republics, and thus of constitutional nationalism, or state chauvinism.

En los Estados territorialmente descentralizados, como los Estados federales o el Estado autonómico español, la decisiva cuestión relativa al reparto del poder público entre la Federación o el Estado central y los estados miembros (Länder, cantones, etc.) o las Comunidades Autónomas se concreta en la distribución de las competencias entre aquellos y estos. La complejidad de su estudio aconseja diferenciar entre conceptos cercanos pero distintos (distribución y delimitación de competencias), así como entre los elementos integrantes del propio concepto de "competencia" (facultad y materia). De igual modo, interesa distinguir entre los distintos tipos competenciales que es posible encontrar en un mismo ordenamiento jurídico (competencias exclusivas, concurrentes, compartidas, horizontales o transversales y funcionales o por objetivos), los principios de integración de vacíos normativos y de resolución de conflictos de base competencial (supletoriedad y competencia frente a prevalencia) y las garantías jurídicas y políticas del propio orden federal o autonómico.

En el presente trabajo se pretende ofrecer una respuesta, necesariamente sucinta, a todos esos interrogantes desde una perspectiva comparada, con especial atención al Estado autonómico español, centrando también la mirada en la incidencia del proceso de integración europea sobre el sistema de ordenación competencial. Se concluye con una propuesta de reforma de la Constitución española con el fin de racionalizar el sistema de distribución y delimitación competencial.

Formát nášho príspevku nevyhnutne redukuje komplexné teoretické diskurzy na úroveň všeobecnej deskripcie. Preto uvádzame aspoň propedeutický prehľad. Našou ambíciou je venovať sa základným postulátom tradičných teórií medzinárodných vzťahov a zároveň poukázať na rozmanitosť kritiky implikácii ich premís na reálne procesy medzinárodnej poliky a politickej ekonómie globalneho systému čraz previazanejšej a zároveň neprehladnejšej konštelácii vzajomnej závislosti na rôznych rovinách skúmanej skutočosti.

El origen de este trabajo es indagar por qué dos países federales, con vasto territorio, similares formas de gobierno, con contemporáneos procesos de transición a la democracia, presentan muy disímiles modelos de sistemas de partidos. Mientras que en un país federal como Argentina encontramos un sistema de partidos bastante sólido e institucionalizado, en el Brasil la realidad es un pluripartidismo con una muy baja institucionalización. El objeto de este artículo es analizar concisamente las variables que inciden en el federalismo y en el sistema de partidos para poder contestar la pregunta central de este trabajo. Para ello se analizarán los siguientes aspectos:1) las diferencias entre el federalismo de Brasil y Argentina; 2) los diferentes sistemas electorales a nivel nacional para la cámara baja en ambos países; 3) El tipo de partidos que hay en cada caso nacional en base a su institucionalización y estructura interna; 4) Una recapitulación sobre el sistema de partidos. Finalmente, las conclusiones a las que se llegó tras el análisis de todos estos elementos tratarán de iluminar la cuestión y delinear perspectivas sobre estas temáticas.

Este capítulo 3 del libro coordonado par Ilan Bizberg sobre la diversidad de los capitalismos en America latina es un primer intento de corregir el sesgo que constituye la ausencia de un lugar dedicado a la naturaleza federal de los arreglos institucionales constitutivos del Estado en nuestro análisis de las trayectorias argentina, brasileña y mexicana. Con este fin toma como objeto el problema planteado por la construcción federal del Estado, construcción que tiene como rasgo característico esencial, en relación con los Estados unitarios, que las atribuciones políticas y administrativas son distribuidas entre diferentes niveles territoriales de poder, entre diferentes órdenes de gobierno a la vez independientes e interdependientes.

In many European countries are being held constitutional debates. The search for a broader form of participation of all social forces with a new, so-called governance, the struggle for autonomy, regionalism and federalism, they all have different organizational models, but all follow - each in its way - a common goal: citizens want to be able to identify with their community better, they want to find – in an increasing globalized world - a new identity and the ability to participate, at the regional level, on the decision making process, or - to illustrate it in an emotionally loaded term - find a new home.
Also in Italy are held debates on a constitutional reform for years. After the war the Italian Constitution has been inspired by a great democratic and social challenge. But the structure of the state is very centralized. There exist regions but their competences have always been poor in the past. The five special regions with an autonomous statute play a particular role - they enjoy far-reaching autonomies. They are exceptions in this system and have to struggle for their authority.  South Tyrol in particular had to fight a long time for its autonomy.
Since the early eighties Italy has worked hard on its system to improve the role of the regions. In 2001 the parliament succeeded in creating a constitutional reform. Its improvements are projected directly onto the special statutes. Further reforms are under way. The constitutional court takes up a rather centralized standpoint. Nevertheless, the new constitution has increased the autonomies in Italy. A lot of that has, however, not been achieved in South Tyrol's long-lasting struggle for autonomy. Italy is still a long way from being a federal state, but it has taken an important step in that direction. The beginnings of federalism in Italy have also improved the autonomy of the special regions and the autonomy of South Tyrol and Trentino.

