Federalism

Covenant and Myth: Can Reformed Theology Survive without Adam and Eve

by Karl Hand

Australian eJournal of Theology Vol 19, No 1 (2012)

Reformed theology is a diverse movement, and has found many ways to interact with the presence of mythical stories in... more Reformed theology is a diverse movement, and has found many ways to interact with the presence of mythical stories in scripture. There is a strong tendency, however, to draw a 'line in the sand' at the historical existence of Adam because of the function that he plays in the history of the covenants - particularly the 'covenant of works'. This article problematises that line by suggesting that it is possible to build an authentically Reformed and covenantal theology without a historical Adam.

Gobernadores vs. Organizaciones: Política social y Federalismo durante los gobiernos de Néstor Kirchner y Cristina Fernández

by Lorena Moscovich

Borrador/draft

'“Of its essence a great mistake”', Ideas@The Centre, vol. 3, no. 11, March 2012.

by Benjamin Herscovitch

Invisible Federalism and the Electoral College

by Derek Muller

draft, to be published in 44 Arizona St. L.J. __ (forthcoming 2012)

What role do States have when the Electoral College disappears? With the enactment of the National Popular Vote on the... more What role do States have when the Electoral College disappears? With the enactment of the National Popular Vote on the horizon and an imminent presidential election in which a nationwide popular vote determines the winner, States would continue to do what they have done for hundreds of years — administer elections. The Constitution empowers States to decide who votes for president, and States choose who qualifies to vote based on factors like age or felon status. This power of States, a kind of “invisible federalism,” is all but ignored in Electoral College reform efforts. In fact, the power of the States to distinguish between voters and non-voters precludes reform.

Such barriers to reform are both theoretical and practical. Theoretical because the Constitution is committed to a government in which the president represents all citizens of the States, voters and non-voters alike — and the maxim “one person, one vote” reinforces the notion that the president represents voters and non-voters. And the United States is not a single constituency in which one ignores States borders, but a number of smaller constituencies administering elections and determining voter eligibility. Practical because State decisions to enfranchise or disenfranchise a group of voters would no longer affect just that State, but would affect the national total — and States would have an incentive to manipulate voter eligibility laws to affect interstate vote totals. States would lower the voting age, disenfranchise felons, or redefine mental illness in order to add or subtract votes from a national vote tally. And any efforts to create a uniform federal standard for voting would stifle potential expansion of enfranchisement and inevitably disenfranchise some citizens who, today, have the right to vote. Presidential elections need States to continue to decide who votes, which precludes Electoral College reform.

Увидеть союз иначе. Альтернативный проект объединения советских республик (1919 г.)

by Serhiy Hirik

This paper was presented at the conference "Constructing the Soviet? - 2012" (the European University at St.-Petersburg, April 20-21, 2012) and published in the collection of its materials). Конструируя "советское"? Политическое сознание, повседневные практики, новые идентичности. Материалы научной конференции студентов и аспирантов (20-21 апреля 2012 года, Санкт-Петербург). - СПб: Издательство Европейского университета в Санкт-Петербурге, 2012. - С.33-38.

The Fall and Rise of Regionalism?

by Paul Goode

Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics 26, no. 2 (2010): 233 - 56.

The centralization of power and the decline of regionalism were two of Vladimir Putin's principal achievements during... more The centralization of power and the decline of regionalism were two of Vladimir Putin's principal achievements during his presidency. These achievements are now threatened by the global financial crisis, which weakens the Russian central state and widens existing divisions between the centre and the regions. While the crisis does not portend a revival of a 1990s-style regionalism, it exposes the Kremlin's over-centralization of power in the form of stress within the ruling party, United Russia, and rising internal defections among regional elites. As a result, the regime is increasingly vulnerable to social protest and its potential transformation into anti-regime nationalism.

The Puzzle of Putin's Gubernatorial Appointments

by Paul Goode

Europe-Asia Studies 59, no. 3 (2007): 365-99.

This article confronts the puzzles at the heart of Vladimir Putin’s decision to eliminate Russia’s gubernatorial... more This article confronts the puzzles at the heart of Vladimir Putin’s decision to eliminate Russia’s gubernatorial elections: specifically, the lack of resistance among the regions to Putin’s proposal, and the relative ease and speed with which electoral institutions were dismantled. It considers explanations at the central and regional levels, revealing that the Kremlin engaged regional interests and incentives to make the system of appointments seem appealing. After considering competing accounts of Putin’s objectives, analysis then focuses on the Kremlin’s revival of Soviet-era institutional practices as serving
to make the elimination of gubernatorial elections seemingly inevitable while rendering compliance as obligatory.

