Canadian Federalism Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
A review article exploring the larger issues raised in Alex S. MacNevin's book "The Canadian Federal-Provincial Equalization Regime" published by the Canadian Tax Foundation in 2004. The article speculates on the future direction and... more
A review article exploring the larger issues raised in Alex S. MacNevin's book "The Canadian Federal-Provincial Equalization Regime" published by the Canadian Tax Foundation in 2004. The article speculates on the future direction and reform of Equalization.
ENGLISH This introduction charts the aims and teachings of this collective work, which is organized around four central institutions of Canadian federalism: bicameralism, the judiciary as umpire of the federal deal, the electoral system... more
ENGLISH This introduction charts the aims and teachings of this collective work, which is organized around four central institutions of Canadian federalism: bicameralism, the judiciary as umpire of the federal deal, the electoral system and party politics, as well as intergovernmental relations. Each institution is analyzed through the lens of key actors impacted by the quest for balance between unity and diversity (provinces and territories, linguistic minorities, internal nations and Indigenous peoples). These comparative and critical reflections, both retrospective and prospective, reveal the differentiated repercussions of federalism for these actors. They also bring to light the omnipresence of conflicts, negotiation and cooperation in Canada’s federal history, as well as the (in)adequacy of institutions created in the 19th century to respond to Canada’s current social, cultural, linguistic and national diversity. These findings point to the imperative of solid institutional creativity so that federal experience can favour autonomy and coexistence for groups and nations sharing territory – thought-provoking lessons for a world in search of concrete institutional solutions, within and beyond the traditional nation-state.
FRANÇAIS Le fédéralisme canadien et son avenir : acteurs et institutions convie des juristes et des politologues à décoder le passé et l’avenir de la fédération canadienne. Cette introduction retrace les visées et enseignements de cet ouvrage collectif, qui s’articule autour de quatre institutions-phares du système fédéral canadien: le bicaméralisme, le pouvoir judiciaire en tant qu’arbitre du pacte fédéral, le système électoral et les partis politiques, ainsi que les relations intergouvernementales. Chaque institution est ensuite analysée à travers le prisme des acteurs clés affectés par la quête d’équilibre entre unité et diversité (provinces et territoires, minorités linguistiques, nations internes, peuples autochtones). Ces réflexions comparatives et critiques, tant rétrospectives que prospectives, révèlent les répercussions différenciées du fédéralisme pour ces divers acteurs. Elles mettent aussi en lumière l’omniprésence de conflits, de négociation et de coopération dans l’histoire fédérale du Canada, de même que l’(in)adéquation d’institutions créées au XIXe siècle pour répondre à la diversité sociale, culturelle, linguistique et nationale du Canada d’aujourd’hui. Ces constats pointent vers l’impératif d’une solide créativité institutionnelle afin que l’expérience fédérale puisse favoriser l’autonomie et la coexistence des groupes et des nations qui partagent le territoire – des leçons inspirantes pour un monde à la recherche de solutions institutionnelles concrètes, à l’intérieur et au-delà du traditionnel État-nation .
Author(s): Sharma, Chanchal Kumar | Abstract: This paper argues that in response to contemporary challenges, the federal governance structure in India requires fine-tuning. A directional shift is required from a cooperative model to a... more
Author(s): Sharma, Chanchal Kumar | Abstract: This paper argues that in response to contemporary challenges, the federal governance structure in India requires fine-tuning. A directional shift is required from a cooperative model to a collaborative model of federal governance in view of various endogenous and exogenous imperatives of change, such as rising assertiveness of civil society; rising “self awareness” of regional and local political elites; globalization, privatization, and retreat of the central state; and increasing reliance of the national government on intergovernmental coordination mechanisms rather than centralized/hierarchical mechanisms for policy making and implementation. Thus, I reflect on the possibility of supplementing the federal practice in India (known for being “federal in form and unitary in spirit”) with collaborative institutions and deliberative processes to achieve policy coordination. Institutional reforms are required to generate the right incentiv...
This research explores the value of the federally funded Local Immigration Partnership (LIP) program as the initiative expands from communities in Ontario to communities across Canada. While labour market demands make the recruitment... more
This research explores the value of the federally funded Local Immigration Partnership (LIP)
program as the initiative expands from communities in Ontario to communities across Canada.
