Multilevel Politics

Question 1

The state from above and below

Answer 1

Multilevel governance:

• The space within – national, provincial/state, local
• The space beyond – transnational regions, global order
• Political interactions across these levels

Question 2

Confederalism

Answer 2

Central authority

• Created by sovereign states
• Holding veto power
• Capable of ignoring common rules or withdrawing at any time

Question 3

Confederal alternatives

Answer 3

• Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) - NATO, UN
• Temporary arrangements for mutual defense or cooperation - CIS
• Federations in development - US Articles of Confederation, 1781-87

Question 4

Federalism

Answer 4

Two distinct levels of government which:

• Divide the powers of the government
• Share sovereignty within the state
• According to written constitutional terms
• Disputes settled in court
• Self-rule and shared-rule
• Local governments - no share in sovereignty

Question 5

Federalism in the USA

Answer 5

• Two levels
• Two separate relationships with their people
• Individuals are subject to both levels

Question 6

Why federation?

Answer 6

• Security threat
• Pursuit of economic integration
• Vast territory
• Class, ethnic, regional divisions
• Resistance to concentration of power at the centre

Question 7

Federalism balance sheet

Answer 7

Advantages:

• Gives regional minorities a voice
• Builds in flexibility
• Provides a policy laboratory

Disadvantages:

• Reinforces social decisions
• Weakens coordination
• Complicates democratic accountability

Question 8

Forms of federalism

Answer 8

• Dual federalism: separate spheres of action
• Cooperative federalism: substantial interaction
• Fiscal federalism: feds manage vertical fiscal imbalance, feds may counteract horizontal fiscal imbalance

Question 9

Varieties of federalism in Canada

Answer 9

• Federal-provincial division of responsibilities
• Residual powers to the federal government
• Regions weakly represented in Senate

Question 10

Varieties of federalism in Germany

Answer 10

• Federal government legislates
• Administrative federalism – states (Lander) implement federal laws
• Residual powers go to Lander
• Upper chamber directly represents existing governments in each of the German states

Question 11

The evolution of federations

Answer 11

• Confederal Canada initially featured a strong central government, but now it is more decentralized and asymmetrical
• US constitution set strong limits of the powers of central governments, but now it is more centralized and symmetrical

Question 12

Unitary systems

Answer 12

-The majority of the world’s states are unitary

Sovereignty:

• Resides at the centre
• Usually in a particular institution
• All subnational governments may be dissolved by the central authority

Unitary state experiments: decentralization, enhanced autonomy, devolution

Question 13

Transnational regionalism

Answer 13

• Regionalism - forms:
• Security regionalism
• Political regionalism
• Economic regionalism

Middle position between states and globalization

• Larger markets
• Protected against external rivals