The Push for Regional Enlargement in Putin's Russia

by Paul Goode

Post-Soviet Affairs 20, no. 3 (2004): 219-57.

A political scientist investigates the trajectory of Russian center-regional relations from the early 1990s to the... more A political scientist investigates the trajectory of Russian center-regional relations from the early 1990s to the present. A wide range of sources including interviews and the national and the regional press are used to delineate and compare processes of regional enlargement in Perm and Tyumen oblasts. This comparison is employed to examine the direction of new Russian federalism and related issues: variance in forms of regional integration, the center's ability to shape politics in the regions, and the relationships of regional elites with the center. Examination of how enlargement processes have unfolded in the Russian Federation is used to consider broader issues of borders as indicators of the state's capacity, identity, and legitimacy.

Von Bogdandy’s ‘Reverse Solange’: Some Criticism of an Important Proposal

by Dimitry Kochenov

http://verfassungsblog.de/rescue-package-fundamental-rights-comments-dimitry-kochenov/

This brief contribution appeared in the Verfassungsblog in February 2012 in reaction to an important article published... more This brief contribution appeared in the Verfassungsblog in February 2012 in reaction to an important article published by Armin von Bogdandy et al. in 49 CMLRev., 2012, 489. While the approach taken by von Bogdandy is very fascinating and innovative, it can also be criticized on a number of grounds, including, inter alia, the presumption that Solange was good enough to be worth copying, that an approach designed for giving up power is likely to be effective in the context of acquiring new jurisdiction, and that abstract human rights protection at the most general level will actually change the situation where concrete rights are violated on the ground. The rich article by von Bogdandy et al. is an important starting point for a fundamental debate on the scope of the EU’s human rights jurisdiction which is long overdue and is becoming particularly acute in the light of the recent case-law of the CJEU, where the Court is using EU citizenship rights to claim jurisdiction and activate EU law in the fields previously deemed to be outwith EU’s reach.

Can Mexico produce Sustainable Cities? The Effect of Municipal Capacity on implementing Local Adaptation Policies

by Heidi Jane Smith

Internal Unit Demarcation and National Identity: India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka

by Swarna Rajagopalan

Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, Volume 5:3-4, Fall and Winter 1999, pp.191-211. (Special journal issue reprinted as William Safran and Ramon Maiz, eds., Identity and Territorial Autonomy in Plural Societies, Frank Cass, London and Portland, Oregon, 2000.

(2012) Evaluación de políticas en contextos de gobierno multinivel: los determinantes de la (in)satisfacción con las políticas de bienestar en las Comunidades Autónomas [Policy evaluation in multilevel contexts: determinants of citizen (dis)satisfaction with welfare policies in Spanish regional governments)

by Eloisa del Pino

Autores JOSE M. DIAZ-PULIDO (URJC), ELOISA DEL PINO(CSIC-IPP) y PAU PALOP (UV)
En: Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas, 139.

There is a growing interest in researching the performance of public policies with a regional perspective. Indicators... more There is a growing interest in researching the performance of public policies with a regional perspective. Indicators based in the citizen assessment of public services that enable territorial comparisons are not frequently available. However, these indicators can be very useful, especially in decentralized States. But, what reflects the citizen (dis)satisfaction with the public policies? Specifically, what factors explain the different degrees of satisfaction between the different territories? Can it be due, for example, to the different demographic composition or to the different socioeconomic characteristics of the territories? Is it possible to believe that these differences are due to the different patterns of organization and management of policies? Here we examine the satisfaction of the Spaniards with three policies: education, health care (whose competencies fall upon the Autonomous Communities) and pensions (that remains a primary responsibility of the Government of Spain). The study uses a survey carried out in 2009 representative in the regional level. The main findings show there are differences in the degree of satisfaction with these three policies between Autonomous Communities, especially in the cases where autonomic governments hold the main responsibility. The differences between the degrees of satisfaction still remain, though reduced, even after controlling for individual variables and other context variables (socioeconomic variables) effects. These findings show that, despite its difficulty, researching the extent to which different degrees of satisfaction are due to the effects of differences in patterns of organization and management of education and health may be promising.

The Europeanisation of Intergovernmental Cooperation and Conflict Resolution In Belgium: The Case of Agriculture

by Tom Delreux

Beyers J., Delreux T., Steensels C. (2004), 'The Europeanisation of Intergovernmental Cooperation and Conflict Resolution In Belgium: The Case of Agriculture' in Perspectives on European Politics and Society, 5(1): p. 103-134.