While labour market demands make the recruitment and retention of immigrants a serious policy
problem in smaller, more isolated centres, the existing academic literature has highlighted the
importance of local settlement support services. In smaller centres, these services, if they are
available, are delivered by a range of federal, provincial and municipal government agencies,
acting in partnership with a range of Non-Governmental Organizations. There has been concern
that there is a lack of cohesion in this policy network, which is particularly problematic given the
network’s vital role in delivering services. Academic research indicates that relevant community
actors are not sufficiently connected on immigration issues, and the LIP program has been
designed as an information-based policy instrument, providing funding to help organize
networked service delivery more effectively – this is seen as a low-cost strategy for improving
immigration support in smaller cities. Regions of Canada vary in their strengths and in their
challenges, and the LIP program’s focus on enhancing existing immigration-sector networks
seeks to account for these differences. This project presents a case study of Lloydminster,
Alberta/Saskatchewan to test the potential applicability and receptivity of the LIP program in a
rurally located, economically booming, small Western Canadian city. Lloydminster’s
immigration-sector network has improved on its own over time; organizations on the periphery
still feel disconnected, which is negatively impacting immigrant integration. From the data
collected through this project, it is clear that a Local Immigration Partnership has the potential to
improve the network in Lloydminster, and that the relevant community actors see real benefits in
this approach to immigration policy.
Across OECD countries, education choice is proliferating as parents seek and governments permit choice both inside and outside public education systems. The movement of students out of the common public school, however, varies... more
Across OECD countries, education choice is proliferating as parents seek and governments permit choice both inside and outside public education systems. The movement of students out of the common public school, however, varies significantly across jurisdictions and sociodemographic characteristics such as race and class. This variation in individual decision making and macro policy outcomes directs us to theorise about the relationship between parental preferences, government responses, and policy outcomes. We map the interplay between the demand for choice, institutional responses, and policy feedback effects that lead to four major policy outcomes: partially attenuated governance, hyper choice, partial accommodation within the public system, and non-accommodation that leads parents to withdraw from the public education system. We apply this framework to understanding variation in patterns of school choice in Canadian provinces and conclude by outlining some ways in which our framework can be used to understand school choice outcomes cross-nationally.
This is the final report of the Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada - commonly known as the Romanow Commission.Taken together, the 47 recommendations contained in this report serve as a roadmap for a collective journey... more
This is the final report of the Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada - commonly known as the Romanow Commission.Taken together, the 47 recommendations contained in this report serve as a roadmap for a collective journey by Canadians to reform and renew their health care system. They outline actions that must be taken in 10 critical areas, starting by renewing the foundations of Canadian medicare.
[Published in INDIA REVIEW: Vol 16, No.1. pp 14-41] Abstract: Despite the extensive literature on distributive politics, we still lack a theory of how political and fiscal institutions interact to shape the pork‐barrelling ability of... more
[Published in INDIA REVIEW: Vol 16, No.1. pp 14-41] Abstract: Despite the extensive literature on distributive politics, we still lack a theory of how political and fiscal institutions interact to shape the pork‐barrelling ability of national leaders in a federal parliamentary democracy. Focusing on party system attributes and governmental incentives attached to different types of discretionary grants, this article examines the extent to which a shift in the priorities and interests of the prime minister’s party – effected by the change from a dominant‐party system to a multiparty‐coalition system – is responsible for the change in the dynamics of distributive policies. I use a rich panel dataset on Indian states to propose a situational theory of distributive politics which states that incentives for exclusive targeting of affiliated states in dominant‐party systems drive national ruling parties towards particularism, while the shrinking opportunity to indulge in such a policy in multiparty‐coalition systems creates a universalisation effect. Additionally, the disaggregated analysis of discretionary grants brings to the fore the fact that the shift from particularism to universalism occurs for schematic grants, which provide an opportunity for credit‐claiming. The ad hoc grants, which are like side payments, remain subject to particularism.
