Federalism beyond Federations: Asymmetry and Processes of Resymmetrisation in Europe

by Klaus-Jürgen Nagel, Ferran Requejo, Søren Dosenrode

Overview

Since the end of the Second World War, a set of democratic European countries have established a decentralized system of government based on federal or regional patterns. Some of these systems initially displayed an asymmetrical trend, however, some democracies have implemented a subsequent process of re-symmetrization that changes the structure and the legitimization of the previous political agreements.

Charting the evolution of decentralization processes and asymmetries implemented in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, leading international scholars illustrate which countries have evolved more symmetrically, why this is so and what the role of political actors in these processes have been. In doing so, each case study:

– Examines the causes of the legal and constitutional asymmetries and the main political cleavages.
– Analyses the main institutions, actors and factors that influence the political dynamics of the territorial debate.
– Questions whether there is such a process of re-symmetrization
– Presents the main actors in favour of the process of re-symmetrization and of maintaining the constitutional and legal asymmetries

Written accessibly and contributing to key debates on federalism and asymmetry, Federalism beyond Federations appeals to academics, politicians, decision-makers and all those interested in the political problems facing modern democracies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781409489115
Publisher:	Ashgate Publishing Ltd
Publication date:	03/28/2013
Series:	Federalism Studies
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Ferran Requejo, Full professor, Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Catalonia.

Ferran Requejo, Wilfried Swenden, John Loughlin, Ugo Amoretti, Ramón Máiz, Antón Losada, Søren Dosenrode, Markku Suksi, Taras Kuzio, Carlos E. Pacheco Amaral, Ivan Serrano, Klaus-Jürgen Nagel.

Table of Contents

Contents: Decentralisation and federal and regional asymmetries in comparative politics, Ferran Requejo; Why is Belgian federalism not more asymmetrical?, Wilfried Swenden; Political and administrative asymmetries in a devolving United Kingdom, John Loughlin; Italy: increasing decentralisation, decreasing asymmetry, Ugo Amoretti; The erosion of regional powers in the Spanish 'state of autonomies', Ramón Máiz and Antón Losada; Devolution in the North Atlantic: the case of the Faeroe Islands, Søren Dosenrode; The Åland Islands as a continued asymmetrical feature of Finnish governance – with some convoluted tendencies of resymmetrisation, Markku Suksi; Devolution and asymmetry in Russia, Richard Sakwa; The Crimean conundrum, Taras Kuzio; Decentralisation and asymmetries in Portugal, Carlos E. Pacheco Amaral; The end of the Corsican question?, Ivan Serrano; Conclusions: asymmetries and decentralisation processes – comparative comments, Klaus-Jürgen Nagel and Ferran Requejo; Index.