POLS1002 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Fiscal Federalism, Good Governance, Market Economy
Federalism
COLOMER ‘The Science of Politics’ – Ch 5 – Community
• To organize political communities to ensure the successful making of enforceable collective
decisions – multiple levels of government may be needed to have specific responsibilities
dealing with different policy issues and public goods and to be able to have elected and
accountable rulers
• Each public good can be provided efficiently at a particular territorial scale and for a specific
group of individuals
• Collective decisions can be enforceable if people within some territorial boundaries think or
accept that they share enough with the others to abide by the outcomes
• Building a political community can create the conditions for the identification of different
public goods and their consumers or beneficiaries
Multilevel Governance
1. Global Level
2. Continental Level
3. Midsize level
4. Local level
• Public goods can be considered global – able to satisfy very large common interests and
benefit many people – thus the larger the scale they can be provided, the better
- E.g. the organization of security and prosecution of financial crimes can be
considered global goods requiring universal maintenance
• Continental level – e.g. common currencies and trade agreements would be better the larger
the scale at which they were enforced
• Midsize level – e.g. provisions like roads and highways, administration of civil law
• Local level – e.g. services like garbage removal, schools and hospitals
• Fiscal federalism usually implies a complete development which refers to a situation where
there are clear differential territorial scales for each public good and where benefits and costs
would be clearly identified and negative externalities would be reduced to minimum levels
Provision and Participation Costs
• The proliferation of government can increase costs in through the control of the rulers as well
as election campaigns
• A plural but moderate number of institutional levels can be the right level – e.g. some offices
can be elected via citizens whilst others indirectly appointed by elected representatives
Sovereignty
• The notion of sovereignty was formally adopted in Europe in an attempt to put an end to
jurisdiction disputes and establish a single source of legitimacy holding the monopoly of
organized violence
• Sovereignty in the late 16th century was conceived as an absolute, perpetual, inalienable and
indivisible power, the supreme source of authoring within a well-defined territory
• Following the signifying of the Peace of Westphalia (1648) – ended both the Thirty Years’
War fought by most European powers in German territory and the Eighty Years’ War
between Spain and the Netherlands – was the first indication of sovereignty and the modern
state
• The new sovereign states attempted to put cities, principalities, courts, monasteries, cathedrals
and universities under their exclusive jurisdiction
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• The treaties of Westphalia consecrated the notion of territorial sovereignty for each state,
which implied a doctrine of both internal monopoly of power and noninterference in the
affairs of other states
State-Building and Nation-Building
• Building an effective state requires an extremely costly initial accumulation of resources into
the hands of the public authority
- The larger European states achieved some efficiency through long, violent, and cruel
processes of internal and external warmongering and concentration of power at the
expense of many of their subjects
• Sovereign states (within their territory) organize and hold the monopoly of violence, with the
aim of providing the public good of defense and security (implies internal policing,
surveillance, and protection of citizens)
- This is done by outlawing private armies and the public display or even possession of
weapons of self-defense by private citizens
- The concentration of military power advantaged together with an increase in the
administrative, technical, and financial resources of the states
• Each state tried to excel in providing internal standardization of weights and measures, this is
a common currency within its territory, and civil law – to help consolidate relatively large
markets – this resulted in the increase of the territorial scope of certain private activities and
exchanges which enabled many economies to grow
• Economic prosperity fostered an reinforced a sense of statewide community and the
allegiance of different people to common institutions, customs, and the rules
• In contrast to typical internal variety of traditional empires, the model of national state aimed
for all public goods to be provided within the same territory and homogeneously for the
whole population
• Typically each state attempted to create a nation – a culturally unified community
regarding religion, language, and a sense of common interest – through repression,
coercion, new symbols, forced military service, and compulsory schooling
• In a model national state – there a majority, homogeneous group initially faces a number of
small, weak, or internally heterogeneous groups that are in time annihilated by and
assimilated into the patterns of the largest group – then the large centralized state is viable and
may be relative efficient for a while – e.g. France and Great Britain
• A significant number of large states are “multinational” – the majority or largest group may
not be strongly homogeneous, while a second or further group is sufficiently large and
homogeneous to try to rule, or at least influence, the ruling of the state
- Some internal rivalry may develop, which may lead to power sharing or
decentralization
- E.g. Belgium - between Flemish and Walloons and Canada – where an English-
speaking majority, unevenly distributed across the territory, coexists with a vast
French-speaking minority
State War-Making
• Internal protection of domestic assets by each state has come hand in hand with external
rivalry with other states to accumulate resources and potential markets
• The largest modern states tended to organize heavy military apparatus and fight numerous
lethal wars
• Following the invention of gunpowder (mid 16th century) the costs of fighting, conquering
territories, defending oneself and making war significantly increased
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Document Summary
State-building and nation-building: building an effective state requires an extremely costly initial accumulation of resources into the hands of the public authority. This is done by outlawing private armies and the public display or even possession of weapons of self-defense by private citizens. Some internal rivalry may develop, which may lead to power sharing or decentralization. Belgium - between flemish and walloons and canada where an english- speaking majority, unevenly distributed across the territory, coexists with a vast. Balance of power among territorially bounded, heavily armed states with mutually exclusive sovereignties. However these states entered into almost permanent conflict and increasingly frequent interstate wars. 18th century - were 68 wars killed appx. 19th century were 205 wars killed appx. 1900-1989 237 civil and interstate wars 115 million deaths in battle. In contrast, current relative levels of armed personnel and military expenditure per total population and total public expenditure are the lowest they"ve been for several centuries.
