Political Science 1020E Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Government Simulation Game, Joinup Collaboration Platform, European Central Bank
28 Apr 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
January 22, 2018
Federalism and Multiple Governments
Public intellectual – moral side, etc.
Politian – action-oriented,
Policy wonk/ bureaucratic advisor – action pan, detailed no partisan punches
- Quote on page 320: “Almost all countries… processes”
- Quote on page 311: “We can keep…ban”
- 21st C. problems are often big (complex and interconnected) so multiple governments
need to join-up to find the best solution
o institutional problems that requires the gov’t to work together
Multiple Governments? Four Questions
1. What are the levels of government?
2. How do governments within a country a country relate to one another?
a. Nature of relationship
3. Is the central governed supreme or is authority shared with other levels of govern?
a. Unchallenged author
4. Do different governments operate or is there ongoing conflict and power struggles
Basic Systems: Unitary and Federal
Unitary – Sweden, Japan, United Kingdom, South Korea, Ireland, Chile,
- Sovereign authority rests with the central govt, regional and local authorities are
subordinate (lacking political autonomy and policy capacity)
o Central government
o Other authorities have limited, circumscribed powers to rule out
- National or central gov’t delegates certain responsibilities to lower levels in the interests
of efficiency or responsiveness
- Historically, inter-governmental relations in unitary system are top-down and hierarchical
o Designed to give full autonomy and discretion to the central gov’t
- Policy mandates on regional and local authorities who deliver set central programs to
citizens
o Centrally decided
Focuses on one centralized institution
Fine tuning done by lower authorities
Federal System – 25 countries worldwide, ex: USA, Canada, Germany, India, South Africa
- Sovereign authority is divided or shared between the central gov’t and regional govts,
with each deriving its authority from the constitution
- Provincial/state gov’ts have constitutional standing alongside the federal/national gov’t
o Clarifies who will do what
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
- No unilateral abolition or changes to powers of one level of gov’t by another
o Sets hard rules of the political game and policy division of labour between the
federal, provincial/regional-state
- Both levels have elected legislatures/executives and implement laws and policies in
nation-state
o Have their own parliaments and executives
o Parallels what is going on at the federal level
- Written constitution will set out the division of powers between the two gov’ts sharing
sovereignty
o Utilize their authority
o Constitution may have concurrent policy areas where both leels of gov’t can pass
legislation noverlap in the responsibilities of each level of gov’t
- Ares of shared jurisdictions or new issues
o Agriculture and immigration
o Environment and technology
- Interactive relations: policy coordination, cost-sharing, equalization payments
o Always looking at the interplay between institutions in political issues
o Intergovernmental relations – classical or duel federalism
▪ The federak and provincial govts’ each concern themselves with their own
areas of constitutional authority without infringing upon the areas of
authority of the other level of gov’t
- Co-operative federalism
o The two levels of gov;t are jointly involved in developing, dinnacing and
administering many govt services
Federal or Unitary state? – what is the criteria in relation to the nature of the country
Think of society trying to govern then apply
- Decisive Action: Unitary
- Diversity Recognition:
- Political Accountability: depends on the policy
- National Unity: Unitary but could also be Federal
- Policy Innovation: federalism
Benefits of the Unitary System
- Govts more likely to work for the common good of the whole country
o No strong subnational govts promoting the particular interests of their region at
the expense of the country as a whole
- Promotes national unity bc more attention towards national issues and problems
o In a federal system, provincial govts may find it politically advantageous to
highlight and exaggerate regional grievances so they can be seen by voters as
defending their province
- Central govt can be more easily held accountably by citizens as it cannot easily shift
blame to other govts
- People more likely to have the same level of gov’t services in all regions
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