This dissertation offers an analysis of the history of Métis political thought in the nineteenth century and its role in the anti-colonial resistances to Canada’s and Hudson’s Bay Company governance. Utilizing the Michif concepts of... more
This dissertation offers an analysis of the history of Métis political thought in the nineteenth century and its role in the anti-colonial resistances to Canada’s and Hudson’s Bay Company governance. Utilizing the Michif concepts of kaa-tipeyimishoyaahk and wahkohtowin to shed light on Métis political practices, this work argues that the Métis people had established themselves as an independent Indigenous people in the nineteenth century North West. By use of a common language of prairie diplomacy, Métis had situated themselves as a close “relation” of the Hudson’s Bay Company, but still politically independent of it. Nineteenth century Métis had repeatedly demonstrated their independence from British institutions of justice and politics, and were equally insistent that Canadian institutions had no authority over them. When they did choose to form a diplomatic relationship with Canada, it was decidedly on Métis terms. In 1869-1870, after repelling a Canadian official who was intended to establish Canadian authority over the North-West, the Métis formed a provisional government with their Halfbreed cousins to enter into negotiations with Canada to establish a confederal treaty relationship. The Provisional Government of Assiniboia then sent delegates to Ottawa to negotiate “the Manitoba Treaty,” a bilateral constitutional document that created a new province of Manitoba, that would contain a Métis/Halfbreed majority, as well as very specific territorial, political, social, cultural, and economic protections that would safeguard the Métis and Halfbreed controlled future of Manitoba. This agreement was embodied only partially in the oft-cited Manitoba Act, as several key elements of the agreement were oral negotiations that were later to be institutionalized by the Canadian cabinet, although were only ever partially implemented. These protections included restrictions on the sale of the 1.4 million acre Métis/Halfbreed land reserve, a commitment to establish a Métis/Halfbreed controlled upper-house in the new Manitoba legislature, a temporary limitation of the franchise to current residents of the North West, and restrictions on Canadian immigration to the new province until Métis lands were properly distributed. While these key components of the Manitoba Treaty were not included in the Manitoba Act, they remain a binding part of the agreement, and thus, an unfulfilled obligation borne by the contemporary government of Canada. Without adhering to Canada’s treaty with the Métis people, its presence on Métis lands, and jurisdiction over Métis people is highly suspect. Only by returning to the original agreement embodied by the Manitoba Act can Canada claim any legitimacy on Métis territories or any functional political relationship with the Métis people.
En 1960, Fernand Cadieux et Pierre Juneau créent le premier Festival international du film de Montréal. Chaque année le Festival a lieu au mois d’août jusqu’à l’Expo 67, événement qui marque à la fois le point culminant et final de cette... more
En 1960, Fernand Cadieux et Pierre Juneau créent le premier Festival international du film de Montréal. Chaque année le Festival a lieu au mois d’août jusqu’à l’Expo 67, événement qui marque à la fois le point culminant et final de cette aventure culturelle.
L’histoire de cette institution touche à la culture, au personnalisme, au nationalisme, à la cinéphilie ainsi qu’à l’institutionnalisation et à l’industrialisation du cinéma au Canada et au Québec pendant les années cinquante et soixante.
Conçu sous le régime politique de Duplessis par d’anciens membres de la Jeunesse étudiante catholique qui deviendraient presque tous fédéralistes, le Festival constitue un objet idéal d’histoire culturelle propice à étendre la compréhension des origines catholiques de la Révolution tranquille. Au plan culturel, il permet aussi de comprendre plus finement la resynchronisation du Québec dans la trajectoire de la modernité, ainsi que les répercussions du choc entre nationalistes et gauchistes québécois contre libéraux fédéralistes.
Ce mémoire permet aussi de découvrir le FIFM comme institution cinématographique québécoise, le réseau d’acteurs et d’établissements qui le soutiennent et l’objet de leur passion : les films. La présente analyse explore la manifestation dans ses dimensions à la fois cinématographique et politique, artistique et historique.
Canada is a high-income country with a population of 33 million people. Its economic performance has been solid despite the recession that began in 2008. Life expectancy in Canada continues to rise and is high compared with most OECD... more
Canada is a high-income country with a population of 33 million people. Its economic performance has been solid despite the recession that began in 2008. Life expectancy in Canada continues to rise and is high compared with most OECD countries; however, infant and maternal mortality rates tend to be worse than in countries such as Australia, France and Sweden. About 70% of total health expenditure comes from the general tax revenues of the federal, provincial and territorial governments. Most public revenues for health are used to provide universal medicare (medically necessary hospital and physician services that are free at the point of service for residents) and to subsidise the costs of outpatient prescription drugs and long-term care. Health care costs continue to grow at a faster rate than the economy and government revenue, largely driven by spending on prescription drugs. In the last five years, however, growth rates in pharmaceutical spending have been matched by hospital spending and overtaken by physician spending, mainly due to increased provider remuneration. The governance, organization and delivery of health services is highly decentralized, with the provinces and territories responsible for administering medicare and planning health services. In the last ten years there have been no major pan-Canadian health reform initiatives but individual provinces and territories have focused on reorganizing or fine tuning their regional health systems and improving the quality, timeliness and patient experience of primary, acute and chronic care. The medicare system has been effective in providing Canadians with financial protection against hospital and physician costs. However, the narrow scope of services covered under medicare has produced important gaps in coverage and equitable access may be a challenge in these areas.
This thesis explores the relationship between regional government structures in the Toronto and Vancouver metropolitan areas and the development of comparatively high post-war transit use. While local government reforms and the impacts of... more
This thesis explores the relationship between regional government structures in the Toronto and Vancouver metropolitan areas and the development of comparatively high post-war transit use. While local government reforms and the impacts of regional development on transit use following World War II have received much attention in isolation, they have rarely been analyzed together. This paper investigates how the unique regional governance structures in Toronto and Vancouver allowed both cities to counter North American transportation trends by facilitating the creation of policies that favored transit use. By analyzing the historic operating and financial data from the transit agencies in both cities within the context of legislative reforms to local government and the resulting transportation policies, the impact of regional governance structures on transit use is examined. This paper finds that the success of transportation institutions in achieving high regional transit use is closely tied to the extent that local government bodies have fiscal autonomy, jurisdictional flexibility and involve local transit operating knowledge in transportation policy formation. Finally, the cases of Toronto and Vancouver suggest that the presence and long-term sustainability of these three capacities is inversely related to the involvement of senior government in local transportation planning.
On February 15, 2018, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) considered oral arguments in Orphan Well Association v. Grant Thornton Limited (Grant Thornton). Initially, the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta determined that the Alberta Energy... more
On February 15, 2018, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) considered oral arguments in Orphan Well Association v. Grant Thornton Limited (Grant Thornton). Initially, the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta determined that the Alberta Energy Regulator's (AER) regulatory framework for reclamation and abandonment of oil and gas wells was ultra vires to the extent that it conflicted with the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, a decision affirmed by the Alberta Court of Appeal in 2017. The effect of Grant Thornton is to allow trustees in bankruptcy, who are administering the estate of insolvent oil and gas companies, to disclaim an insolvent's worthless well assets (e.g., non-producing wells where the abandonment and reclamation process is not yet complete), while selling its valuable well assets (e.g., producing wells). The judgment allows secured creditors the best chance possible to be compensated from the bankrupt's assets, while leaving Alberta's oil and gas industry (and potentially the Albertan taxpayer) to pay the cost for the bankrupt's reclamation and abandonment obligations. It has opened the floodgates for bankruptcies, as creditors push financially distressed companies through the bankruptcy process before the SCC issues its judgment, and potentially changes the law This article provides an analysis of the case to date, but does not hazard a guess as to the ultimate holding. Rather, it will focus upon four of the case's key constitutional issues: the doctrine of interjurisdictional immunity (IJI); the doctrine of federal paramountcy (federal paramountcy); the principle of cooperative federalism (cooperative federalism); and, the ''disinterested regulator " defence. Each of these issues impact Canadian energy federalism. Canadian energy federalism is the compact between provinces and the federal government, which designates the rights and responsibilities associated with Canadian energy resource production, management, and transport. Part 2 provides some background for understanding the case. Part 3 sketches the AER's current regulatory framework for abandoning, remediating, and reclaiming wells (regulatory framework). Part 4 analyzes the constitutional issues outlined above. Finally, Part 5 offers some concluding thoughts about outstanding issues in Grant Thornton not addressed in this article, and then reflects upon the impacts that this pending judgment will have upon Alberta's efforts to reform its current regulatory framework.
