Policies

Jul

2024

Empowering communities, elevating lives through better governance

Abstract

Empowering local governments is pivotal for fostering democratic principles, accountability, and sustainable service provision. By bolstering sub-national structures, nations like Somalia advanced in state-building efforts, promoted peacebuilding, addressed societal disparities, and continues to strengthen the social contract. In Somalia, the significance of local governance cannot be overstated. It plays a pivotal role in stabilizing fragile contexts, fostering peace, driving economic progress, enhancing administrative efficiency, and ensuring social inclusion. Local governments are instrumental in upholding peace, stability, and establishing state legitimacy.

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Apr

2024

The EU Budget and its Conditionalities*

Abstract

Conditional grants are also often seen as an instrument to reduce constituent units’ policy autonomy in federal systems. Conditional grant programmes also play an important role in policy-making in the EU. Cohesion Policy as an example of an EU public policy which has experienced a significant rise in conditionality instruments over recent decades. However, their use is controversial, as not all member states are affected by the set conditions in the same way which may undermining solidarity. Especially in federal and decentralised countries the autonomy of constituent units has been progressively limited. The constituent units are the main beneficiaries of EU cohesion policy, but they are not involved in decision-making on conditionalities and cannot be held accountable for compliance with all of them.

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Apr

2023

Regional Identities: Promoting Dialogue and Unity in Diversity

Abstract

Different territorial identities sometimes lead to conflicts which annihilate the great wealth diverse identities have to offer. This paper classifies conflicts arising between actors sharing a country but not all identity markers and presents instruments and processes allowing to peacefully and productively deal with diverse regional identities. It offers a variety of venues allowing to improve dialogue and establishing a culture of consensus and cohesion.

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Nov

2020

Covid-19, the USA and the Generation of Constitutional Conflict

Abstract

The United States has responded ineffectively to the COVID-19 pandemic, raising questions about the capacity of contemporary American federalism to deal with crises. This article examines the scope of power granted to the federal government by the U.S. Constitution and the legislative power available to states under state constitutions, concluding that these powers are adequate to deal with the pandemic and other emergencies. It then considers whether having multiple governments confronting the crisis has precluded a coordinated response. Although scholars have highlighted cooperative federalism in the United States, cooperation is not automatic, and in recent years American political parties have become more ideologically cohesive and more polarized. Federalism has multiplied the opportunities for these parties to advance their objectives or to frustrate those of their adversaries in the overlapping domains in which both states and the federal government operate. The result has been uncooperative federalism.

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Sep

2020

Covid-19 and its Effects on the Federalism Initiative in the Philippines

Abstract

In the Philippines, the federalist initiative can be categorized as a relatively recent political project. The country has for the longest time adopted a strong central government that led to top-down governance. Critics have long pointed out that such concentration of power has led to the neglect of many areas in the country. The clamour was particularly loud especially from the southern part of the Philippines were a protracted civil war, essentially, arrested the development potential of a resource rich region. Recently, secessionist moves led by Islamic rebel groups have been toned down owing to a peace settlement signed under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III. The election of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in 2016 catalyzed the federalist movement in the Philippines. Under his administration, a consultative commission composed of leading public intellectuals was formed to draft a new constitution to replace the 1987 constitution that on paper, categorizes the country as a unitary state. The draft document christened the “Bayanihan” constitution was eventually submitted to Duterte for his consideration and eventual endorsement to the public (President Duterte receives proposed federal constitution of Consultative Committee – Presidential Communications Operations Office, 2020). Curiously, such expected strong support for this landmark document was not forthcoming owing perhaps to conditions which I will outline below.

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Sep

2020

Covid-19 and Federalism in India

Abstract

The pandemic due to novel corona-virus in the Indian federation is controlled in its initial stage through centralized institutional arrangements with synergistic relationships of all state governments. Public servants and security forces are responsible to enforce lockdowns. These arrangements, in the exit plan, need to gradually give way to the decentralized responsibilities of local governments including panchayats and municipalities. The contagion can only be prevented by changing human attitudes and behaviours. Local governments and community, closest to the residents, are best placed to bring this change and inculcate physical distancing on sustainable basis. Hence, the role of local governments must be prominent, at least, in the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

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Apr

2020

The Federalization of Trade Policy

Abstract

Sub-federal units increasingly engage in international trade politics, a policy domain that is an exclusive jurisdiction of the federal level in most federations. This article conceptualizes this process as an instance of federalization, that means a shift from a mode of governance in a policy domain previously dominated by the federal level towards a mode where both tiers are simultaneously active. While the federalization of trade policy seems to be a more general trend across federal systems, the patterns of sub-federal participation and, eventually, the power of sub-federal units to shape trade policy differ significantly. Building on insights from a collaborative research project, this article discusses the causes of sub-federal mobilization and how the institutional configuration of federalism affects sub-federal units’ options to influence trade policy agreements. In the final section, the article speculates about the conditions that may reinforce or undermine this trend in the future.

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Jul

2019

Language Policy in India: An Unstable Equilibrium?

Abstract

This article provides a short overview of language policy in India and situates this within a broader comparative perspective. It argues that India successfully managed to defuse linguistic conflict at the time of independence by combining elements of linguistic territoriality with the protection of linguistic minorities (personality) and the retention of English as an associate official link language. However, the article also shows how this ‘Indian’ middle way in language policy is currently being challenged by the rise of Hindi ‘majoritarian’ nationalism and the rise of regional (state) linguistic nationalism in response.

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Mar

2019

Examining Quebec-Canada Relations: A Case-Study of Health Care

Abstract

The original Constitution of Canada, the British North America Act of 1867 (BNAA), empowers two orders of government with clearly demarcated areas of legislative competences. The Quebec government has been keen, especially since the early 1960 with the advent of the Quiet Revolution, to occupy in full its own fields of jurisdictions and to stop Ottawa from intervening in provincial domains. This was often done through the use of an opting out clause that was made available to all provinces although, in the end, Quebec was the only one to make full use of it. This text presents a case study of the recent healthcare agreements between Quebec and the central government. It points out the different relations between the provinces in relation to health care, specifically that while all other provinces sought to find a compromise on health care agreements, Quebec was successful in having its constitutional competences recognized.

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Jan

2019

What Can Cannabis Legalisation Teach Us About Canadian Federalism?

Abstract

“Executive”, “Collaborative”, “Court”, “Conflicting” or “Judicial”, Canadian federalism is depicted in eclectic terms in the academic literature. Looking at cannabis legalization in Canada, this article aims to highlight what can be revealed from the policy-making process in a federal system in which a variety of actors and orders of government are involved. It appears from the analysis that there is no hegemony of style in Canadian federalism, but rather intertwined competing dynamics at stake in the making of a single public policy.

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