Federalism explained

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Federalism explained

• by Peter Matjasic

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Some historical facts...

• alliances of Greek city states or mediaeval
  Italian towns
• Switzerland, the Netherlands (the United
  Provinces)
• Foundation of the United States of America
• Philadelphia Convention (1787)
• first federal constitution
• To look for a continuation of harmony between a
  number of independent
• unconnected sovereignties situated in the same
  neighbourhood, would be
• to disregard the uniform course of human events
  and to set at defiance the
• accumulated experience of ages.
• (A. Hamilton, The Evils of Division The
  Federalist, 1788 )

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European Federalism

• The idea of the European federation (Saint
  SimonKant, De Tocqueville, Proudhon,
  Coudenhove-Kalergi)
• Federalism in the British Empire
• Federal Union federalist movement in Britain
  (1938-40)
• The Ventotene Manifesto (1941)
• ? a concrete political project (a post-war
  campaign for a European federal union)
• The history of European federalism is nothing
  more than that of the manifestation of the
  contradiction between the affirmation of
  democracy in the national context, and its
  negation in the international context.
• (M. Albertini, Federalism, Traditional
  Ideologies and Internationalism)

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continuing ...

• Jean Monet influenced by his experience of the
  failure of League of Nations, his work for the
  allies in two world wars, his reading of The
  Federalist Papers and living in London in 1940.
• Winston Churchill had been aware of plans for
  imperial federation and had endorsed plans for an
  Anglo-French Union in 1940. He crucially helped
  launch moves towards European union in a speech
  in, calling for the creation of a kind of United
  States of Europe.
• These forces came together in the post war period
  to forge a broad European federalist movement.
  This movement split in the late 1950s over
  attitudes to the European Community, but reunited
  in the early 1970s to campaign for its reform,
  while other federalists have focused primarily on
  the need for world government.

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Origins of the Term Federal

• The word came into English via French from Latin.
  Foederatus means bound by treaty deriving from
  foedus treaty and fidere to trust.
• The earliest recorded use of the word in English
  was by religious 17th century puritans who spoke
  of federal theology meaning a covenant between
  God and the settlers in America. By late 17th
  and early 18th centuries the use of the word had
  evolved to include agreements between states. By
  1721 for example the term federation was being
  used as meaning a united league.

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Key Characteristics of a Federal Union

• The key characteristics of a federal union
  bringing together independent states are as
  follows
• Rule of Law
• Law enforcement
• Applicability
• Independent legislative policy-making
  institutions
• Democracy
• Constitutionally defined responsibilities

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What Federal State Is

• The principal characteristic of federal state
• the functional division between legislative,
  executive and judicial powers
• a territorial division of powers between the
  various levels of government which are
  simultaneously independent and coordinated
• In existing federal states, there are essentially
  two specified levels of government the federal
  state and the member states.
• In Europe there is a tendency to organise also
  the member states on the basis of federal
  institutions, and hence to recognise all the
  local communities, from districts to towns,
  cities and regions, as autonomous levels of
  power.

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JEFs vision of federalism

• The federalist approach
• The main principle is that all decisions in
  society shall not be made on a higher level than
  necessary.
• Each individual has the right to exercise maximum
  influence over all matters which concern him/her,
  limited necessarily by the rights of other
  individuals.
• The power structure of society must be such that
  the authority to deal with a problem lies where
  the problem arises or naturally belongs.
• Principles of democracy must be introduced at all
  levels at the place of work in residential
  communities in educational institutions.

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What can be achieved by federalism

• To allow federalism to be effective, institutions
  must exist at every level with sufficient powers
  to permit and implement the necessary policies
  for the good of the individual and the community
  as a whole. Problems present themselves at local,
  regional, European and world levels.

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At the lower level

• As much decentralisation as possible within
  federalist principles is important in order to
  overcome the problem created by the present
  political and economic structure of centralised
  nation states
• A federal Europe should be based on coordinate
  and independent levels of government, for
  example district, city, region, nation,
  transregional area, Europe. The nation state
  should be incorporated in a federal structure as
  well, in order to let the cities and regions be
  coordinate but independent with the national and
  European level.