Deutsche Zusammenfassung
Die Verf-Diskussionen um neue Forme n demokratischer Teilhabe, der lange Weg Italiens vom Zentralstaat zu zaghaften föderalen Ansätzen, die direkten Eingriffe in das formal unveränderte Autonomiestatut: In vielen Ländern Europas finden Verf-Diskussionen statt. Die Suche nach einer breiteren Form der Beteiligung aller gesellschaftlichen Kräfte mittels einer neuen, sogenannten Governance, das Ringen um Autonomie, um Regionalismus und Föderalismus, sie alle stellen unterschiedliche Organisationsmodelle dar. Sie verfolgen aber alle – jedes auf seine Art - ein gemeinsames Ziel: Die Bürger wollen sich mit ihrem Gemeinwesen besser identifizieren können, sie wollen in einer immer größeren, globalisierten Welt, eine neue Identität und Entfaltungsmöglichkeit auf regionaler Ebene finden, mitwirken und mitentscheiden können, oder  - um es mit einem gefühlsbeladenen Ausdruck zu verdeutlichen - eine neue Heimat finden.
Auch in Italien finden seit Jahrzehnten Debatten um eine Reform der Verf statt. Die italienische Verf ist von einem großen demokratischen und sozialen Auftrag beseelt. Der Staatsaufbau allerdings ist zentralistisch. Es sind Regionen vorgesehen. Diese hatten aber wenige Zuständigkeiten. Eine Sonderrolle nehmen die fünf Regionen mit Sonderstatut ein. Sie verfügen über weitreichende Autonomien. Sie sind Ausnahmen vom System und müssen um ihren Wirkungsbereich kämpfen. Besonders lange dauerte das Ringen um die Autonomie in Südtirol.
Seit Beginn der 80er Jahre bemüht sich Italien um mehr Föderalismus. Im Jahre 2001 gelang eine Verf-Reform. Diese projiziert die Besserstellungen auch in die Sonderstatute. Weitere Reformen sind im Gang. Der VfGH nimmt mit seinen Auslegungen eine eher zentralistische Haltung ein. Trotzdem hat die neue Verf-Ordnung für die Autonomien wesentliche Erweiterungen gebracht. In den schwierigen Verhandlungen um die Südtiroler Autonomie konnte vieles davon nicht erreicht werden. Italien ist zwar noch weit davon entfernt, ein Bundesstaat zu sein, hat aber einen wichtigen Schritt in diese Richtung gesetzt. Damit hat der föderalistische Ansatz, der sich in Italien durchsetzen konnte, auch die Autonomie der Sonderregionen und die Autonomie Südtirols und des Trentino wesentlich erweitert.
In seinem Buch „Südtirols Autonomie und die Verfassungsreformen Italiens“ analysiert Peterlini die Auswirkungen der Verfassungsreformen auf die Südtirol Autonomie und beschreibt die bisher ungeschriebenen, aber in der Tat erfolgten Änderungen am Südtiroler Autonomiestatut. Wenn wir heute das Büchlein „Das neue Autonomiestatut“ in die Hand nehmen, das das Landespresseamt herausgibt, ist der Inhalt zwar formal das Statut von 1972, entspricht aber nicht mehr der realen Autonomie – betonten die Redner bei der Buchvorstellung. Peterlini hat nun, wie mit einem Projektor die Verfassungsreform von 2001 und die Verfassungsurteile in das Statut hinein projiziert, die neuen Zuständigkeiten herauskristallisiert und ergänzt, genauso wie die neuen Verfahren für die Gesetzgebung des Südtiroler Landtages. Wer also das Autonomiestatut in seiner neuesten Fassung lesen will, auch das was nicht geschrieben steht, aber gültig ist, was praktisch hineinprojiziert  werden muss, findet im Buch Peterlinis die neueste Fassung der Autonomie, betonte Durnwalder.


Sintesi in Italiano
Il libro esamina il lungo cammino istituzionale e le riforme costituzionali in Italia e i loro riflessi sugli Statuti speciali e in particolare sull'autonomia dell'Alto Adige. Analizza le tappe più importanti dell’Italia da un assetto centralista verso un approccio con principi federali, gli effetti e le modifiche non scritte inserite di riflesso nello Statuto speciale del Trentino Alto Adige.
La Costituzione Italiana nell’enunciazione delle libertà fondamentali, dei diritti e doveri dei cittadini, nei rapporti etici - sociali, economici e politici e nella partecipazione agli organi istituzionali è ispirata da una grande missione democratica e sociale. Al contrario invece l’assetto istituzionale dello Stato come previsto dai Padri Costituenti nel 1948 aveva e ha bisogno di una modernizzazione per tenere il passo con gli Stati più avanzati. L’assetto era fortemente centralistico. Erano bensì previste le Regioni, però con poche attribuzioni e per lungo tempo non furono attuate.  Una posizione particolare rivestono le cinque Regioni a statuto speciale. Esse dispongono di un’ampia autonomia, ma rappresentano comunque un’eccezione all’interno del sistema e si trovano pertanto in una permanente situazione di conflitto con lo Stato centrale per la conservazione delle proprie competenze. Nel caso dell’Alto Adige/Südtirol questo conflitto è durato particolarmente a lungo.

Nel suo libro „Südtirols Autonomie und die Verfassungsreformen Italiens“ (L‘Autonomia dell‘Alto Adige e le riforme costituzionali in Italia) Peterlini illustra l'impatto delle riforme costituzionali sull'autonomia del Trentino Alto Adige e descrive le innovazioni nello Statuto, non ancora scritte, ma in realtà in vigore in base alle riforme costituzionali.0
“Se prendiamo in mano l’opuscolo “Il nuovo Statuto di autonomia”, edito dalla Provincia, troviamo che il contenuto rispecchia formalmente il testo dello Statuto del 1972, ma in verità non corrisponde all’autonomia reale” – sottolineò il Presidente Durnwalder. Peterlini pertanto irradiò come con un proiettore le innovazioni costituzionali e le sentenze della Corte nello Statuto, cristallizzando e aggiungendo le nuove competenze e procedure per la legislazione del Consiglio regionale e provinciale. Chi vuole leggere lo Statuto nella sua versione più attuale, anche quello che non è scritto ma è in vigore, trova nel libro di Peterlini lo Statuto in forma aggiornata, aggiunse Durnwalder.


Keywords:

Autonomie / Autonomiestatut / Föderalismus / Governance / Italien / Regionalismus / Regionen / Sonderstatut / Südtirol / Südtirol Paket / Trentino / Verf / Verfassungsreform / Zentralismus / Zuständigkeiten / Steuerföderalismus

Alto Adige / Autonomy / Autonomy Statute / Centralism / Competences / Constitution / Constitutional Reform / Federalism / Fiscal Federalism / Governance / Italy / Package for South Tyrol / Region / Regionalism / Special Statute / Special Autonomy / South-Tyrol / Trentino

Autonomia / Statuto di Autonomia / Statuto speciale / Federalismo / Governance / Italia / Regionalismo / Regionalismo / Statuto speciale Trentino Alto Adige / Alto Adige / Südtirol / Pacchetto / Trentino / Costituzione / Riforma costituzionale / Centralismo / Sussidiarietà / Federalismo fiscale

Author(s): Sharma, Chanchal Kumar | Abstract: This paper argues that in response to contemporary challenges, the federal governance structure in India requires fine-tuning. A directional shift is required from a cooperative model to a collaborative model of federal governance in view of various endogenous and exogenous imperatives of change, such as rising assertiveness of civil society; rising “self awareness” of regional and local political elites; globalization, privatization, and retreat of the central state; and increasing reliance of the national government on intergovernmental coordination mechanisms rather than centralized/hierarchical mechanisms for policy making and implementation. Thus, I reflect on the possibility of supplementing the federal practice in India (known for being “federal in form and unitary in spirit”) with collaborative institutions and deliberative processes to achieve policy coordination. Institutional reforms are required to generate the right incentiv...

This article contests the view of Spain as a federation based solely on the notion of the constitutionally entrenched devolution of powers through the rigidity of the national and regional constitutions. To that effect, the article looks at the broader system of the distribution of
competences from a legal perspective, an aspect which has been neglected in comparative studies on the nature of Spanish decentralization. The analysis concludes, firstly, that the powers of
autonomous communities are not enshrined in the same way as in federal models; secondly, that their Statutes of autonomy are not above the legislation of the central government; and, lastly, that the constitution is not rigid enough to prevent the intrusion from the centre on regional competences.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted governance. A strong intergovernmental response is critical for stemming the worst damage during the outset of a disaster. Collaborative planning with networks of constituent governments, medical experts, and emergency managers are needed to provide a holistic response to the highly technical and complex issues brought on by the novel coronavirus. This commentary highlights the differences in response by the United States and Australia, provides a comparison of intergovernmental relationships, and sheds light on how these federations vertical and horizontal collaborative efforts were stymied by politics or facilitated by existing intergovernmental forums.

While specialists in nationalism have paid a good deal of attention to central aspects of culture such as language and religion, they have paid remarkably little attention to that other aspect of culture around which nationalism so often coheres in the modern world, namely, sport. The enveloping and developing relationship between nationalism and sports has attracted the attention of academics, anthropologists, and sports fanatics from all over the world. This is precisely due to the global nature of competitive sports and its underlying roots in national identity.

This book addresses core issues concerning nations, states, nation-states and statenations. The authors identify the latter as the main functional alternatives to ‘nations-states’, although both must share the necessary condition of being ‘states’ if they are to work. Stepan, Linz and Yadav are themselves aware of the awkwardness of the term ‘state-nation’, which is meant to distinguish democratic states that do not—and cannot—fit appropriately into the classic French-style Jacobin model of forged homogeneity. India is a case in point which serves the purpose of illustrating a proposal of a set of seven policy domains that the authors regard as highly supportive for the crafting of state-nations. Such policies are synthetically proposed in direct and parsimonious phrases composing a ‘nest policy grammar’ aimed at facilitating the emergence and persistence of state-nations.