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Bulletin n. 1/2016 - June 2016 List of contents Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government Subsection 1.The theory of federation Manfred G. Schmidt Conclusion: Policy Diversity in Germany's Federalism in German Politics, Volume 25, Issue 2, Special Issue: Reframing German Federalism , 301-314 This article will examine the extent to which the narrative of policy diversity is characteristic of German federalism, using findings from comparisons of policies in the individual Länder and with a special focus on the period since the German reunification. The first part of the article presents findings supporting the view that there is a significant degree of policy diversity in the states (Länder) of the Federal Republic of Germany (section one). Longitudinal studies also indicate an increase in policy diversity (section two). On the other hand, there are also some indicators that point to policy convergence, that is, to decreasing policy diversity (section three). On the whole, though, there are major differences between the German Länder, as is evident from even a cursory comparison with the Swiss cantons, the United States of America and the Austrian Länder (section four). The causes of the policy diversity and its limits must still be clarified. For this purpose four explanatory variables will be discussed in the final section of this article (section five): the partisan composition of government in the Länder, which increases the likelihood of policy diversity, and three other factors which tend to reduce the possibility of policy diversity: the competition between the two large pro-welfare state parties; then the division of powers between the federal state, the Länder and the European Union; and finally the institutional constraints on fiscal policy in the Länder. -------- Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government Subsection 1.The theory of federation Helder Ferreira Do Vale Federal Political Fragmentation in Mexico's 2015 Elections in Regional and Federal Studies, Volume 26, Issue 1 , 121-138 The 2015 congressional, gubernatorial and mayoral elections in Mexico display the continuation of political changes that started 15 years ago. The most notorious change in 2015 is the electoral success of non-mainstream parties, which have increased their vote share vis-à-vis the mainstream parties, the Party of National Action (PAN), the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI), and the Party of Democratic Revolution (PRD). These mainstream parties lost important vote shares, although the PRI has shown itself to be more resilient to electoral volatility than the other parties. The increase of volatility in Mexico favours the alternation of the parties in power; however, it also increases political fragmentation. This article argues that in a context of growing electoral volatility and political fragmentation, presidential authority is weakened, giving rise to the dispersion of power to other levels of government. Furthermore, the article suggests that party volatility presents important territorial variation in Mexico. -------- Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government Subsection 1.The theory of federation Page 1/468 Marc Sanjaume-Calvet Federalisme, liberalisme i consens solapat. El cas canadenc in Revista d'Estudis Autonomics i Federals, no. 23 , 115-159 Aquest article analitza les formes de legitimació del federalisme canadenc en relació amb la noció rawlsiana del consens solapat, aplicada al federalis- me per Wayne Norman. A partir dels treballs de Dimitrios Karmis i Alain-G. Gagnon, es presenta una tipologia de tres federalismes: universalista, comu- nitarista i utilitarista, que són sotmesos a discussió amb relació a la situació constitucional posterior a la repatriació del 1982 i al model de Trudeau. Aquestes tres maneres d’entendre el federalisme s’apliquen posteriorment a l’estudi de casos de les polítiques d’immigració i la seva descentralització. Mitjançant l’exemple d’aquestes polítiques, l’article demostra que, si bé des del punt de vista constitucional hi ha una manca de consens solapat, certs aspectes que formaven part de les reformes fallides del Llac Meech (1988) i Charlottetown (1992) han estat rescatats fora de la Constitució. Aquesta situació permet concloure que la federació canadenca té un modus vivendi que permet el funcionament institucional, però que queda lluny de satisfer el consens solapat que només s’assoliria a partir d’un pacte multinacional. -------- Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government Subsection 1.The theory of federation Golosov Grigorii V Party system nationalization: The problems of measurement with an application to federal states in Party Politics, Volume 22, Number 3, May , 278-288 The existing measures of party system nationalization and territorial heterogeneity of electoral support, including the Gini-based system-level nationalization score and its complements, can be inappropriate in those research contexts where, as it is in the study of federations, the territorial structure of the state is a substantively important factor of political development rather than one of the possible levels of electoral data aggregation. This problem can be solved by using a normalized version of the Gini coefficient. Alternatively, it is possible to use a new measure, the index of party system nationalization proposed in this study. While both the normalized Gini-based index and the new measure fully satisfy all theory-inspired requirements and yield similar results, the new measure may be preferable because of its relative computational simplicity and intuitively easy understanding. -------- Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government Subsection 1.The theory of federation Alcantara Christopher, Broschek Jörg, Nelles Jen Rethinking Multilevel Governance as an Instance of Multilevel Politics: A Conceptual Strategy in Territory, Politics, Governance, Volume 4, Issue 1 , 33-51 This paper introduces a new approach to the comparative analysis of multilevel governance (MLG). Using water governance in North America as an illustrative example, it advances an innovative approach for scrutinizing the varieties of actor constellations in multilevel settings. While MLG is commonly conceptualized rather broadly as a system, we define MLG instead as an instance of a specific actor configuration that can rigorously be distinguished from other configurations, most notably intergovernmental relations (IGR). With this more conceptually bounded classification, we suggest that scholars can now more fruitfully engage in systematic analyses of MLG and IGR across different types of political systems (e.g. unitary, federal and supranational). Our hope is that this paper will provide some much needed Page 2/468 conceptual and analytical clarification to an increasingly nebulous debate on what MLG actually is and what it means for students of political science, public policy and public administration. -------- Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government Subsection 1.The theory of federation Veny Ludo, Warnez Brecht Techniques for Protecting Minority Languages under Belgian Federalism in International Journal on Minority and Groups Rights, Volume 23, Issue 2 , 211-236 As one of the few countries in the Council of Europe, Belgium has, to date, not ratified the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities as well as the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Nevertheless, minorities are protected in Belgium due to its specific federal structure. Several instruments provide a balance between the two major language groups in the country: the Flemish and the French-speaking language group. This article focuses on these special techniques and situates them in the historical and specific judicial background of Belgium. -------- Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government Subsection 1.The theory of federation Daniel Bochsler, Marlène Gerber, David Zumbach The 2015 National Elections in Switzerland: Renewed Polarization and Shift to the Right in Regional and Federal Studies, Volume 26, Issue 1 , 95-106 The 2015 election to the Swiss Parliament marks a return to an already observed trend that was only interrupted in 2011: a shift to the right and an increase in polarization. The vote share of the nationalist-conservative Swiss People's Party (SVP) has now reached a historical height of 29.4% (+2.8). This note discusses why cantons matter in the Swiss national elections, and to what degree elections have become nationalized. Institutionally, the 26 cantons serve as electoral districts. This leads to a highly disproportional electoral system and has magnified the minor vote shifts to a slightly more pronounced shift in seats, with the right now holding a tiny majority of 101 of 200 seats in the first chamber. The two winners, the SVP and the Liberals, also had most campaign funds at their disposal. They were able to guide an extensive nationwide campaign in which they advocated their core issues instead of candidates. Other parties only advertised at the cantonal level. -------- Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government Subsection 1.The theory of federation Jeffery Charlie, Pamphilis Niccole M. The