This article introduces and discusses the findings of the Canada School Choice Policy Index (CSCPI). This is the first index of its kind that measures the development of school choice policies across the Canadian provinces from 1980 to... more
This article introduces and discusses the findings of the Canada School Choice Policy Index (CSCPI). This is the first index of its kind that measures the development of school choice policies across the Canadian provinces from 1980 to 2020 using eight unique indicators of choice. In contrast to other countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the CSCPI reveals that although Canada has witnessed an increase in school choice over time, this increase has largely been contained within public education systems rather than in the expansion of private education options. Our findings raise the importance of future research to address growing choice in public education systems across the provinces, in addition to choice in the private sphere. Résumé Cet article présente et discute les résultats de l'Indice canadien des politiques de choix scolaire (IPCS). Il s'agit du premier indice de ce type qui mesure l'évolution des politiques de choix de l'école dans les provinces canadiennes de 1980 à 2020 à l'aide de huit indicateurs uniques de choix. Contrairement aux autres pays de l'OCDE, l'IPSC révèle que, bien que le Canada ait connu une augmentation du choix d'écoles au fil du temps, cette augmentation a été largement contenue dans les systèmes d'éducation publique plutôt que par l'expansion des options d'éducation privée. Nos résultats soulèvent l'importance de recherches futures portant sur le choix croissant dans les systèmes d'éducation publique dans les provinces, en plus du choix dans la sphère privée.
How do we know whether a country suffers from vertical fiscal imbalance (VFI)? What should be done about it? Academic appreciation of these issues in general, and the nature of political behaviour in particular, both have major... more
How do we know whether a country suffers from vertical fiscal imbalance (VFI)? What should be done about it? Academic appreciation of these issues in general, and the nature of political behaviour in particular, both have major implications for the way federations are fiscally structured. While the latter clearly is a problem of political negotiations, our focus is on the former, that is, conceptual clarity, which precedes meaningful negotiations. Thus, the paper aims to clarify the multiple usages of the symbolically loaded terms VFI and VFG (vertical fiscal gap) by critically engaging the fundamental assumptions and premises underlying these ostensibly similar notions. It proposes an alternative conceptual framework and introduces the concepts of vertical fiscal asymmetry (VFA) and vertical fiscal difference (VFD) that have the potential to better structure public debate on issues of vertical fiscal relations and stimulate a sensible appreciation of the problem and possible remedies.
Статья посвящена проблеме развития общественно-политической мысли Канады в первые годы после образования доминиона, а также деятельности одной из наиболее известных общественных организаций того времени "Канада прежде всего". Также в... more
Статья посвящена проблеме развития общественно-политической мысли Канады в первые годы после образования доминиона, а также деятельности одной из наиболее известных общественных организаций того времени "Канада прежде всего". Также в статье затрагиваются вопросы формирования канадской национальной идентичности и развития федерализма.
This foreword puts Albert W. Johnson into historical context in terms of the political and policy development of Saskatchewan from the time of the election of the CCF in 1944 until its defeat in 1964 and in terms of the political,... more
This foreword puts Albert W. Johnson into historical context in terms of the political and policy development of Saskatchewan from the time of the election of the CCF in 1944 until its defeat in 1964 and in terms of the political, intergovernmental and public policy development of the Canadian federation from 1964 until Al Johnson's retirement as a public servant in 1982. His subsequent career as a professor and international policy advisor is also briefly summarized.
This paper examines how two federal-type polities, Canada and the European Union, have addressed the tension between international law's fundamental value of State sovereignty and the constitutional value of federalism as it is professed... more
This paper examines how two federal-type polities, Canada and the European Union, have addressed the tension between international law's fundamental value of State sovereignty and the constitutional value of federalism as it is professed in domestic settings. The paper argues that in both polities, federalism is still, to a large extent, put 'on hold' in the area of foreign affairs. Despite an increase in international activities by Canadian provinces since the 1960s, and despite the emergence of the European Union as a foreign policy actor of significance, in constitutional terms the authority to act internationally is still to a significant extent held or controlled by the order of government recognised as a sovereign State. In contrast to Canada, however, the dominance of the sovereign State in the area of EU foreign affairs is liable to spill over into the EU's domestic constitution. This observation calls for a recalibration of the federal balance in Europe's foreign affairs constitution. Such a recalibration, it is suggested, should start by critically reappraising the use of the technique of mixity.
