New Directions in Federalism Studies

by Erk; Jan

• ISBN13: 9780415548441
• ISBN10: 0415548446
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-01-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Federalism has experienced a remarkable renaissance in recent decades as an alternative way to accommodate ethnic differences; as a tool to combat remote, undemocratic and ineffective central governments; and lastly, as a means to promote economic performance in the developing world through decentralisation. This book seeks to bring different aspects and perspectives of federalism studies closer together, by providing an analytical framework which transcends the sub-fields and encourages contributors to look beyond the comfort zones of their own disciplinary approaches to the topic. The authors seek to achieve this aim by structuring the contributions around four dimensions federalism studies: the development and design of federal institutions; federalism and democratic participation, representation and accountability; federalism and the accommodation of territorially-based ethnic, cultural and linguistic differences; federalism and public policy. With a strong comparative framework, New Directions in Federalism Studieswill be of interest to students and scholars of Federalism, Government, Regionalism, and Multi-level Governance. It will also offer insights of relevance to Comparative Politics, Public Policy, Public Administration, Nationalism, and West European Politics.

Table of Contents

The New Wave of Federalism Studies: an Analytical Framework

The Design of Federal Institutions

Understanding Federal Change: Types of Federalism and Institutional Evolution in the Spanish and German Federal Systems

More Courageous than Expected? The 2006 Reform of German Federalism

'Patronage-Preserving' Federalism? Legislative 'Malapportionment' and Subnational Fiscal Policies

Federalism, Democracy and Accountability

Maintaining Democracy in Mature Federations: Addressing Subunit Capture of National Policy in Comparative Perspective

Electoral Patterns in Federal Countries: Moderating in the case of Spain

Party Politics in Multi-level Systems: Party Responses to New Challenges in European Democracies

Federalism and conflict-management

Toward a Resolution of the Paradox of Federalism

Federalism and Ethnic Conflict Management: Rival Hypotheses, the Attitudinal Missing Link and Comparative Evidence

Federalism and Public Policy

The Distinct Effects of Federalism and Decentralisation on Performance

How, informal intergovernmental relations shape coordination and policy outcomes in a softly Europeanized setting

Self-enforcing fiscal federalism: Germany, Australia and Switzerland Compared

How does Federalism Matter? An Actor centred Approach

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