Federalism Flashcards
What is a unitary system?
Formal institutional hierarchy.
Central government (capital) is the only legitimate source of political authority in the country.
What is a federal system?
-Institutional non-subordinationcand partnership
-At least 2 orders of government
-Two legitimate sources of political authority
-formal division of jurisdiction
Symmetrical institutional design
-all federated entities must be treated exactly the same
-all federated entities have the same amount of power regardless of size or population
Asymmetrical institutional design
-take into account federated entities needs and interests
-the idea that fairness should be equitable not strict equality
Decentralization
The idea that the central political authority should only be in charge of matters that local/regional authorities cannot be in charge of at their level
-the federated entities (provinces or states) have a lot of power
Centralization
Most powers should be given to the central authority
-federated entities (provinces or states) have minimal powerl
How many stages has the development of Canada gone through?
5
Quasi-Federalism
-1867-1896
-the John A Macdonald show
-wanted a unitary state, not a federation
-high centralization
-high symmetry
Classical Federalism
1896-1914
-shift of power from Macdonald to laurier
-encouraged a better relationship between Ontario and Quebec
-the importance of the jcpc (judiciary committee of the privy council)
-became very decentralized
-still symmetrical
Emergency Federalism
1914-1960
-centralization of power and resources due to the wars
-pragmatism
-the will to better serve the canadian national community
-thr will to be more efficient in terms of governance
Cooperative Federalism
1960-1995
-interdependence Federalism
-the expansion of the welfare state
-federal-provincial cooperation was required
-provinces had no money but were in charge of implementing a lot of services (welfare system)
-feds had a lot of money
Conditional Federal transfers
-symmetrical dynamic
-feds send cheque to provinces with conditions attached in order to receive the money
-“spending power” The authority for the federal parliament to spend its money for purposes which it is not competent. Do indirectly what the constitution doesn’t allow directly.
Unconditional Federal Transfers
-Equalization payments(the only kind of unconditional transfers)
-no strings attached
-promotes equal opportunities for all Canadians
-reduce disparity in opportunities
-provide essential public services to all Canadians
Collaborative and Open Federalism
1995 til now
-opt out with compensation became more common
-all provinces developed agencies to work on intergovernmental relations
-regionalism
-(harper) wants fed government to do less and provincial government to do more
-end fiscal imbalance between government jurisdiction, augment provincial accountability
-respect exclusive provincial jurisdictions
-limit Ottawas spending power in exclusive provincial jurisdictions
-recognize qc in international forums