Reform represents a distinct mode of change within federal systems that can be distinguished from passive adaptation. Through reform, political actors deliberately seek to alter parts of the federal institutional architecture so as to... more
Reform represents a distinct mode of change within federal systems that can be distinguished from passive adaptation. Through reform, political actors deliberately seek to alter parts of the federal institutional architecture so as to modify or even reverse an established historical trajectory. This study systematically explores the variety of reform patterns in federal systems by looking at instances of institutional reforms in four federations (Australia, Canada, Germany and Switzerland) since the early 1990s. It demonstrates that reform patterns exhibit interesting similarities and differences. To a great extend, these are largely contingent on the nature of problems that different types of federalism tend to produce. The study detects similarities between Australia and Canada, where federal reforms sought to strengthen mechanisms of collaboration and to address the vertical fiscal imbalance, and between Germany and Switzerland, where dis-entanglement occurred as the leitmotiv of federal reforms. At the same time, the study finds no systematic connection between one of the two identified reform patterns on the one hand, the sustainability of federal reforms on the other hand. While Australia and Switzerland seem to represent examples of rather sustainable reform pathways, in Canada and Germany the gap between reform rhetoric and reform impact remains large.
This paper argues that in response to contemporary challenges, the federal governance structure in India requires fine-tuning. A directional shift is required from a cooperative model to a collaborative model of federal governance in view... more
This paper argues that in response to contemporary challenges, the federal governance structure in India requires fine-tuning. A directional shift is required from a cooperative model to a collaborative model of federal governance in view of various endogenous and exogenous imperatives of change, such as rising assertiveness of civil society; rising “self awareness” of regional and local political elites; globalization, privatization, and retreat of the central state; and increasing reliance of the national government on intergovernmental coordination mechanisms rather than centralized/hierarchical mechanisms for policy making and implementation. Thus, I reflect on the possibility of supplementing the federal practice in India (known for being “federal in form and unitary in spirit”) with collaborative institutions and deliberative processes to achieve policy coordination. Institutional reforms are required to generate the right incentives for welfare enhancing, multi-stakeholder engagement and thereby improve the quality of democracy. Three suggestions offered are: (1) expansion of the existing structural and functional horizons of the Inter-State Council (ISC) to engage, inter alia, non-state actors, enabling it to function as a quasi judicial “collaborative council”; (2) offer constitutional status to the newly formed “collaborative community of national and international experts, practitioners, and partners” named NITI Aayog because only a "constitutional mechanism” can prevent the process/institution(s) of multi stakeholder engagement from being marred by ad-hocism and (3) transfer the financial allocation function of the erstwhile Planning Commission to a permanent Finance Commission because a collaborative federal architecture can develop only in the context of a balanced, transparent, and distortion free system of intergovernmental fiscal relations.
This article introduces the concept of ‘metagovernance’ into Canadian public administration literature to capture the relationship and tension between the willingness of the state to engage with civil society in substantive policy... more
This article introduces the concept of ‘metagovernance’ into Canadian public administration literature to capture the relationship and tension between the willingness of the state to engage with civil society in substantive policy planning and decision-making via governance networks, while maintaining some degree of control over their activity to be consistent with traditional notions of democratic accountability. The article proceeds by comparing fifteen cases of network governance at the local level from all regions in Canada and various policy domains, identifies patterns in the management of governance networks by the state, and concludes with reflections on the implications for network governance and accountability.
