1. Federal and Unitary Systems Territorial Representation in Democratic Systems February 9 th, 2006

2. Organizing Territory what is good about small, unitary governments  close to the people  can represent specific needs of specific area and groups (linguistic/ethnic) that live within those areas what is good about large, unitary government?  may be more effective common security integrated economy  may protect against domination of minorities by majorities

3. Options for Organizing Territory Confederation Large Unitary Gov’t Federalism Small Unitary Gov’ts Unitary Government: may have different levels of government; however, subordinate governments exist at the behest of the central government Confederation: sovereign governments band together and delegate certain powers to a central government; constituent governments retain the right to rescind this grant of power; central government exists at the behest of constituent units Federal Government: has two orders of government which are legally independent from one another and sovereign within their respective spheres of jurisdiction; neither exists at the behest of the other and neither can take power away from the other

4. Federalism 24 federations of 180 sovereign states  40% of world population

5. Options for Organizing Territory Confederation Unitary Gov’t Federalism European Union (EU) Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, US, Venezuela France United Kingdom Italy

6. Federalism – What is It? main elements  two orders of government  NOT levels of government  division of powers  constitutional grant of powers and jurisdiction to each order of government  judicial review  court adjudicates between the two orders of government

7. Federalism – Why? always about representing territorially-based interests that would not be adequately represented in a unitary system while enjoying benefits of larger system

8. Federalism – Variants centralized and decentralized federalism

9. Level of Centralization (Confederation) Large Unitary Gov’t Federalism Decentralized Federation Centralized Federation Small Unitary Gov’ts

10. Level of Centralization Decentralized Federation Centralized Federation Canada Switzerland Australia Germany United States Malaysia

11. Level of Centralization (Confederation) Large Unitary Gov’t Federalism Decentralized Federation Centralized Federation US 2002 Small Unitary Gov’ts US 1789 Canada 2002Canada 1867

12. Federalism and Political Power federalism is not neutral emphasizes the representation of territorially-based interests (often ethnic, religious, linguistic) while de-emphasizing those that are not (e.g. class, gender)  overlapping cleavages are organized into politics and cross-cutting cleavages are organized out  overlapping cleavages (Canada) regional economic disparities linguistic cleavages

13. Federalism and Democracy  liberal democrats  prefer federalism in and of itself... protects against the domination of minorities by majorities (by creating a larger political community in which every group is a minority in some respect) fragments government power – making it more difficult for gov’t to act and limiting government  elite democrats  prefer federalism to the degree it is effective – e.g. does it deliver in terms of furthering the general welfare e.g. more effective than small unitary gov’ts in providing common defence, strong economy, etc. contributes to social stability by encouraging negotiation of divisive issues behind closed doors among political elites may be concerned if federalism is inefficient or limits the ability of the state to pursue the general welfare  majoritarian democrats  would like federalism only to the degree that it allows decision-making to be closer to “the people” than a large unitary gov’t would be (probably would prefer smaller, unitary government)  concerns about federalism fragmenting of governmental power (limiting the ability of the state to pursue the general welfare) would be concerned about the “democratic deficit” –e.g. executive federalism (Canada) – important decisions made between federal- provincial leaders behind closed doors

14. Institutions and Political Power institutions are never neutral  confer advantage on certain groups/interests  organize certain issues into politics and others out of politics institutions are stable but are capable of change (very slowly) institutions are contested – they are the object of political competition  non-dominant groups can challenge institutional arrangements in order to shift the balance of power those insitutions represent and reinforce  institutions and vested interests will resist change (people with power do not give it up willingly!)  existing institutions provide the terrain on which these challenges must take place (e.g. they have home court advantage!) institutions and political participation  this contestation (attempts to shift power relationships in society) takes place through political participation  the resulting political competition takes place within the context of existing political institutions