Week 7 – Federalism

 Multilevel Governance
o Multiple levels of government can offer different public goods and services at
different territorial scales, from global to local, and many intermediate sizes
o Classic categories of political communities include:
 City
 State
 Empire
 Federation
o In our current situation:
 Suburb of Acton
 Inner North of Canberra
 Australian Capital Territory
 Australia
 Southern Hemisphere
o Scale
 Small
 City (Canberra)
o Small size in territory and population
o High degrees of internal harmony
o Simple and soft forms of government
o ‘Local’ public goods
 Rubbish collection, water
 Medium
 Sub-territorial unit (ACT)
 Large
 State (Australia)
o The state is the combination of people, territory, and
sovereignty
o A state exists when a sovereign power (i.e. Parliament)
rules over a population residing within the boundaries
of a fixed territory, while being recognized by another
state
 Very large
 Empire (United Nations)
o Very large size
o Absence of fixed or permanent boundaries
o Compound of diverse groups and territorial units
o Multilevel, often overlapping jurisdictions
  Types of Governmental Structure
o Unitary Systems– A single sovereign government rules the country
 All powers are concentrated in one level of government
 Sub-levels of government can be created, abolished, expanded, and
retracted by the central authority
 UK
 New Zealand
 France
o Devolution Systems – The central government devolves (or gives) power to
regional governments, subject to its overriding control
 Federal (two levels)
 Canada
 Australia
 USA
 Confederal (balance of power with constituents)
 A permanent union of sovereign states
o Member states retain sovereignty
o Unlike federalism where former member states give
sovereignty to new state
 Defense, currency, trade,
 EU

Federalism
 Federalism - A combination of shared-rule for some purposes and regional self-rule
for others within a single political system so that neither is subordinate to the other
o Authority/political power constitutionally divided
o Central/regional governments, spheres of coordinate and independent
power
o Rule based
 The rules are of paramount importance
o Balance of power
 Defining characteristic of any federation
o The concept was basically made up in 1787 by the Americans in the
‘Federalist Papers’, before that it didn’t exist
 85 published from 1787 to 1788 – Hamilton, Madison, Jay “Publius”
 Also the Anti-Federalists; Federal Farmer, Brutus, Agrippa
 Some Highlights:
 10: the need to accommodate different factions with a ‘large’
democratic state
 32: state c.f. federal taxation powers
 41-42: allocation of responsibilities to federal government
 51: separation of powers and ‘ambition countering ambition’
 78: judicial oversight of ‘constitutionality’ of other branches
 81: separation of judiciary and legislature
 There are 5 features of Federalism
o A combination of shared rule (central government) and local self-rule
(provincial governments)
 Divided Sovereignty
 Each level of government governs the same citizens, but for
different purposes within defined areas of jurisdiction
 Federal Government (Canberra)
 Gai Brotmann (ALP)
 Territory Government (Kurrajong)
 6 members
 Degrees of central control
 Canada v. Australia
o Constitutionally protected autonomy of each level of government
 Enumerated powers so that neither level of government is
subordinate to the other
 Commonwealth: Sections 51 & 52
 42 heads of power
 States: Sections 106-108
 Residual powers
 State Constitutions
o A written Constitution and a Supreme Court that acts as a ‘umpire’ of
jurisdiction disputes
 A “neutral” umpire of federal disputes
 Declares laws ‘ultra vires’ or ‘intra vires’
 Decides jurisdiction if Constitution silent
o Constitutional amending formula
 Australia
 Majority of both Houses of Parliament, Majority of the votes
cast in a referendum, and a majority of votes case in the States
“double majority”
 Canada
 7-50 Formula
 US
 2/3 majority in both Houses of Congress, ¾ of state
legislatures
o Central government has constituent part representation
 The Senate
 Equality of states
 Equal voice of small places
o Senate Seats
o QLD: 12
o NSW: 12
o VIC: 12
o SA: 12
o WA: 12
o TAS: 12
o NT: 2
 o ACT: 2
 PRSTV vs. Rep by pop
 NSW vs. WA
 States House?
 Australian Federalism
o An institutional structure
 3 pillars of Australian Government
 Federalism, Westminster-style Cabinet and Constitutional Monarchy
o Characteristic of Society
 Promotes Multiple identities and loyalties: National, Regional, Local,
Linguistic, Cultural
 Federalism is not a function of governments but societies
 Advantages of Federalism
o Diversity
 Multiple values
 Avoid artificial unity
 Participation
o Responsiveness
 Access points, bargaining, adaptability/innovation
 Regional/local
o Liberty
 Versus majorities or government
 Choice as to the provisions of public services.
 Disadvantages of Federalism
o Inefficiency
 Overlap/coordination
 Obsolescence
o Accountability reduced
 Buck passing
 Responsible government?
o No Increase in Liberty
 Local majorities oppress minorities
 Government a provider of services not protector of rights
o Reactionary
 Limited gov’t prevents serious social change