Impact of Global and Regional Integration on Federal Systems

Global and regional integration present special challenges to federal political systems around the world. The division of powers inherent in federal political systems complicates the impact of external pressures on the nation-state and confuses the possible responses to these pressures. In The Implications of Global and Regional Integration for the Future of Federal Political Systems each chapter analyzes the respective federation may look under a variety of future international scenarios. The broad conclusion of the study is that the specific impact of regional and global integration on each federation depends on the situational context and institutional structure of the federation. The study also concludes that global and regional integration has more impact on federal processes than institutional change. This reflects the fact that actors within institutions can respond to external pressures without necessarily reforming the institutions. The case studies consequently provide important lessons for students of comparative politics. The study makes clear that "globalization" is a multifaceted phenomenon, and it illustrates the wide range of institutional variations among federations. Policy makers in federal political systems will also appreciate the varied lessons to be learned from the differential impact of global and regional integration on federations around the world. The contributors to this volume are amongst the leading scholars of federalism in their respective countries. Contributors include Harvey Lazar, Hamish Telford, Richard Simeon (University of Toronto), John Kincaid (Lafayette College), Brian Galligan (University of Melbourne), Rudolf Hrbek (University of Tübingen), Liesbet Hooghe (University of North Carolina), Jürg Steiner (University of Bern and University of North Carolina), Nico Steytler (University of the Western Cape), and M. P. Singh (University of Delhi).

Harvey Lazar is fellow, Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, Queen's University, and senior research associate, Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria.