Federalism

Contents

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How much discretion do constitution-builders have? ............................................. 24
Should boundaries reflect cultural communities?.................................................... 25
Should a constitution specify boundaries? .............................................................. 26
7. Institutions of government within constituent units......................................... 27
Subnational constitutions and institutional structures ............................................ 27
8. Fiscal federalism ................................................................................................... 30
Tax collection and revenue sharing......................................................................... 30
Institutionalizing flexibility: finance commissions .................................................. 32
9. Federalism and the constitution as a whole ...................................................... 33
Constitutional supremacy and constitutional amendment rules.............................. 33
Participation of subnational units in national legislation and policymaking............ 35
Executive and judicial institutions .......................................................................... 36
Scrutiny, oversight and fourth-branch institutions ................................................. 37
Emergency intervention by the federal government................................................ 37
10. Possible alternatives to federalism................................................................... 39
Other forms of macro-decentralization (quasi-federalism) ...................................... 39
Stronger micro-decentralization (local government) ............................................... 43
Non-territorial (cultural) autonomy, proportional representation and veto powers. 44
Secession ................................................................................................................ 46
11. Decision-making questions................................................................................ 48
References ................................................................................................................. 50
Annex.......................................................................................................................... 52
About the author.................................................................................................... 52
About International IDEA ..................................................................................... 52
About this series ..................................................................................................... 53

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International IDEA 3
1. Introduction
1. Introduction
Federalism is a constitutional mechanism for dividing power between different 
levels of government so that federated units can enjoy substantial, constitutionally 
guaranteed autonomy over certain policy areas while sharing power in accordance 
with agreed rules over other areas. Thus, federalism combines