federalism and regionalism Flashcards
obama reform
An important case to analyze when talking about federalism is the Obama reform (healthcare act), which consisted in trying to make healthcare accessible and for everyone. The state usually provides healthcare and funds it through taxes and small payments. The problem was the incompetence of the central government in that reform (the decision was not up to the central state, but to all the others). The supreme court stated that in their constitution the central government has limited power. Furthermore, in the US, the constitution states which decisions the central government can make, leaving the rest to be decided among the states.
Difference between a federation and a confederation
A confederation provides for a stronger position of the entities it is made up of. First, the entities that form a confederal arrangement retain their character as sovereign states. Second, in contrast with federal structures, confederations do not rule out the unilateral exit of one of the states. Third, confederal centers do not directly act upon the people but prescribe the consent of the political institutions of the entities first. Finally, decisions of the center require the consent of all the states (the principle of unanimity applies).
Is the EU a confederation?
The EU might seem like a good example of a confederation, because the member states act as sovereign states and are recognized as such by many international organizations (UN, NATO…). The EU operates based on a collection of treaties, and member states can theoretically decide to leave the EU (BREXIT). In highly sensitive areas, EU decision making still requires the consent of all the member states. However, in many other aspects the eu has surpassed the status of a confederation. Most common policy decisions are now taken by Qualified majority voting in the council. The EU is not a federation, but it is already more than a confederation.
Regionalized state
They’re states that exemplify some form of “regional devolution”. Regional devolution is the result of a process of regionalism, which is itself a process which leads territorial subunits within or across existing sovereign states. The consent of the center is needed to increase the levels of regional autonomy.
We are describing the division of power between the state and its internal structure (different entities).
The sub state structure differs from experience to experience. Some state entities are states themselves (US).
the four types of states
When discussing about the relationship between the state and the substate we can distinguish four types of states.
Four categories
1) Unitary: France.
2) Regional: spain and italy
3) Federal: USA, germany
4) Confederation: Swiss confederation
what are the differences between these states?
- allocation of legislative power
- allocation of judicial power
- representation in the upper house
- constitutional amendments
representation in the upper house
An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted power than the lower house. A legislature composed of only one house (and which therefore has neither an upper house nor a lower house) is described as unicameral.
allocation of legislative power
this is important, because this is the problem we phase in the reading about the Obama reform. We define a state federal if the constitution enlists the subject matter on which the central government can legislate, leaving the rest to the other states. The remaining topics (not in the constitution) are up to the other states. In a regional state, those kinds of competences are listed to the regions, leaving the remaining to the central state. In the US the states interpret the listing to gain more power, saying that any matter is a part of the remainder of the listing. IT IS A MATTER OF DIVISION OF POWER BETWEEN THE CENTRAL ENTITY AND THE OTHER ONES. A strange example is Italy, because it is considered a regional state, but in 2001 we had a reform (referendum) that turned us more into a federal state. After the reform, Italy is considered a regional state (ART. 117: “The regions have exclusive legislative power with respect to any matters not expressly reserved to state law.”). The constitution also enlists topics in which state and regions share power.
If you look at the Spanish example, the self-governing communities may assume legislative powers.
allocation of judicial power
this regards the power to judicate. The court is a power; for instance, consider the role of courts in common law countries. By analyzing a country’s legal system, we can understand how federalized a system is. This regards how parliaments are structured, as they can be monocameral or bicameral. In a regional country the second chamber usually doesn’t represent sub state entities, while in a federal country it usually does (it tends to have one chamber that represents the state and elected directly, the other representing the regions). In italy the senate doesn’t represent the regions, but it is elected on a regional level.
constitution amendments
who can amend the constitution? There are states like Italy in which a certain number of region councils can propose amendments.
multi level governance
Two of the authors that popularized the term, Liesbet Hooghe and Gary Marks, defined MLG as the “dispersion of authoritative decision making across multiple territorial levels”. Initially, this concept was developed to better understand the EU. The authors seem to distinguish MLG from a federal state format, which specifies the legal ends of integration, and the lack of the legitimate use of violence.