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At the European level

• The countries of Europe share a common cultural,
  economic and political background. They have been
  characterised through centuries by similar
  development patterns. A federal Europe would be
  open to all European countries which are prepared
  to adopt federalist principles. This would be the
  best way to safeguard the interests of all
  Europeans.
• The national dimension has become completely
  insufficient to assure economic growth,
  environmental protection, social justice,
  democratic decision-making and sustainable
  development. The creation of a European
  Federation would lead to a more effective way of
  dealing with such issues. These can only be
  solved by a supranational body which in the long
  term will prevail over the short term national
  self interest.

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continued ...

• The present political structure of the EU does
  not permit true European interests to be pursued.
  The EU should not be governed by the
  representatives of the members states'
  governments. The Heads of State and governments,
  their ministers and their unelected civil
  servants currently hold the power to block or to
  modify every decision. They represent their
  national interests and therefore usually ignore a
  true European standpoint.
• The development of European politics should be
  the result of a democratic process where real
  European needs are taken into account.

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Institutional vision

• European Commission European Government
• (President elected by the Parliament and would
  choose his own Commissioners)
• bicameral European Parliament composed of the
  current EP and the Council of Ministers (Council
  of EU)
• abolishment of the European Council

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So whats important to remember?Federalism is...

• DEMOCRACY and EFFICIENCY
• ...a model of governance ensuring efficiency in a
  democratic framework.
• ...a division of political power between levels
  of government to achieve the best combination of
  democracy and effectiveness.
• ... a system of multi-level governance so that
  decisions are taken at the most appropriate
  level, with as much decentralisation as possible
  and as much centralisation as necessary.
• ...a theory of political legitimacy since each
  level of government should have a direct link to
  the citizens and their interests should be
  represented at central level.
• ...a bottom-up political approach to the society
  based on the principle of subsidiarity, where
  decisions should be taken as openly and as
  closely to citizens as possible.
• ...a means of protecting pluralism and the rights
  of the individual against an over powerful
  government.
• ...an idea that democracy and the rule of law
  should apply between states as well as within
  them.

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Federalism is ...

• UNITY and DIVERSITY
• ...a way of managing diversity safeguarding and
  promoting cultural identities within political
  entities as vital for their viability and
  dynamism.
• ...a model of multi-layered identity reflecting
  the complexity of human life by taking into
  account and reconciling multiple identifications
  and allegiances of citizens. Feelings of
  belonging to a local community, region and/or
  country are not incompatible with the
  identification with and support of supranational
  and international political entities (such as the
  EU and UN), but supplement and mutually influence
  each other.
• PEACE and UNIVERSAL VALUES
• ...a guarantor of all human beings' fundamental
  and inalienable rights.
• ...a means of preventing war by establishing a
  means for the peaceful resolution of disputes
  between states.
• ...a rejection of the idea that the development
  of political institutions in human history has
  come to a full stop with the creation of nation
  states.
• ...a political theory promoting solidarity as a
  precondition for the peaceful coexistence and
  cooperation within and between states and other
  political bodies.

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Federalism is...

• CONFRONTING MODERN CHALLENGES GLOBALLY
• ...an alternative to the hegemony of one state or
  group of states in an ordered international
  system.
• ...a means of starting to tackle seemingly
  impossible political problems by understanding
  the way that the design of institutional systems
  both causes and can help to solve them. 
• ...an answer to the erosion of the sovereignty of
  the nation state caused by globalisation.  Modern
  states can no longer tackle many (both global and
  national) problems on their own or solely by
  means of traditional intergovernmental
  cooperation. Nowadays challenges facing states
  need to be addressed with common policies.
• UNIVERSAL APPLICABILITY
• ...a dynamic concept that in spite of the
  challenges raised by the evolution of society
  succeeded in adapting to new forms of societal
  organization resulting in diverse forms of
  federal arrangements that encompass a large
  number of countries, regions and populations all
  around the world.
• ...a political ideology and means of addressing
  politics that is not tied to traditional
  left-right party divisions.
• ...a realisation that progress both can and must
  come in stages - think of federalism as a
  direction rather than a destination!

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Thats it folks!

• Thanks for your patience and if you want to know
  more about federalism and/or JEF check out the
  following websites
• www.jef-europe.net
• www.federaleurope.org
• (these sites were also used as references for the
  content of this presentation)