Bulletin n. 2/2011 - October 2011 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 Rosenzweig Luc Belgique: la crise finale? in Politique internationale, n. 132 - Ete, 2011 Without a federal government since April 2010, Belgium is experiencing seemingly insurmountable rifts. It is not impossible that a compromise may eventually be found, allowing for the formation of a government led by Elio Di Rupo, President of the Francophone Socialist Party. However, whatever the outcome of this crisis, there are certain centrifugal forces, fuelled by the intransigence of the Flemish separatists and their charismatic leader Bart De Wever, that will continue to undermine the foundations of the Kingdom. A partition of the country would lead to great uncertainty: Should Flanders, having become independent beside a "preserved" Belgium in Wallonia and Brussels, be subjected to a membership process, like any new country wishing to join the European Union? Can Brussels maintain its status of Triple Capital - of Belgium, Flanders and the EU? The scenario is completely new, in any case, and is likely to subject the institutions of our Old Continent to a sort of trial by fire. -------- Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government Subsection 1.The theory of federation Woods Neal D., Bowman Ann O'M. Blurring Borders: The Effect of Federal Activism on Interstate Cooperation in American Politics Research, Vol. 39, n. 5, September , 859-884 Interstate compacts are an increasingly important policy tool available to states, one that allows them to tackle regional and national issues. What effect does policy activity at the federal level have on state participation in interstate compacts? Drawing on theories of functional federalism, the authors explore the possibility that a state’s response to federal activism varies across policy domains. For economic policy the authors hypothesize that federal activism causes an increase in compact participation, as states attempt to defend themselves against federal intrusion. In other policy areas the authors expect that states are more likely to enter into compacts during periods of relative federal inactivity. Results from a set of event-count models generally support these hypotheses. The study findings suggest that states may sometimes use interstate compacts as a mechanism to resist federal incursion but that this is just one facet of a more complex pattern of intergovernmental policy adjustment. -------- Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government Subsection 1.The theory of federation Rodden Jonathan, Wibbels Erik Dual accountability and the nationalization of party competition: Evidence from four federations Page 1/392 in Party Politics, Volume 17, Number 5, September , 629-653 This paper assesses the extent to which party systems are nationalized in four federations. In doing so, the research addresses two questions. First, is dual accountability operational across decentralized countries, or do sub-national voters turn to national cues as a means to economize in a complex information environment? By bringing a cross-national dataset to bear on this question, we are able to provide insight into where and why dual accountability might operate. Second, what explains variation in the extent to which party systems are nationalized across countries and time? We build on previous literature to suggest a number of factors likely to impact the extent of nationalization. We examine those factors in the context of provincial-level elections in Argentina, Canada, Germany and the United States. Using national and sub-national economic data, we find little evidence of dual accountability in any of our countries. We find that economic performance matters little for regional electoral outcomes, and where it does, sub-national outcomes reflect national rather than sub-national conditions. More important are the roles of partisan relations across levels of government and election timing. Sub-national co-partisans of the nationally governing party lose votes, particularly as the time from the most recent national election grows. The strength of these effects varies across our cases in predictable ways. -------- Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government Subsection 1.The theory of federation Kailash K. K. Federal Calculations in State Level Coalition Governments in India Review, Volume 10, Issue 3, July , 246-282 When political parties organize, compete and maintain interests at different levels, they bring interconnections both between as well as horizontally across levels. This study suggests that the autonomy of state politics formulation may have to pay greater attention to the federal framework and give more consideration to the role of polity-wide parties. This study uses the autonomy thesis as a heuristic tool and expands the discussion beyond state politics as considered by Yogendra Yadav-Suhas Palshikar. It examines the interface between the rise of the state as the primary unit and the functioning of political parties, especially in a multi-party competitive scenario where parties are forced to enter into coalitions. By situating India and its coalition experiences within a broader literature of comparative politics, the study tries to enrich our understanding about the relationship between federalism, political parties and coalition politics. -------- Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government Subsection 1.The theory of federation Dann Philipp Federal Democracy in India and the European Union: Towards Transcontinental Comparison of Constitutional Law in Verfassung und Recht in Ubersee, vol. 44, issue 2 , 160-177 No abstract available -------- Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government Subsection 1.The theory of federation Page 2/392 Pursley Garrick B. Federalism Compatibilists in Texas Law Review, Vol. 89, issue 6 , 1365-1394 Full text available at: http://www.texaslrev.com/sites/default/files/issues/vol89/pdf/Pursley.pdf -------- Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government Subsection 1.The theory of federation Portaluri Pier Luigi Modello ed esperienza costituzionale dell’organizzazione federalista in Nuova rassegna di legislazione, dottrina e giurisprudenza, n. 10 No abstract available -------- Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government Subsection 1.The theory of federation Gabriel Pérez Pérez Nacionalidad y ciudadanía en México. Entre la formalidad institucional y la marginación social in El Cotidiano : revista de la realidad mexicana actual , n. 169 , 97-106 El presente artículo aborda el tema de la nacionalidad y la ciudadanía en México, sus marcos legales, así como las instituciones de representación política de la ciudadanía. Al mismo tiempo, el documento confronta los problemas de los grupos de alta marginación social, particularmente el caso de los indígenas, quienes a pesar de poseer la nacionalidad y la ciudadanía mexicana no pueden ejercer sus derechos a plenitud debido a sus condiciones de marginalidad, lo cual ha justificado –hasta cierto punto– el levantamiento armado del ezln. Desde sus orígenes el movimiento zapatista se ha caracterizado por ser una organización autonómica, desafiante del control territorial del Estado mexicano, que sin llegar a constituirse en un movimiento nacionalista, el conflicto representa un déficit para la consolidación democrática de nuestro país. Por último, se destacan una serie de temas que son parte de la agenda para la Reforma del Estado, los cuales en su discusión y puesta en marcha, suponen una serie de elementos para la inclusión de la ciudadana en la política nacional y el desarrollo de la democracia. -------- Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government Subsection 1.The theory of federation Berdahl Loleen Region-building: Western Canadian joint cabinet meetings in the 2000s in Canadian Public Administration, Vol. 54, issue 2 , 255–275 Page 3/392 Joint cabinet meetings are increasingly used for inter-governmental dialogue, at both international and sub-state levels. Provincial governments in western Canada, in particular, have employed the joint cabinet meeting format, and, between 2003 and 2009, nine such joint cabinet meetings were held. The resulting inter-provincial collaboration at these meetings produced over thirty inter-provincial agreements. Using the details of these particular joint cabinet meetings as a case study, this article considers three questions: First, why do governments hold joint cabinet meetings? Second, are joint cabinet meetings effective mechanisms for inter-governmental policy-making? And, third, particular to the Canadian context, what are the implications of joint cabinet meetings for federalism and democracy? The author argues that joint cabinet meetings are designed to build relationships and trust between governments and to allow a “whole-of-government” approach for inter-governmental policy-making. The joint cabinet meeting model appears to facilitate expedient inter-governmental policy-making, but the effectiveness of the resulting policies depends on the political will of the participating governments. Furthermore, in the