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Abstract

A resurgence of interest in federalism worldwide in the 1990s contributed to the establishment of the Forum of Federations in 2000. About 40% of the world’s people live in arguably federal countries. Federalism is a mode of governance that combines shared rule with self-rule and unity with diversity. This introduction surveys federal developments worldwide, highlights the fundamentals of federalism as well as the varieties of actual federal arrangements, examines new trends of federalizing or decentralizing previously centralized countries, discusses differences and similarities between federalism and decentralization, and points to challenges to the future of federalism.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See also, Bob Rae, Exporting Democracy: The Risks and Rewards of Pursuing a Good Idea (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2010); John Loughlin, John Kincaid, and Wilfried Swenden (eds), Routledge Handbook of Regionalism and Federalism (London: Routledge, 2013); and Daniel J. Elazar (ed.), Federal Systems of the World: A Handbook of Federal, Confederal, and Autonomy Arrangements (2nd ed., Essex, UK: Longman, 1994).

  2. 2.

    Carl J. Friedrich, Trends of Federalism in Theory and Practice (New York: Praeger, 1968).

  3. 3.

    Carlos Fuentes, “Federalism is the Great Healer”, Los Angeles Times, 16 December 1990, p. M1.

  4. 4.

    John Kincaid, (ed), A Research Agenda for Federalism Studies (Cheltenham, UK: Elgar, 2019); John Kincaid (ed), Federalism (London: Sage, 2011), 4 Volumes.

  5. 5.

    Catherine E. De Vries, Euroscepticism and the Future of European Integration (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018); Erik Jones, Anand Menon, and Stephen Weatherill (eds), The Oxford Handbook of the European Union (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012); John Kincaid, “Confederal Federalism and Citizen Representation in the European Union”, West European Politics, Vol. 22, No. 2 (April 1999), pp. 34–58.

  6. 6.

    André Lecours, “The Question of Federalism in Nepal,” Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Vol. 44, No. 4 (Fall 2014), pp. 609–632.

  7. 7.

    Michael Breen, “The Origins of Holding-Together Federalism: Nepal, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka,”Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Winter 29018), pp. 26–50.

  8. 8.

    New York v. United States, 505 U.S. 144 (1992).

  9. 9.

    John Kincaid, “Federalism and democracy: Comparative empirical and theoretical perspectives,” Federal Democracies, eds. Michael Burgess and Alain-G. Gagnon. London: Routledge, 2010, pp. 299–324.

  10. 10.

    Edward L. Gibson, Boundary Control: Subnational Authoritarianism in Federal Democracies (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012).

  11. 11.

    Daniel J. Elazar, “From Statism to Federalism: A Paradigm Shift”, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Winter 1995), pp. 5–18.

  12. 12.

    Daniel J. Elazar, Exploring Federalism (Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1987), p. 5.

  13. 13.

    Daniel J. Elazar and John Kincaid (eds), The Covenant Connection: From Federal Theology to Modern Federalism (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2000).

  14. 14.

    Akhtar Majeed, Ronald L. Watts, and Douglas M. Brown (ed)., Distribution of Powers and Responsibilities in Federal Countries (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2006).

  15. 15.

    John Kincaid and G. Alan Tarr (eds), Constitutional Origins, Structure, and Change in Federal Countries (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2005).

  16. 16.

    Katy Le Roy and Cheryl Saunders (eds), Legislative Executive and Judicial Governance in Federal Countries (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2006).

  17. 17.

    Nicholas Aroney and John Kincaid (eds), Courts in Countries: Federalists or Unitarists? (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2017).

  18. 18.

    Valeria Earle (ed.), Federalism: Infinite Variety in Theory and Practice (Itasca, IL: F.E. Peacock, 1968).

  19. 19.

    Johanne Poirier, Cheryl Saunders, and John Kincaid (eds), Intergovernmental Relations in Federal Systems: Comparative Structures and Dynamics (Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press, 2015).

  20. 20.

    Michael Burgess, In Search of the Federal Spirit: New Comparative, Empirical, and Theoretical Perspectives (Oxford UK: Oxford University Press, 2012).

  21. 21.

    Ivo D. Duchacek, The Territorial Dimension of Politics Within, Among, and Across Nations (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1986); Elazar, Exploring Federalism, 192–197.

  22. 22.

    Daphne A. Kenyon and John Kincaid (eds), Competition among States and Local Governments: Efficiency and Equity in American Federalism (Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute Press, 1991).

  23. 23.

    Anwar Shah (ed), The Practice of Fiscal Federalism: Comparative Perspectives (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2007).

  24. 24.

    Robert Agranoff (ed), Accommodating Diversity: Asymmetry in Federal States (Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 1999).

  25. 25.

    John Kincaid, “Values and Value Tradeoffs in Federalism”, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Spring 1995), pp. 29–44; Gabriele Ferrazzi, “Using the ‘F’ Word: Federalism in the Indonesian Decentralization Discourse”, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Spring 2000), pp. 63–85.

  26. 26.

    Jack Jedwab and John Kincaid (eds), Identities, Trust, and Cohesion in Federal Systems (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2018).

  27. 27.

    Luis Moreno and César Colino (eds), Diversity and Unity in Federal Countries (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2010).

  28. 28.

    Friedrich, Trends of Federalism in Theory and Practice, p. 6.

  29. 29.

    Wolfgang Renzsch, John Kincaid and Klaus Detterbeck (eds), Political Parties and Civil Society in Federal Countries (Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2013).

  30. 30.

    Paolo Dardanelli, John Kincaid, Alan Fenna, André Kaiser, André Lecours, Ajay Kumar Singh, Sean Mueller, and Stephan Vogel, “Dynamic De/Centralization in Federations: Comparative Conclusions,” Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Vol. 49, No. 1 (Winter 2019), pp. 194–219.

  31. 31.

    Harvey Lazar, Hamish Telford, and Ronald L. Watts (eds), The Impact of Global and Regional Integration on Federal Systems: A Comparative Analysis (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2003).

  32. 32.

    Hans Michelmann (ed), Foreign Relations in Federal Countries (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2009).

  33. 33.

    Enid Slack and Rupak Chattopadhyay (eds), Governance and Finance of Metropolitan Areas in Federal Systems (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2013).

  34. 34.

    Nico Steytler (ed), Local Government and Metropolitan Regions in Federal Systems (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2009).

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Correspondence to John Kincaid or Rupak Chattopadhyay .

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Kincaid, J., Chattopadhyay, R. (2020). Introduction. In: Griffiths, A., Chattopadhyay, R., Light, J., Stieren, C. (eds) The Forum of Federations Handbook of Federal Countries 2020. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42088-8_1

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