(2011) National and Subnational Democracy in Spain: History, Models and Challenges

by Eloisa del Pino

A version of this working paper is published as “Spain: Strong Regional Government and the Limits of Local Decentralization”, in The Oxford Handbook of Subnational Democracy in Europe, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2010 (WITH CESAR COLINO)

Democracy in Spain is embedded in a typical configuration of institutional elements characteristic of the Spanish... more Democracy in Spain is embedded in a typical configuration of institutional elements characteristic of the Spanish state organization and culture that have been determined by its particular political history, but are comparable to other European states. However, it is not easy to categorize Spain clearly into a single state tradition model. Recent transformations have meant a complete redistribution of power and a rescaling of the traditional Spanish state institutions. The Spanish model of subnational democracy has evolved parallel to the consolidation of the first successful experience of liberal democracy occurred at the national level during the last thirty years. Democracy at the subnational level has been influenced by the state tradition, but at the same time has transformed its structure and the behaviour of political actors from a consensual towards a more majoritarian model. This has been done alongside far-reaching decentralization and the emergence of particular regional democratic institutions, party systems, welfare state policies and the recovering of local self-government.
Pdf:

Politics Below the Surface: Regime Change and Subnational Politics in Mexico

by Reynaldo Rojo-Mendoza

M.A. Thesis, San Diego State University, 2008.

In this thesis, I blend the focus of the study of Mexican politics at the national level with consideration of... more In this thesis, I blend the focus of the study of Mexican politics at the national level with consideration of political change at the subnational level. My particular objective is to situate Mexico’s democratic regime change in a local context to explain the development of subnational democracy, or conversely, the persistence of subnational authoritarianism. Assuming that a change of regime from authoritarianism to democracy has taken place at the national level, under what conditions do non-democratic political practices (similar to those of the prior authoritarian regime) persist at the subnational level? Under what conditions do non-democratic political practices yield to democratic ones (similar to those of the new democratic regime) at the subnational level? This thesis answers these important questions by looking at the dynamics of democratization in the states of San Luis Potosí and Oaxaca before, during, and after Mexico experienced a change of political regime from authoritarianism to democracy at the national level.

“A Tenor of Discontent: Calhoun and His Critics.”

by Lee Cheek

“A Tenor of Discontent: Calhoun and His Critics.”  Telos, Number 118 (March 2001).

The Court of Justice of the European Union: Federalizing Actor in a Multilevel System

by Martin Vihrenov Manolov

Achim Hurrelmann, Martin Manolov, The Federal Dimensions of Reforming the Supreme Court of Canada, Working Paper Series, Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, Queens University, 2011

Global Democracy

by Raffaele Marchetti

2010. in R.Denemark (ed.) ISA Compendium Project-Section on International Ethics, New York: Blackwell, 3007-3023

A step towards inclusive federalism in Pakistan. The Politics of the 18th Amendment

by Katharine Adeney

Currently available from Publius: The Journal of Federalism as part of their Online Early publication. Expected to be published in hard copy later in 2012. The link to the publishers website gives you free access to the PDF version.

Pakistan’s federal structures have been the subject of controversy since independence. Longstanding demands for change... more Pakistan’s federal structures have been the subject of controversy since independence. Longstanding demands for change have been made, particularly changes to the vertical and horizontal division of resources and demands for a reorganization of provinces along ethno-linguistic lines.
The 18th Constitutional Amendment of 2010 introduced major changes to the federal system, agreed by consensus. But have these changes gone far enough? This article analyses the changes that were made, engaging with debates concerning the wisdom of creating ethnofederal units, dividing core groups, as well as the optimal number of units. It concludes that while major changes have been made, they have not yet gone far enough. The diversity of Pakistan should be seen as a source of federal strength rather than as a weakness.

‘Land grab’ as development strategy? The political economy of agricultural investment in Ethiopia

by Tom Lavers

Published in the Journal of Peasant Studies (free access)

This paper examines the domestic political economy of so-called ‘land-grabbing’ in Ethiopia, assessing the motivations... more This paper examines the domestic political economy of so-called ‘land-grabbing’ in Ethiopia, assessing the motivations of the Ethiopian government, which has strongly promoted foreign agricultural investment. The paper draws on a unique set of federal and regional databases detailing foreign and domestic investments in Ethiopia to analyse the likely role investment will play in the Ethiopian economy and the areas which have been targeted for investment. The analysis identifies increased foreign exchange earnings as the main likely contribution of investment but in doing so highlights concerns for food security in Ethiopia, as the goal of national self-sufficiency has given way to a risky trade-based food security strategy. The paper also argues that the federal government's attempts to direct investment to sparsely-populated lowlands have important implications for the ethnic self-determination that is a key tenet of Ethiopia's federal system.