Theories of Modern Federalism

Federalism is becoming increasingly important in shaping political orders. However, the vast amount of empirical studies and comparative work has pushed the theoretical and ideological treatment of federalism into the background in recent research. Thus, there is no overall presentation of the political and theoretical debates on the modern concept of federalism. Also, the question of the relationship between federalism and democracy is unclear. The aim of this anthology is firstly to prove the theoretical diversity of the discourse on federalism and secondly to depict the path dependence of certain traditions of thinking in the discourse on federalism.
Of course, any attempt to deal with a theoretical tradition that is as broad and influential as federalist thinking inevitably involves certain limitations. Thus, the authors of the contributions compiled in this book were given two specifications. The first concerns the embedding of its representation in concrete political debates on the notions of democracy and the vertical separation of powers in the state. The second requires a systematic review of the concept of federalism and the understanding of freedom. The authors examine how a federalist view of politics places representation and administration not only at the level of the state, but also at its subordinate levels, changing our understanding of politics, and how a changing understanding of democracy has shaped the political and theoretical debates on federalism.

With contributions by
Gabriele Abels, Juri Auderset, Volker Depkart, Dirk Jörke, Charlotte A. Lerg, Thomas Maissen, Hartmut Marhold, William Mathie, James Read, Lee Ward, Claudia Wiesner.