HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: Political Science

Semester: 2nd Semester

Teaching Languages: English

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Dr. Jorge Gordin

Coordinator Email: jorge.gordin@mail.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours: Monday, 16:00-17:00

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Jorge Gordin

Course/Module description:
Whereas modern political science has been traditionally concerned with the horizontal division and dispersion of powers (institutional checks and balances), the vertical distribution of authority and competences almost certainly affects most political phenomena. Across the world, states are experimenting with devolving political, fiscal and administrative powers to local and regional governments and upwardly to supra-national entities like the European Union. In this sense, the comparative study of federalism and decentralization stands out as one of the most vibrant research agendas in the discipline.

In this course, we will combine the theoretical literature on federalism and decentralization with empirical cases (with particular emphasis on the Americas, Europe and Israel), exploring some of the most important topics in the study of territorial politics such as theory and practice of federalism and decentralization in terms of their impact on political institutions and organizations, economic performance, democratic governance, ethnic representation, among others.

Course/Module aims:
. Provide an overview of the salience and significance of territorial variables in political science

. Illustrate potential uses to which the concepts of territorial politics may be put to work in comparative politics research

. Examine both the theory and practice of federalism and decentralization in formal federations as well as in multi-tiered unitary polities adopting federal principles and arrangements

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
• Think critically about the role of territory and dimensions of territorialization in politics;

• analyze the impact of decentralization and territorial designs on policymaking and the workings of political institutions and organizations;

• identify the key themes, concepts and debates concerning federalism and decentralization;

• apply these to and compare empirically countries whose political systems are identifiably influenced by the adoption of territorial arrangements and lack thereof.

Attendance requirements(%):
100

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: Frontal Lecture

Course/Module Content:
Lecture 1 Introduction and Overview of Themes: Why Decentralization?

Lecture 2 Why Federalism? Main Approaches

Lecture 3 Theories of Federalism I: Politics and Institutions

Lecture 4 Theories of Federalism II: Economics

Lecture 5 Decentralization and Federalism, how are they related? Similarities and Differences

Lecture 6 Political Institutions in Federal Systems – Legislatures and Courts

Lecture 7 The Effects of Political Institutions in Federal Systems: Representation

Lecture 8 The Effects of Political Institutions in Federal Systems: Distributive Coalitions

Lecture 9 Federalism and Ethnic Diversity

Lecture 10 United States: The “Ideal” Federation?

Lecture 11 De facto and Quasi Federalism? Italy and Spain

Lecture 12 Redistributive Federalism? Argentina and Brazil

Lecture 13 Israel: Localism in a Formally Centralized Polity?

Required Reading:
Cheema, Shabbir and Dennis Rondinelli (2007), From Government Decentralization to Decentralized Governance, In Cheema and Rondinelli (eds), Decentralizing Governance: Emerging Concepts and Practices, Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press.

Furniss, Norman (1974), “The Practical Significance of Decentralization,” Journal of Politics 36 (4): 958-982

Sharma, Chancal (2005), “Why Decentralization? The Puzzle of Causation, “Synthesis 3 (1):1-17.

Elazar, Daniel (1987) Exploring Federalism, Toscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, Ch. 2 (“What is Federalism?”)

Burgess, Michael (2006), Comparative Federalism: Theory and Practice, London: Routledge, Ch. 3 (“Federalism and Federations: The Origins and Formation of Federal States”)

Birch, A. (1966), “Approaches to the Study of Federalism,” Political Studies 14 (1): 15-33.

Burgess, Michael (2006), Comparative Federalism: Theory and Practice, London: Routledge, Ch. 5 (“The Comparative Study of Federal Political Systems”)

Saunders, Ch. (1996), “The Constitutional Arrangements of Federal Systems: A Sceptical View from the Outside,” In Hesse, Joachim and Vincent Wright (eds) Federalizing Europe? The Costs, Benefits and Preconditions of Federal Political Systems, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Watts, Ronald (1998), “Federalism, Federal Political Systems and Federations, “Annual Review of Political Science 1: 117-137.

Weingast, Barry (1995), “The Economic Role of Political Institutions: Market-Preserving Federalism and Economic Development,” The Journal of Law, Economics & Organization 11 (1): 1-31.

Rodden, Jonathan and Susan Ackerman (1997), “Does Federalism Preserve Markets?” Virginia Law Review 83: 1521-72.

Inman, Robert and Daniel Rubinfeld (1997), “Rethinking Federalism, “Journal of Economic Perspectives 11 (4):43-64.

Rodden, Jonathan (2004), “Comparative Federalism and Decentralization: On Meaning and Measurement, “Comparative Politics 36 (4): 481-500.

Lijphart, Arend (2012), Patterns of Democracy, New Haven: Yale University Press, Ch. 10 (“Division of Power: The Federal-Unitary and Centralized-Decentralized Contrasts”)

Osaghae, Eghosa (1990), “A Reassessment of Federalism as a Degree of Decentralization,” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 20: 83-98.