This paper argues that in response to contemporary challenges, the federal governance structure in India requires fine-tuning. A directional shift is required from a cooperative model to a collaborative model of federal governance in view... more
This paper argues that in response to contemporary challenges, the federal governance structure in India requires fine-tuning. A directional shift is required from a cooperative model to a collaborative model of federal governance in view of various endogenous and exogenous imperatives of change, such as rising assertiveness of civil society; rising “self awareness” of regional and local political elites; globalization, privatization, and retreat of the central state; and increasing reliance of the national government on intergovernmental coordination mechanisms rather than centralized/hierarchical mechanisms for policy making and implementation. Thus, I reflect on the possibility of supplementing the federal practice in India (known for being “federal in form and unitary in spirit”) with collaborative institutions and deliberative processes to achieve policy coordination. Institutional reforms are required to generate the right incentives for welfare enhancing, multi-stakeholder engagement and thereby improve the quality of democracy. Three suggestions offered are: (1) expansion of the existing structural and functional horizons of the Inter-State Council (ISC) to engage, inter alia, non-state actors, enabling it to function as a quasi judicial “collaborative council”; (2) offer constitutional status to the newly formed “collaborative community of national and international experts, practitioners, and partners” named NITI Aayog because only a "constitutional mechanism” can prevent the process/institution(s) of multi stakeholder engagement from being marred by ad-hocism and (3) transfer the financial allocation function of the erstwhile Planning Commission to a permanent Finance Commission because a collaborative federal architecture can develop only in the context of a balanced, transparent, and distortion free system of intergovernmental fiscal relations.
What accounts for subnational assent to policies that seek to reduce their fiscal autonomy and increase fiscal centralization? Since subnational actors with access to veto capabilities can block such reforms, the key to this theoretical... more
What accounts for subnational assent to policies that seek to reduce their fiscal autonomy and increase fiscal centralization? Since subnational actors with access to veto capabilities can block such reforms, the key to this theoretical puzzle lies in the identification of those conditions that create weak veto possibilities. This article seeks to solve this puzzle by analysing the case of India which has amended the constitution to introduce a 'dual GST' system. The combined logic of a market economy paradigmwithin which the realization of a common economic market was an important policy goaland the logic of a 'dominant party equilibrium'which reduced the number and impact of veto playerscreated the right conditions for intergovernmental coordination. However, even under these conditions, the coordination dilemma, which had plagued the indirect tax reform process since 1991, could not have been resolved without making compromises as midpoints of competing claims. Thus, even under a dominant party system, the institutional condition of federalism cannot be ignored entirely. Overall, India's transition to a goods and services tax (GST) regime is a classic case of the centre and the states pooling sovereignty over the taxes assigned to them. This has strengthened the 'shared rule' dimension of Indian fiscal federalism.
This article explores the phenomenon of informal constitutional change with a particular focus on the role played by intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) concluded between members of a federation. It has two objectives. The first is to add... more
This article explores the phenomenon of informal constitutional change with a particular focus on the role played by intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) concluded between members of a federation. It has two objectives. The first is to add IGAs to the catalogue of methods through which constitutions are altered without recourse to formal amendment procedures. Using Canada as a case study, we highlight a paradox: by rendering unconstitutional certain legislative initiatives meant to circumvent formal rules of constitutional amendment, courts are actually inviting political actors, notably the executive branches, to resort to even more fluid and informal methods of altering the Constitution. Secondly, we bring the concept of "para-constitutionality" into the broader literature on informal constitutional change. Para-constitutionality captures two distinct dimensions of informal constitutional change which are often conflated. "Para" in the Greek sense signifies "circumvention". The focus here is on effectivity, on the impact of mechanisms (such as IGAs) on the overall constitutional order. By contrast, "para" in the Latin sense means "against". It is concerned with constitutional (in)validity. We seek to underscore that even when strategies are not found to be unconstitutional, they may nevertheless have a transformative impact on the overall federal architecture. In conclusion, we suggest that an implicit commitment to intergovernmental transactions and compromise, both inherent to federalism, may explain judicial benevolence in the face of negotiated para-constitutional engineering mechanisms, by contrast to unilateral attempts at informal constitutional change.
What elements keep complex, “post-national” political entities together? This chapter serves as the introduction to “The Ties that Bind: ‘Post-national’ Polities Together,” a systematic comparative assessment of the challenge of binding... more
What elements keep complex, “post-national” political entities together? This chapter serves as the introduction to “The Ties that Bind: ‘Post-national’ Polities Together,” a systematic comparative assessment of the challenge of binding increasingly diverse and complex societies. This book weaves normative and empirical debates regarding the European Union and Canada, which both escape the label of ‘classical nation-state’, including a discussion of constitutional patriotism. This introductory chapter underlines the interest of comparing Canada and the EU, including their experiences of overlapping diversity, multi-nationalism, linguistic pluralism and federal structures. The chapter then goes on to provide a thorough overview of the book’s chapters.