The Value of Comparative Federalism

Nico Steytler is Professor of Public Law, Dullah Omar Institute, University of the Western Cape, South Africa, and South African Research Chair in Multilevel Government, Law and Development. He is a former member of the Financial and Fiscal Commission, and former President of the International Association of Centres for Federal Studies. He has published widely on federalism, including Decentralisation and Constitutionalism in Africa (2019, co-edited); Concurrent Powers in Federal Systems: Meaning, Making, Managing (2017, edited); Local Government Law of South Africa (2019, co-authored); and Kenyan-South African Dialogue on Devolution (2015). Balveer Arora is Chairman, Centre for Multilevel Federalism, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi, India, and former Professor of Political Science, Centre for Political Studies, and former Rector and Pro Vice-Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. He has been Visiting Professor at Sciences Po, Paris; École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris; Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH), Paris; and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. He is Officer in the Order of Academic Laurels (France) and Chevalier of the Legion of Honour (France). Among his publications are the coedited volumes Federalism in India: Origins and Development (1992); Multiple Identities in a Single State: Indian Federalism in Comparative Perspective (1995); Changing Role of the All-India Services (2000); and Transforming India: Socio-Political Dynamics of Democracy (2000). Rekha Saxena is Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India; Honorary Vice-Chairperson of the Centre for Multilevel Federalism at New Delhi; and Honorary Senior Advisor to the Forum of Federations, Ottawa, Canada. Her publications include Varieties of Federal Governance: Major Contemporary Models (edited 2011), Mapping Canadian Federalism for India (edited 2002), Situating Federalism: Mechanisms of Intergovernmental Relations in Canada and India (authored 2006), India at the Polls: Parliamentary Elections in the Federal Phase (co-authored 2003), Indian Politics: Constitutional Design and Institutional Functioning (co-authored 2011) and Federalizing India in the Age of Globalization (co-authored 2013), Indian Parliament: The Changing Landscape (co-edited 2014), and The Indian Judiciary: The Changing Landscape (co-edited 2007).

Foreword. Preface 1. Introduction 2. Ronald L. Watts: The Pragmatism and Practice of Comparative Federalism 3. Multilevel Elections and Federal Governance in Comparative Perspective 4. The Indian Federation: A New Phase of ‘Cooperative Federalism’ under Modi? 5. Gendering Federalism Discourse: A Comparative Analysis 6. The Fabulous Designs of Federal States: Taking a New Look at Old Parameters 7. Empowering Minorities’ Societal Culture within Multinational Federations 8. Measuring Fiscal Responsibility: From 'Law in Books' to 'Law in Action' 9. Can Federalism Degenerate? The Strange but Predictable Demise of the Federal Spirit in the Australian Polity