Chhibber, Pradeep and E Somanthan (2002), “Are Federal Nations Decentralized? Provincial Governments and the Devolution of Authority to Local Government, “Unpublished Paper.

Lijphart, Arend (2012), Patterns of Democracy, New Haven: Yale University Press, Ch. 11 (“Parliaments and Congresses: Concentration versus Division of Legislative Power”)

Cameron, Maxwell and Tulia Falleti (2005), “Federalism and the Subnational Separation of Powers,” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 35 (2): 245-271.

Gardner, James (2021), “Subnational Constitutionalism in the United States: Powerful States in a Powerful Federation," In Popelier Patricia, Delledonne Giacomo and Nicholas Aroney (eds) Routledge Handbook of Subnational Constitutions and Constitutionalism, London: Routledge.

Stepan, Alfred (1999), “Federalism and Democracy: Beyond the U.S. Model,” Journal of Democracy 10 (4): 19-34.

Downs, William (1999), “Accountability Payoffs in Federal Systems? Competing Logics and Evidence from Europe's Newest Federation, “Publius: The Journal of Federalism 29 (1): 87-110.

Samuels, David and Richard Snyder (2001), “The Value of a Vote: Malapportionment in Comparative Perspective,” British Journal of Political Science 31: 651-671.

Braun, Dietman, Bullinger, Ann and Sonja Walti (2002), “The influence of federalism on fiscal policy making,” European Journal of Political Research 41: 115-145.

Wibbels, Erik (2001), “Federal Politics and Market Reform in the Developing World,” Studies in Comparative International Development 36 (2): 27-53.

Gibson, Edward, Calvo Ernesto and Tulia Falleti (2004), “Reallocative Federalism: Legislative Overrepresentation and Public Spending in the Western Hemisphere,” In Gibson, Edward (ed.) Federalism and Democracy on Latin America, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Anderson, Liam (2014), “Ethnofederalism: The Worst Form of Institutional Arrangement...? “International Security 39 (1): 165-204.

Anderson, Lawrence (2007), “Theorizing Federalism in Iraq,” Regional and Federal Studies 17 (2): 159-171.

Radnitz, Scott (2004), “Working with the Warlords: Designing an Ethnofederal System for Afghanistan,” Regional and Federal Studies 14 (4): 513-537.

Beer, Samuel (1978), “Federalism, Nationalism and Democracy in America,” American Political Science Review 72 (1): 9-21.

Peters, Guy (1993), American Public Policy: Promise and Performance, Chatham: Chatham House Publishers, Ch. 3 (“The Structure of Policymaking in American Government”)

Mckay, David (2001), Designing Europe: Comparative Lessons from the Federal Experience, Oxford: Oxford University Press, Ch. 3 (“The United States: The Rise and Fall of Territorial Politics”).

Breton, Albert and Angela Fraschini (2003), “Vertical Competition in Unitary States: The Case of Italy,” Public Choice 114: 57-77.

Solozábal, Juan (1996), “Spain: A Federation in the Making?” In Hesse, Joachim and Vincent Wright (eds) Federalizing Europe? The Costs, Benefits and Preconditions of Federal Political Systems, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Colomer, Josep (1999), “The Spanish ´State of Autonomies´: Non-Institutional Federalism,” In Heywood, Paul (ed.) Politics and Policy in Democratic Spain: No Longer Different? London: Frank Cass

Gordin, Jorge (2006), “Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations, Argentine Style,” Journal of Public Policy 26 (3): 255-277.

Jones, Mark, Sanguinetti, Pablo and Mariano Tommasi (2000), “Politics, Institutions, and Fiscal Performance in a Federal System: An Analysis of the Argentine Provinces,” Journal of Development Economics 61: 305-333.

Ames, Barry (2001), The Deadlock of Democracy in Brazil, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, pp. 18-23.

Samuels, David and Fernando Abrucio (2000). “Federalism and Democratic Transitions: The "New " Politics of the Governors in Brazil,” Publius 30 (2): 43-61.

Dery, David (1998), “Elected Mayors and De Facto Decentralisation, Israeli Style,” Local Government Studies 24(2): 45-55.

Pedahzur, Ami and Abraham Brichta (2000), “The Attractiveness of the Seemingly Unattractive: An Israeli Case,” Local Government Studies 26 (3): 55-70.

Razin, Eran (1998), “The Impact of Decentralisation on Fiscal Disparities among Local Authorities in Israel,” Space & Polity 2 (1): 49-69.

Additional Reading Material:

Grading Scheme :
Essay / Project / Final Assignment / Home Exam / Referat 70 %
Presentation / Poster Presentation / Lecture/ Seminar / Pro-seminar / Research proposal 20 %
Attendance / Participation in Field Excursion 10 %

Additional information: