Intergovernmental Relations

1. Intergovernmental Relations Forum of Federations Intensive Course on Democratic Federalism

2. OVERVIEW • What are intergovernmental relations (IGR)? • Why are they important? • Patterns of intergovernmental relations • The tasks of intergovernmental relations • Some examples • IGR in the Iraqi Federation • Observations and Conclusions

3. WHAT ARE INTERGOVERMENTAL RELATIONS (IGR)? • A federal constitution establishes the structure of government; IGR bring the structure to life • The constitution is the structure; IGR are the process – the way in which the necessary business of the federation gets done • Two types: • Relations between the central government and the provinces or states (vertical) • Relations among the provinces or the states themselves (horizontal) • No real watertight compartments – overlap, entanglement, sharing • Powers and responsibilities in modern federations cannot be cleanly divided between two orders of government; hence they have to work together – IGR • In some federations, powers and responsibilities are concurrent or shared in various ways – hence IGR • Involves both politicians and officials

4. WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT? • Federal constitutions are usually difficult to amend, fairly rigid • For this and other reasons, governments must work with and against one another as circumstances change • In all cases, intergovernmental relations are an inevitable, vital and omnipresent feature of functioning federations • They constitute one of the most important instruments of flexibility in a federal political system. Some others are: • The utilization of concurrent jurisdiction • The intergovernmental delegation of legislative powers and administrative responsibilities • ‘Opting in’ and ‘opting out’ arrangements • Intergovernmental agreements and accords

5. PATTERNS IF INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS: I • Parliamentary federations: • Executive and legislature fused • Power concentrated in the executive within each government and dispersed among governments • ‘Executive federalism’ • Congressional federations: • Executive and legislature separated • Power dispersed both within and among governments • IGR dispersed

6. PATTERNS OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS: II • How formal? How institutionalized? • Intergovernmental cooperation as a constitutional principle • The role of the second chamber/upper house • Councils, committees and other intergovernmental bodies • Informal norms, practices and meetings

7. THE TASKS OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS: I • Primary functions: • Putting the provisions of the Constitution into action • Resolving conflicts between the federal partners • Adapting governing and policy arrangements to changing circumstances

8. TASKS OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS: II • Fiscal/financial issues: sorting out revenue and expenditure arrangements • Negotiating fiscal transfers, typically from the federal to provincial and regional governments • Regulating intergovernmental competition, policy overlap, policy coordination

9. SOME EXAMPLES • Germany and South Africa: IGR as a constitutional principle: • Germany – Bundestreue – cooperative governance and loyalty to the federation • South Africa – Chapter 3 Cooperative Government – governments to “cooperate with one another in mutual trust and good faith.” • Germany: the upper house as an IGR institution • India, Malaysia: financial commissions and councils • Canada: informal processes of executive federalism

10. IGR IN THE IRAQI FEDERATION • To be discussed by the group