Special Mid-Term Exam Week TA Office Hours Dan Sadler, Monday 11:00-1:00 Brendan Derry, Monday 1:00-3:00 Kevin Gill, Tuesday 12:30-2:30 Julie Sergi, Tuesday 9:00-9:50,

11:30-12:20 Lucia Salazar, Wednesday 1:00-

3:00

Federal and Unitary Systems

Territorial Representation in Democratic Systems

February 9th, 2006

Organizing Territory

Options for Organizing TerritoryLarge Unitary Gov’t

Small Unitary Gov’ts

Organizing Territory

what is good about small, unitary governments

close to the people can represent specific needs of specific

area and groups (linguistic/ethnic) that live within those areas

what is good about large, unitary government?

may be more effective• common security

• integrated economy may protect against domination of minorities

by majorities

Options for Organizing Territory

Confederation

Large Unitary Gov’t

Federalism

Small Unitary Gov’ts

Options for Organizing Territory

Confederation

Large Unitary Gov’t

Federalism

Small Unitary Gov’ts

Unitary Government: may have different levels of government; however, subordinate governments exist at the behest of the central government

Options for Organizing Territory

Confederation

Large Unitary Gov’t

Federalism

Small Unitary Gov’ts

Unitary Government: may have different levels of government; however, subordinate governments exist at the behest of the central government

Confederation: sovereign governments band together and delegate certain powers to a central government; constituent governments retain the right to rescind this grant of power; central government exists at the behest of constituent units

Options for Organizing Territory

Confederation

Large Unitary Gov’t

Federalism

Small Unitary Gov’ts

Unitary Government: may have different levels of government; however, subordinate governments exist at the behest of the central government

Confederation: sovereign governments band together and delegate certain powers to a central government; constituent governments retain the right to rescind this grant of power; central government exists at the behest of constituent units

Federal Government: has two orders of government which are legally independent from one another and sovereign within their respective spheres of jurisdiction; neither exists at the behest of the other and neither can take power away from the other

Federalism

24 federations of 180 sovereign states 40% of world population

Options for Organizing Territory

Confederation Unitary Gov’t

Federalism

European Union (EU)

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, US, Venezuela

France United Kingdom Italy

Federalism – What is It?

main elements two orders of government

NOT levels of government division of powers

constitutional grant of powers and jurisdiction to each order of government

judicial review court adjudicates between the two

orders of government

Federalism – Why?

always about representing territorially-based interests that would not be adequately represented in a unitary system while enjoying benefits of larger system

Federalism – Variants

centralized and decentralized federalism

Level of Centralization

(Confederation)

Large Unitary Gov’t

Federalism

Decentralized Federation

Centralized Federation

Small Unitary Gov’ts

Level of Centralization

Decentralized Federation

Centralized Federation

Canada Switzerland

Australia Germany United States

Malaysia

Level of Centralization

(Confederation)

Large Unitary Gov’t

Federalism

Decentralized Federation

Centralized Federation

US 2002

Small Unitary Gov’ts

US 1789

Canada 2002 Canada 1867

Federalism and Political Power federalism is not neutral emphasizes the representation of territorially-based

interests (often ethnic, religious, linguistic) while de-emphasizing those that are not (e.g. class, gender) overlapping cleavages are organized into politics

and cross-cutting cleavages are organized out overlapping cleavages (Canada)

• regional economic disparities• linguistic cleavages

Federalism and Democracy

MODELS OF DEMOCRACYMODELS OF DEMOCRACYIndividual Rights/Limited Gov’t

General Welfare

High Mass Participation

Low Mass Participation

Majoritarian Majoritarian DemocracyDemocracy

Elite Elite DemocracyDemocracy

Liberal Liberal DemocracyDemocracy

Federalism and Democracy liberal democrats

prefer federalism in and of itself...• protects against the domination of minorities by majorities (by creating a larger political

community in which every group is a minority in some respect)• fragments government power – making it more difficult for gov’t to act and limiting

government elite democrats

prefer federalism to the degree it is effective – e.g. does it deliver in terms of furthering the general welfare

• e.g. more effective than small unitary gov’ts in providing common defence, strong economy, etc.

• contributes to social stability by encouraging negotiation of divisive issues behind closed doors among political elites

• may be concerned if federalism is inefficient or limits the ability of the state to pursue the general welfare

majoritarian democrats would like federalism only to the degree that it allows decision-making to be closer

to “the people” than a large unitary gov’t would be (probably would prefer smaller, unitary government)

concerns about federalism• fragmenting of governmental power (limiting the ability of the state to pursue the

general welfare)• would be concerned about the “democratic deficit”

– e.g. executive federalism (Canada) – important decisions made between federal-provincial leaders behind closed doors

Institutions and Political Power institutions are never neutral

confer advantage on certain groups/interests organize certain issues into politics and others out of politics

institutions are stable but are capable of change (very slowly) institutions are contested – they are the object of political competition

non-dominant groups can challenge institutional arrangements in order to shift the balance of power those insitutions represent and reinforce

institutions and vested interests will resist change (people with power do not give it up willingly!)

existing institutions provide the terrain on which these challenges must take place (e.g. they have home court advantage!)

institutions and political participation this contestation (attempts to shift power relationships in society) takes

place through political participation the resulting political competition takes place within the context of

existing political institutions

Next...

Tuesday, February 9th, Prof. Sandra Burt – What is Political Participation?

Remember...NO tutorials next week! (Please conceal your disappointment.)