2: Understanding Federalism

► How do we mean by the word “Federalism”?

► What is the difference between federalism, federation and Confederations?

► Why federalism and federal system of government?

► What is the unique features of federal state structures?

► What is the relationship between federalism and Democracy?

▬ What is Federalism mean?
It is difficult to define the word Federalism and many people define it differently.
►Generally refers to decentralized governance system where conflicts are
managed by central and sub national groups.
►It a political arrangement where authority is divided between the center and the
sub units and a political system where joint action and self-government exists
(shared rule and self-rule).
►Simply, federalism can be viewed as a system that accommodates both self-rule
and shared rule. It is a political system where joint action and self-government
exists (shared rule and self-rule). Some of the nomenclatures include Federations,
Confederations, Unions, Associated States, etc.
The term “federal” came from the Latin word “foedus” which refers to “treaty”,
implying the existence of more than one set of authority.

Therefore, a federation is a dual polity. Two sets of government; federal and states
operate independently and distribution of power between the two is
defined constitutionally.

This implies that a federal government is composed of different federated units that
are united for some common purpose.

Thus, the most important peculiar feature of a federal state is the existence of two
government structure as the federal National gov”t (gov’t of the
whole country) & regional gov”t (gov’ts for parts of a country).
 Now a day federalism has come a viable option to manage heterogeneous

communities & the management of conflict prone multiethnic communities. It

enables to facilitate effective decision making and promote democracy.

 It permits the exercise of local self-rule through local empowerment by limiting

the extent of power by central governments.

 That is why currently 1/3 of the world states are following federalism as a system.

Some reasons that specifically led to an increased interest towards federalism

currently which includes;

 Federalism provides the closest institutional mechanism (solution) combining shared

rule for some common purposes and self-rule for regional interests
 Pressure for smaller self-governing units to accommodate various forms of diversity and

ethno linguistic dissatisfaction.

 In nations where there are conflicts (tension) between those who want to maintain the

status quo & others who like to restructure the state, federalism presents a possible
solution in accommodating both interests.

 In more recent times, federalism has been the response of unitary countries that are

plagued by internal unrest caused by clashes between various ethnic groups or violence
against the majority group from a minority group or vice versa.

 Such internal conflict is mitigated by granting self-government to these divergent ethnic

groups, thus, preserving domestic tranquility and the unity of the nation-state (Kincaid
1999).
  Federalism” and “federation
 Federated states
 Federal Government
 Federal Systems
Difference b/n ‘Federalism’ and ‘Federations?’
Federalism” and “federation” are used interchangeably many scholars.
Federalism is ‘multi-tiered gov’t combining elements of shared-rule through
common institutions for some purposes and regional self-rule’ for constituent units
for some other purposes” (Assefa, 2007).
However, Federation is the institutional and structural techniques for achieving
one of the goals of federalism, and they are used to describe actual systems of
gov’ts.
▬ In federal states, there are two distinct governments’ within the same territory
and sovereignty is divided by constitutional order.
▬ Where as in unitary states there is concentration of power in the hands of the
central gov”t, which makes all policies & over sees gov”t activities. In unitary
state, Local Gov”ts are subordinate creations of CGs.
▬ In Federal structure, both the federal gov”t and states derive their power from
the constitution. Therefore, the states are not creations of the centre & their
power cannot be altered by the unilateral decision of the center.
▬ Where as in unitary states the existence of local units is not constitutionally
entrenched that gives the center an unlimited discretion to withdraw their
existence.
▬ For modern unitary states, having multi-cultural societies, federalism is an
option to solving inter-ethnic/cultural conflicts that are detrimental to dev’t and
political stability.
▬ In short, federalism is a tool to evade disintegration or secession by providing
constitutional means for conflict management and self-determination.

The Two Essential Conditions to Federations are;

1) The units that are involved in the federation must share common interest
convinced to live under a single political system.

2) The units have source of diversity by virtue of different historical,

political, cultural, linguistic, economic factors, and they need to express

their diversity by exercising self-rule.

 The best way to comprehensively understand the federal system is to learn about its features.

1) Two or more levels of government

 There are two or more levels (or tiers) of government..

2) Supremacy of The Constitution

 The fundamental provisions of the constitution cannot be unilaterally changed by one level of government.

3) Supremacy of the Judiciary

 Courts have the power to interpret the constitution and the powers of different levels of government.

4) Written/Rigid Constitution

5) Distribution of Powers Between Centre and State

6) The same Citizens Separate jurisdiction (Federal and Local)

7) The federal system thus has dual objectives:

 to safeguard and promote unity of the country, while at the sametime accommodate regional diversity.
1) Bicameral Legislature (Two houses)

 A federal state has two kinds of governments having different interests and rights.
There is, therefore, a need for the protection of these rights and interests. This can
be done only when there is a bicameral legislature.
 The two houses represent the two interests. Normally the Lower House represents
the interests of the nation and the upper house represents the interests of the
provinces.
 Normally representation in the Lower House is based on population and for the
upper house the principle of parity is followed that is whether a state is small or
large it will have equal number of seats. This method is followed in USA and in
Pakistan
 There are some common features and principles that govern federations in spite
of the diversity of federal models, are;
a) division of powers between the federal gov’t and the constituent units of the federation

b) Accommodation of Diversity within the federation, as well as, the guarantee for the
preservation and dev’t of cultures

c) Territorial division of Power between the federal gov’t and the states that allows the
coexistence forces of unity and the quest for autonomy

d) Written and Rigid Constitution that sets the rules of the game by defining who is going
to do what and vesting the power to each level of gov’ts
 Conflict Management
 For modern unitary states, having multi-cultural societies, federalism is an option to
solving inter-ethnic/cultural conflicts that are detrimental to dev’t and political
stability.
 In short, federalism is a tool to evade disintegration or secession by providing
constitutional means for conflict management and self-determination.

(1) The units that are involved in the federation must share common interest
because of which they are convinced to live under a single political system.

(2) The units have source of diversity by virtue of different historical, political,
cultural, linguistic, economic factors, and they need to express their diversity by
exercising self-rule.
 Dual Federalism

 A system of government in which both the states and the national government remain

supreme within their own spheres, each responsible for some policies.

 Cooperative Federalism

 A system of government in which powers and policy assignments are shared between

states and the national government.

 Shared costs

 Shared administration

 States follow federal guidelines

 A process of federalization federations can be classified into three categories namely; Coming
together federations, Holding together federation, and forced federations
 Coming together federations may also be called “federalism by integration” while holding
together federations may also be called “federalism by devolution”.
 Federalism by integration is characterized by the strengthening of central gov’t while
federalism by devolution is typified by the weakening of a very powerful central gov’t.
► Coming together or “born” federations’
o This type of federalism usually arises from smaller states or former colonies coming together for

common interests like defense or a common market (ex. USA, Canada, Germany and Italy).

► Holding together federations or “became” federations’

o Many of these federations have evolved from countries with a unitary system but had large

concentrations of minorities or a plurality of ethnicities. Among the federations of this type are
South Africa, Belgium, Spain, and Ethiopia
Federations may also be classified according the manner of distribution of powers between
the federal level and the constituent units as well as among constituent units. These are
cooperative, competitive, permissive, symmetric, asymmetric and consociational.

1) Competitive Federalism; promotes separate roles for federal and

constituent units as much as possible and decisions made at the federal level do
not necessarily involve the consent of the sub-national units.

2) Cooperative federalism; both federal and state gov’ts share responsibilities

in certain areas/services to ensure the operation of national programs throughout
the country.
 Permissive federalism—it seems a unitary state characterized as highly centralized. Egs
are; Austria, Malaysia, Mexico, and the Russian Federation.

 Symmetric federalism: Such federations distribute the same powers and

responsibilities to all constituent units . It operates under the principle that the division of
powers between federal and constituent units enhances democracy and brings gov’t closer
to the people.

 Symmetric federalism: In asymmetric federations, powers of sub-national units vary

in which one or some regions of the country enjoy a distinct form of autonomy, and often a
distinct constitutional status, and special rights regarding language or culture
 Multinational Federalism
o Multi-ethnic or multi-national federations-refer to those ethno-federal countries which
are nationally and ethnically heterogeneous
o In these countries federalism is linked to the national question in a historical sense as it
used to be a tool to unify the state and build the nation
o A typical example of such a multi-ethnic federation is Switzerland, India and today’s
Bosnia-Herzegovina are considered to be multi-national federations,
o It involves the maintenance of two or more nations, and reject the strongly
integrationist and assimilationist
o Here it is possible for the citizens of such federations to have dual or multiple loyalties,
e.g. a patriotic attachment to the federation and a nationalist attachment to their region
 Many scholars argued that in today’s world, ethnic and cultural diversity must be
addressed through recognizing the right of national self-determination of ethnic
groups, because federal arrangements are seen ;
 a concrete manifestation of the right to internal self-determination of specific
communities in a multi-ethnic or multi-national state.
 as solutions to accommodating differences among populations divided by
ethnic or cultural cleavages yet seeking a common political order
 considered as a multi-layered political structure that facilitates both unity and
diversity
o So federalism comes into play as a reasonable design for a political system
that secures social unity and political stability within (culturally/ethnically)
divided societies.
 Many scholars argue that in today’s world, ethnic and cultural diversity must be
seriously addressed through recognizing the right of national self-determination of
these ethnic and cultural groups and thus federal arrangements are seen as
interesting solutions to accommodating differences among populations divided by
ethnic or cultural cleavages
 It has the potential to accommodate the legitimate aspirations of all ethnic, linguistic
or religious communities for self-gov’t and protection of their distinct cultural and
religious identities
 Thus, federalism is considered as a means to live with cultural diversity and
maintain unity in diversity:
 Understanding of Diversity Accommodation
 More recently, accommodation has been formulated in opposition to
integration as distinct strategy to deal with cultural diversity.
 Accommodation “requires the recognition of more than one ethnic, linguistic,
national, or religious community in the state” and “aims to secure the
coexistence of different communities within the same state”, integration “aims
at equal citizenship”
 In this rather narrow use of the term, accommodation implies a normative
decision about the right ways of diversity management.
 Federalism combines self-rule and shared rule components, for the substates
representation in institutions and participation in decision-making processes at
the center (Elazar, 1987)
 Managing diversities is a main feature of their federal systems, marked by
mechanisms to recognize the uniqueness of each cultural identity and their
right to be different from other cultural groups within the federation.
 The recognition of the multicultural nature of a nation state usually preserves
the country’s territorial integrity and fosters peaceful ways to solving conflict.
 This peaceful coexistence of distinct peoples fosters national unity and
preservation of the nation-state
o In Africa and elsewhere, how to accommodate multinational, multi
ethnic or multi-linguistic and religious identities is at the centre of
debates over governance and nation building.
o Conflicting interests are common in all political systems and federalism
is one way of accommodating different interests, thus, it is often argued
that as self-governance, and participation level increases, the demand for
secession decreases.
o According to Horwoitz (1997), federalism is one of the better devices to
calm intergroup or intrastate conflicts, as it accommodates differences in
multi- nations, nationalities and peoples states.
 Harff and Gurr (2004) suggested the following principles to manage (N.N.P)
ethno- political conflicts in heterogeneous societies
a) States should recognize and promote the rights of minorities – should be free from
discrimination based on race, national origin, language, or religion.

b) Democratic institutions and power-sharing are the best means for protecting group
rights.

c) Conflicts over self-determination are best settled by negotiations for autonomy

within existing states.

d) International actors should protect minority rights and promote settlement of ethno
political (N.N.P) wars and some accommodation are recommended.

e) International actors may use coercive means to stop civil wars and mass killings of
civilians.
Why is the need for Ethiopian federalism?
Unique features of Ethiopian federalism?
How Ethiopian federation was arranged?
What types of Ethiopian federalism is?
Challenges to Ethiopian federalism?
o How did the Constitution divide power between the federal government and state
gov’ts?
 Federalism is the division of power between the federal (national) government
and the state governments
 Types of Powers under Federalism:
A. Delegated Powers - powers assigned by Constitution to the federal government.
B. Reserved Powers - powers left to the state governments
C. Concurrent Powers - powers shared by both the federal government
D. Denied Powers - those powers which are denied from the federal government,
state governments or both.
Constitutional Structure