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This book brings together leading scholars and practitioners from around the globe to examine the current roles of and future trends in local government structures and mechanisms in 16 different federal and federal-type countries. In doing so, this volume explores pressing topics such as the institutions of local government, constitutional recognition, financial management, intergovernmental relations, political culture, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the role of local government in federal systems. Contributors to this volume provide a timely and comprehensive account of the integral role local governments play in federal countries and offer fascinating perspectives on how these roles may change as individual federal systems evolve. These individual analyses are contextualized in a comparative perspective in order to gain a holistic understanding of the challenges and opportunities of various local government dynamics in different regions around the world. This is an open access book.

Federalism as a mode of governance has been a popular response to most conflicts which stemmed from ethnic/language/religious mobilisation. However, the track record of resolving communal or identity conflicts has not always been good, the least of all in Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan. Why the lack of success? Is the federal solution inherently inappropriate for communal accommodation by exacerbating the problem? If not inevitably or inherently inappropriate, is it then a question of poor design? Or is it merely ineffectual implementation of the 'federal solution'? The chapter argues that federal arrangements in Africa have been the last measure to hold countries together; therefore federalism per se cannot blamed for persistent conflicts. Whether federalism is able to address communal conflicts depends much on constitutional designs dealing with both ethnic issues and federal concepts in general. Where federal solutions have been tried, it is highly centralised, and even then often superficially and reluctantly implemented. To judge the efficacy of federal arrangements in constitutions they first must be implemented. This depends again on a broader embrace of constitutionalism; democracy, separation of powers, limited government, and the rule of law have to become part of political/legal culture of a country.

This comprehensive scholarly book on comparative federalism and the Covid-19 pandemic is written by some of the world's leading federal scholars and national experts. The Covid-19 pandemic presented an unprecedented emergency for countries worldwide, including all those with a federal or hybrid-federal system of government, which account for more than 40 per cent of the world's population. With case studies from 19 federal countries, this book explores the core elements of federalism that came to the fore in combatting the pandemic: the division of responsibilities (disaster management, health care, social welfare, and education), the need for centralisation, and intergovernmental relations and cooperation. As the pandemic struck federal countries at roughly the same time, it provided a unique opportunity for comparative research on the question of how the various federal systems responded. The authors adopt a multidisciplinary approach to question whether federalism has been a help or a hindrance in tackling the pandemic. The value of the book lies in understanding how the Covid-19 pandemic affected federal dynamics and how it may have changed them, as well as providing useful lessons for how to combat such pandemics in federal countries in the future. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of politics and international relations, comparative federalism, health care, and disaster management.

Concurrent Powers in Federal Systems: Meaning, Making, Managing -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- List of Acronyms -- Notes on Contributors -- 1 The Currency of Concurrent Powers in Federal Systems -- 2 The Meanings of Concurrency -- 3 From Dualistic Autonomous Concurrency to Marbleised Permissive Concurrency in American Federalism -- 4 Concurrent Powers as Doors to Legislative Innovation, Conditional Powers as Gates to the Blind Alley: Some Swiss Illustrations -- 5 What's Wrong with Concurrency? Comparative Reflections Based on Constitutional Reforms in Germany and Italy -- 6 Concurrent Powers in Italy: The New State-centred Approach and Prospects for Reform -- 7 De Facto Concurrency in Spain -- 8 Concurrent Powers in the EU and Their Impact on the Powers of Member States -- 9 Concurrency of Powers in the Russian Federation -- 10 Fiscal Federalism and Concurrence of Taxing Powers in Argentina: A Historical Perspective -- 11 Concurrent Power and Local Interest in Brazil's Federalism -- 12 Concurrent Powers in South Africa -- 13 Concurrent Powers in the Ethiopian Federal System -- 14 Concurrency in the 2010 Kenya Constitution -- 15 Concurrency of Powers in Deeply Divided Countries: The Case of Yemen's Draft Constitution of 2015 -- 16 Concurrency of Powers: The Zebra in the Room -- Index

Describes the origins, development, & operations of South Africa's Constitution. South Africa is a distinctive case as its Constitution does not use the term "federalism," nor does the country identify itself as a federation. Nonetheless, South Africa's Constitution is noteworthy for other federal countries for the way power is distributed among three branches of government (national, provincial, & local) & for its direct expression of tenets of cooperative government. K. Coddon

Examines Constitutional Court case seeking a court order against national and provincial health departments to compel them to provide Nevirapine to HIV-positive mothers and their new-born babies, and to plan a comprehensive national program to prevent or reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV; role of Western Cape province's policy. The consortium of AIDS activists that instituted proceedings against the government was called the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC).

It is asserted that global & regional integration will have varying effects upon South Africa's federal political system. An overview of contemporary South Africa's demography & economic performance is presented; in addition, an historical overview of the nation's constitutional context is provided, emphasizing the nature of the federal system established during the mid-1990s. The extent to which globalization & regionalization processes have altered South Africa's economic & political relations is then examined; specific attention is dedicated to analyzing the nation's participation in multinational organizations (eg, the Southern African Development Community) & relations with international trade institutions (eg, the World Trade Organization) & partners (eg, the European Union). In addition, the impact of global & regional integration upon intergovernmental relations within South Africa is considered. It is concluded that the realization of any of Harvey Lazar et al.'s (2003) four potential directions for future global governance would not likely produce substantial benefits for South Africa & other African countries & that provincial political systems will likely wield less authority than local & national systems. 62 References. J. W. Parker

Whether the justice system will become unitary and non-racial.

Résumé Cet article étudie l'impact de la crise financière globale en Afrique du Sud, et en particulier comment un système fédéral très centralisé a intégré la crise et lui a répondu. Les auteurs soutiennent que la crise globale et la récession qui a suivi ont exacerbé des problèmes structurels économiques de longue date, et que la réponse de l'État à la crise a une fois de plus souligné la nature fortement centralisée de l'organisation financière du pays. Une section de l'article explore l'impact de la crise financière sur l'économie et sur les trois niveaux de gouvernement. Une autre section étudie comment chaque niveau a répondu à la crise. Une dernière section évalue l'impact de ces réponses sur l'économie politique du pays et le fonctionnement du système fédéral, en concluant par une hypothèse sur les conséquences à long terme de la crise globale.