Les fédérations abritent quarante pour cent de la population mondiale. Les 28 pays dotés d’un régime politique fédéral se révèlent des plus diversifiés : de la nation la plus nantie du monde – les États-Unis d’Amérique – à de minuscules États insulaires comme la Micronésie et Saint-Kitts-et-Nevis. Six des dix pays les plus populeux et huit des dix pays les plus vastes de la planète sont des fédérations. Ce livre d’une remarquable concision présente les notions élémentaires de ce système politique dans une langue claire et dépourvue de jargon—sans doute la raison pour laquelle il a été traduit en environ 20 langues. Il s’agit d’un ouvrage incontournable non seulement pour ceux qui étudient les gouvernements et oeuvrent dans le secteur public, mais aussi pour tout citoyen des fédérations du monde.

Understanding federalism - the form of political organization that unites separate polities within an overarching political system so that all maintain their political integrity - is central to the study of democratic government in the United States. Yet, many political scientists treat federalism as a set of abstract principles or a maze of budgetary transfers with little connection to real political life. This concise and engaging book boils the discussion down to its essence: federalism is about power, specifically the tug for power among and within the various levels of government. Author Larry N. Gerston examines the historical and philosophical underpinnings of federalism; the various "change events" that have been involved in defining America's unique set of federal principles over time; and the vertical, horizontal, and international dimensions of federalism in the United States today. The result is a book examining the ways in which institutional political power is both diffused and concentrated in the United States.

The papers contained in this book reflect the ideas presented at the colloquium held on the same subject. The event, sponsored by the Nordmann Foundation, was organized to the memory of the late Jean Nordmann by Prof. Claude Klein, Jerusalem, and Prof. Thomas Fleiner, Institute of Federalism, University of Fribourg. Jean Nordmann and his family have always supported the good relations between the University of Fribourg and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The Nordmann Foundation was later created to develop further the cooperation between the two universities, thus contributing substantially to the understanding of the Jewish and Christian communities, notably in Switzerland.

This book is an outcome of the round table conference held in 1984 in Switzerland. It deals with decision of decentralization, structure of decentralized units, external power of decentralized unit, financial autonomy and decentralization and the protection of the basic rights.

Federalism: An Introduction provides students of political science as well as practitioners and scholars with a concise, jargon-free overview of the various forms of federal government found around the world as well as the basic principles, practices, benefits, and challenges characteristic of the federal form of government. The book defines federalism and examines the constitutional, legal, financial, and philosophical underpinnings of federal systems, incorporating examples not only from well-known and long-established federations such as US and Canada but countries that have only recently adopted a federal form of government.

The time is ripe to revisit Canada's past and redress its historical wrongs. Yet in our urgency to imagine roads to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, it is important to keep in sight the many other forms of diversity that Canadian federalism has historically been designed to accommodate or could also reflect more effectively. Canadian Federalism and Its Future brings together international experts to assess four fundamental institutions: bicameralism, the judiciary as arbiter of the federal deal, the electoral system and party politics, and intergovernmental relations. The contributors use comparative and critical lenses to appraise the repercussions of these four dimensions of Canadian federalism on key actors, including member states, constitutive units, internal nations, Indigenous peoples, and linguistic minorities. Pursuing the work of The Constitutions That Shaped Us (2015) and The Quebec Conference of 1864 (2018), this third volume is a testimony to Canada's successes and failures in constitutional design. Reflecting on the cultural pluralism inherent in this country, Canadian Federalism and Its Future offers thought-provoking lessons for a world in search of concrete institutional solutions, within and beyond the traditional nation-state.