Advanced Introduction to Federalism

Alain-G. Gagnon, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Quebec and Canadian Studies, Département de science politique, Université du Québec à Montréal and Arjun Tremblay, Associate Professor, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Regina, Canada

Introduction to Federalism 1

1 Studying federalism in the twenty-first century:
concepts, concerns, and questions 6
1 Introduction 6
2 Defining federalism and federation:
a continuing endeavour 7
3 Examining orders of government 8
4 Identifying processes of centralization and
decentralization 9
5 Exploring traditions of federalism 11
6 Distinguishing federalism as a principle 12
7 Comparing federal systems: systematic
comparison and nomothetic comparison 13
8 Conclusion 15
2 Federalism, democratization, and democratic
backsliding 17
1 Introduction 17
2 Federalism and democracy: conceptual connections? 17
3 Federalism and democratization 19
4 Democratic backsliding 21
5 Federalism and democratic backsliding 23
6 American federalism and democratic backsliding 25
7 Conclusion 28

vi ADVANCED INTRODUCTION TO FEDERALISM
3 Federalism and national diversity 31
1 Introduction 31
2 Multinational state: a definition 31
3 Sidestepping the American tradition of federalism 34
4 Multinational federalism: institutions and practices 36
5 Intercultural federalism: an alternative to
multinational federalism 37
6 The development of multinational and
intercultural federalism: obstacles and opportunities 39
7 Conclusion 41
4 Federalism and religion 44
1 Introduction 44
2 Daniel J. Elazar on the biblical roots of federalism 44
3 John Winthrop on federal liberty 47
4 Johannes Althusius on ‘consociational federalism’ 48
5 Comparative and case study approaches to
religion and federalism 50
6 Federalism and secularism in Canada 52
7 Conclusion 53
5 Federalism and immigration 57
1 Introduction 57
2 Immigration federalism: four key features 57
3 Immigration federalism in the United States 59
4 Exploring new avenues of inquiry 64
5 Conclusion 66
6 Federalism and gender 71
1 Introduction 71
2 What is gender? Why do federalism
studies need gendered analysis? What is
gender-and-federalism research? 71
3 Gendered analysis and the comparative study
of federalism 73
4 Gendered analysis and case studies of federations 75

CONTENTS vii
5 Gendered analysis of the American Federation 78
6 Conclusion 80
7 Federalism and local government 85
1 Introduction 85
2 New federalism and local governments in the
United States 85
3 No longer at the margins? The study of cities
and municipalities in Canada 87
4 The Constitution, ethnic federalism,
power-sharing and local government in Ethiopia 89
5 India’s third tier of government 91
6 Cross-national perspectives: comparative
concerns and theoretical debates 93
7 Conclusion 95
8 Federalism and populism 99
1 Introduction 99
2 Populism and populists in the twenty-first century 99
3 Donald Trump and American federalism:
three different takes 101
4 Narendra Modi and Indian federalism: has
power centralized? 102
5 Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Mexican
federalism: two different trends 104
6 Jair Bolsonaro and Brazilian federalism: more
pressing scholarly concerns? 105
7 Populism and federalism in Italy and the Philippines 107
8 Conclusion 108
9 Federalism and the COVID-19 pandemic 115
1 Introduction 115
2 COVID-19 and federalism in Brazil 115
3 COVID-19 and federalism in Australia 117
4 COVID-19 and federalism in Germany 118
5 COVID-19 and federalism in India 119

viii ADVANCED INTRODUCTION TO FEDERALISM
6 COVID-19 and federalism in Canada 121
7 COVID-19 and federalism in the United States 122
8 Comparing federal responses to COVID-19 123
9 Conclusion 125
10 Federalism in Post-Colonial and Settler Colonial States 131
1 Introduction 131
2 Federalism and post-colonial states 131
3 Federalism and settler colonial states 134
4 The future of federalism in post-colonial and
settler-colonial states: ways forward and warnings 139
5 Conclusion 141
Conclusions on Federalism 144
1 What do federalism and federation mean? 144
2 Has there been any significant change to
orders of government? 144
3 Are federations centralizing or decentralizing? 145
4 Which tradition of federalism is best suited
for longstanding and emerging federal states? 145
5 What has happened to the federal principle? 146
6 What do comparisons of federal systems reveal? 146
7 Closing words 147
Index 148