POE105 Federalism

1. POE105 Federalism DAVID LAST WWW.DAVIDMLAST.ORG

2. Outline • Quiz on the readings, review of readings • Key terms • Federalism and Civil War • Federalism in Comparative Terms • Degrees of Decentralization • Reasons for federalism in Canada • Division of powers • Evolution of Canadian federalism • Mechanisms for cooperation

3. Readings: Laselva Samuel V. Laselva, “Understanding Canada’s Origins: Federalism, Multiculturalism, and the Will to Live Together,” (Bickerton, 1) • Identity as the central problem of Canadian federalism • The Macdonald unitary vision vs. the Cartier two-equal-nations vision • Trudeau vision of individual rights and the Charter • Did Charlottetown undermine equality of citizenship? • Madisonian pluralism in the US: power surrendered by the people is divided between two levels of government that check each other, because small republics tend to be tyrannical • Cartier: Canada is only one country if it preserves two nations through the constitutional division of powers • “If federalism can’t work in Canada, it probably can’t work anywhere” (Ignatieff)

4. Readings: Smiley Donald Smiley (1971) “The Structural Problem of Canadian Federalism” (Russell 42) • Radical reform may be necessary for survival of Cdn federation • [remember the context – quiet revolution, bombs in Quebec, francophone incursions in Ottawa under Pearson then Trudeau] • Three major conflicts along territorial lines: • Interprovincial and intergovernmental equalization by the federal government • National economic policies with differential impact in regions • Cultural duality of Canada • Contending provinces differ on each issue; radical restructure is needed – 6 recommendations: not just anglo-franco; more regional representation at federal level; reform the electoral system; less PM power

5. Readings: Simeon and Robinson Richard Simeon and Ian Robinson (2004) “the Dynamics of Canadian Federalism” (Bickerton 8 or Russell 45) • Federalism is an institutional structure, but also a characteristic of society [new institutionalism] • It is underpinned by multiple identities, and is about means of coexistence • It combines shared rule and self-rule • Explanatory models can work both ways: federalism reflects society, but it also shapes it • Federalism is a process rather than a steady state, and faces the following challenges: • Improving democracy • Improving policy • Accommodating difference • Moving beyond federal-provincial to municipal and aboriginal “third order” government

6. Review Of Key Terms • Federalism • Constitutional division of government powers between two or more levels of government • Constitutionalism • The ideology that there should be a framework of rules that limit government and establish rights • Institutionalism • An approach to political studies that focuses on formal structures and the rules that govern them, drawing on law and documents (Peters, 2005) • New Institutionalism • An approach to political studies that focuses on the behaviour of institutions and their interaction in society, drawing on sociology and observation (Peters, 2005)

7. Comparative Federal Systems 19 States are organized as federations (Guy, 2003,127) • Matured = high consensus about division of powers (Australia, US) • Conciliatory = constitutionally designated centralism, but ongoing compromises with units (Canada, India) • Centralized = functions like a unitary state (Brazil, Nigeria) • This is a simple categorization • What is it useful for? • Explanations • Explorations • Theorizing • It is mainly about the likelihood of stability or change • BUT it is not very precise • Doesn’t help to scale degrees of centralization or decentralization

8. Federalism Federalism Centralisation and Decentralisation Decentralised federalism Two levels of authority, regional governments dominate Centralised federalism Two levels of authority, centrl government dominates Confederation one level of authority; alliance of coequal states Unitary government One level of authority All powers to federal government – no provincial budget powers? All powers to provincial government – provincial currency areas? All grants conditional All grants unconditional Feasible range defined by constitutions Source: Jackson & Jackson, 5th edition, citing Riker, Federalism: Origin, Operation, Significance

9. Degrees of Decentralization • Federal and decentralized [5.0] • Federal and centralized [4.0] • Semi-federal [3.0] • Unitary and decentralized [2.0] • Unitary and centralized [1.0] Loughlinin Caramani 2008

10. Why do we want to categorize? • In political science, we are trying to understand causes and relationships • The political, economic, and social world around us is changing • We cannot rely on descriptions of single cases to understand why things happen in other cases • (well, we can, but it is rather simplistic argument by analogy) • What makes countries stable or unstable? • Why do some federations break up, and others remain? • We categorize, develop theories, and compare cases in order to answer useful questions • This requires careful definitions, data collection, and analhysis

11. Federalism And Civil War • Murshed (2010) Explaining Civil War: A Rational Choice Approach. • Decentralization may curtail ethnic tensions and secessionism by bringing government closer to people, giving them more control, and opening opportunities closer to home • Or it may exacerbate ethnic conflict and secessionism because it reinforces identities by recognizing them and giving them political expression and legitimacy • Brancati (2006) • Decentralization reduces ethnic conflict and secessionism but the effect is reduced by the growth of regional and ethnic parties • Roeder (2005) • The risk of escalation from ethno-political conflict to national crisis is not diminished in territorial federations

12. Comparative Research Design Centralized Decentralized Country cases Country cases Nonviolent Country cases Country cases Violent More cases and fewer variables, or more variables and fewer cases?

13. Reasons for Federalism in Canada • Has federalism saved us from violent conflict in Canada? • Language and religion assigned to provinces to insulate national politics from divisive conflicts • Provincial powers accommodate a strong sense or regional identity that created some resistance to confederation • Geographic barriers and difficulty communicating across long distances in the early years of state-formation generated regional identity, and made central government impractical

14. Division Of Powers • Section 91, 93 • Federal • Peace, order and good government • coin money • public property • banking • navigation, shipping • native people & lands • criminal law • defence • foreign relations • Section 92, 93 • Provincial • local matters • provincial credit • administration of justice • licensing • health and welfare • municipal institutions • provincial lands • Section 95 • Concurrent • agriculture • immigration Nation building Conflict avoiding Guy, 295

15. Evolution of Federalism • Nation building and the Federal-Provincial pendulum (Perlin, V1D1, Chapter 4) • Impact of World Wars and depression • Emerging consensus on the need for an interventionist state National effort to win the wars and human costs of the depression contributed to the emerging consensus on the need for an interventionist state http://www.yesnet.yk.ca/schools/projects/canadianhistory/depression/depression.html

16. Evolution of Canadian Federalism 1867-2000 Mowat’s rise Mercier & compact theory BNA, 1867 DUAL FEDERALISM ERA 1883-1910 CONFEDERATION ERA 1867-1883 Pro-provincial rulings of JCPC Conditional grants begin WW1 and conscription crisis Rowel-Sirois Commission CONTESTED FEDERALISM ERA 1976-PRESENT Quiet revolution WW2 COOPERATIVE & EXECUTIVE FEDERALISM ERA 1910-1960 Meech and Charlottetown PQ elected 1976 Constitution Act 1982 1998 ruling on secession 1995 Quebec referendum Provincial autonomy Central government dominance Source: Jackson & Jackson, 5th edition

17. Consensus on Federal Activism • Federal intrusion on provincial jurisdiction • national standards for delivery of social programs • cost-shared programs based on the federal “spending power” (ability to spend on anything in the national interest) • entered education with grants to the universities • Federal leadership in the national economy • investment in national infrastructure (trans Canada highway, CBC) • spend more during economic down-turns (Keynesianism) • Regional development programs to support rural and poor regions • Federal encroachment on taxation and revenue collection • economies of scale • Benevolent intrusions

18. Federal Taxation • Federal exclusive rights to income and corporate taxation dating from WW2 • by 1947, all but Ont and Que agreed to continue this arrangement • Federal payments to Provinces based on population, amounted to a form of equalisation payment • 1957 tax sharing arrangement - both levels of government tax income, but regulated • 1970s - increasingly confrontational federal-provincial relations (Perlin, v1d1, chapter 4)

19. Financial Relations - tax and spend • 1957-1967 federal tax adjustments • 1967 - no more adjustments, force provinces to raise taxes if they want more revenue • uniformity • “floor” for provincial social spending • Provincial complaints of rigid federal programs and funding formulas • 1977 - Established Programs Financing Act • 1980s - big deficits all round • 1999 - Social Union Agreement

20. Asymmetrical Federalism • Unequal powers of units within a federation • Conditional vs. unconditional grants • Extent of unique provincial programs and different levels of services and reimbursements • Inevitable? Desirable? De facto?

21. Federal-provincial Tensions • Federal provincial tensions are a consistent feature of Canadian federalism • There are three major mechanisms for managing them: • Intergovernmental affairs (political-bureaucratic) • Fiscal negotiations (political-financial) • Constitutional (political-legal) • Tensions are exacerbated by: • Regionalism • Nationalism (Quebecois, Aboriginal, Newfie?) • Evolving identities • Political opportunism

22. Key points • Centralization and decentralization as defining characteristics of federal systems • Purpose of categorizing, and use of key indicators like conditionality of grants • Reasons for Canadian federalism • Division of powers in general terms • Evolution of Canadian federalism • Changing consensus on federal activism • Mechanisms for federal provincial cooperation (and conflict) • Third order federalism

23. Fun stuff to talk about at the pub… • How have the configurations identified by Smiley changed in the intervening 40 years, and why? • Given the challenges identified by Simeon and Robinson, what mechanisms for managing federal-provincial tensions are most likely to be useful? What are the limitations of each? • How does Quebec in Canada in NAFTA compare to Scotland in UK in EU? What questions might you explore in this comparative framework? • What is asymmetrical federalism? Has it always been around – is it inevitable, desirable, or insidious?

24. More questions for discussion… • Have linguistic tensions or fiscal realities been more important in shaping Canada’s federal and constitutional debates? • How and why has Canadian federalism oscillated between centralizing and decentralizing tendencies? • What stresses and strains have threatened Canadian unity, and how have they been addressed by the federal level? • How have demands of Quebec nationalism been addressed since the 1960s? Does it make a difference within the federal structure if they are demands of ethnic or civic nationalism? • How have federal and provincial governments approached taxation and spending? • How are the “high road” of constitutional reform, and the “low road” of fiscal reform linked in federal-provincial relations