Comparing Federal Systems
3rd Edition
Will be published approx. on 1. May 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
232 pages
978-1-55339-188-3 (ISBN)
Description
Countries studied include the United States, Switzerland, Australia, Austria, and Germany as examples of developed industrial societies; India and Malaysia as examples of multilingual and multicultural federations; Belgium and Spain as examples of emerging federal systems that illustrate bicommunal and asymmetrical approaches; and Czechoslovakia and Pakistan as examples of bicommunal federations that have failed. Watts compares the interaction of social diversity and political institutions, distribution of powers and finances, processes contributing to flexibility or rigidity in adjustment, extent of internal symmetry or asymmetry, degree of centralization and decentralization, character of representation in federal institutions, role of constitutions and courts, provisions for constitutional rights and secession, and pathology in federations.
Reviews / Votes
"He has produced a masterful synthesis, a kind of basic comparative handbook which reflects dedicated study of, long experience with, and penetrating insights into the formal and procedural manifestation of federalism n the world today." Daniel J. Elazar, Publius: The Journal of Federalism. "This is a work I recommend without reservation to al those who are interested in Canadian comparative federalism and who especially wish to relate to the Canadian experience to those of other federations." Rejean Pelletier, Politique et societes du Quebec.More details
Series
Edition
3rd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Canada
Publishing group
McGill-Queen's University Press
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Revised edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 228 mm
Width: 154 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
376 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-55339-188-3 (9781553391883)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Ronald L. Watts is principal emeritus and professor emeritus, political studies, and fellow and former director of the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations at Queen's University, and fellow of the international Forum of Federations. From 1991 to 1998
Content
1. INTRODUCTION; 2. OVERVIEW OF CONTEMPORARY FEDERATIONS; 3. THE FORMATION OF FEDERATIONS; 4. THE CONSTITUENT UNITS; 5. THE DISTRIBUTION OF AUTHORITY IN FEDERATIONS; 6. THE DISTRIBUTION OF FINANCES; 7. INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS; 8. SYMMETRY AND ASYMMETRY IN FEDERATIONS; 9. MULTILEVEL FEDERAL SYSTEMS; 10. THE REPRESENTATIVE INSTITUTIONS OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS; 11. CONSTITUTIONAL SUPREMACY IN FEDERATIONS; 12. DEGREES OF DECENTRALIZATION AND NON-CENTRALIZATION IN FEDERATIONS; 13. THE PATHOLOGY OF FEDERATIONS; 14. CONCLUSIONS