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Federalism is explained by Elazar (1987) as a combination of ‘shared’ and ‘self’ rule whereby, the politics and people unite for common purposes while at the same time maintaining separate integrities of all parties. Federalism has varying meaning and applications in different contexts. There is no blueprint federalism, various types exist based on the purpose for their formation, degree of power distribution and region’s relative power and size.
Based on purpose of formation, federations could be coming together or holding together federations. Coming together federation occurs when independent states come together driven by different goals form a collaboration based on consent. Some examples of such federations are Switzerland and the USA. On the other hand, holding-together federations emerge from the need of a unitary states to deal with threats of secession by geographically concentrated marginalized factions or plurality of ethnicities. In such federations, although the central government maintains the upper hand, constituents are granted specific domains of. Depending on the degree of power of the constituents, federations can also be symmetrical or asymmetrical. Federations can hold varying models and can be diverse in their form but despite their differences, there are common characteristics.
Some of the common features that distinguish federal states from other political arrangements are constitutionally agreed contract, distribution or division of power, the participation of regions (constituent’ units) in federal decision making, accommodating diversity and fiscal autonomy as major features of federalism. The constitutionally agreed contract refers to the strong commitments and mutual consent both by constituents and the central state enter to achieve a common end while preserving their respective integrity. The division of power indicated here is different from those found in unitary systems with decentralized systems in scope of decentralization but also because of the guaranteed autonomy of constituents. It is also worth noting that although distribution of power anchored in cooperation is promoted between central and sub-units. Accordingly, holding-together federation will constitutionally grant higher degree of power and autonomy for constituent units while coming-together federation’s self-governance before forming the federation is respected and maintained. Duchacek (1987) argues the central government is clearly favored as an equal relationship will not allow anyone to prevail even the majority and it is simply anarchy, the United States and Switzerland Constitution could serve as examples.
Federalism like other forms of political arrangements has both its advantage and drawbacks. An apparent advantage of adopting a federal arrangement is its relevance addressing political issues that are prevalent in countries and its practical solution to real issues; it has been applauded for its function to maintain diversity and unity simultaneously. Proponents of federalism refer to three reasons: 1) efficient allocation of national resources, 2) fostering political participation and sense of the democratic community, 3) helps to protect basic liberties and freedom. MacPherson (1994) also identifies federalism as a means of power compromise, promoting tolerance and reconciliation of historical tensions and develops trust among society. Although any sort of political integration including federalism is difficult to implement in nations where longstanding domination of one group, it is the preferred arrangement in the context of where permanent differences in terms of culture, religion, ethnicity or otherwise exist.
However, despite its advantages, there are challenges associated with federal systems. One of the major challenges of federalism is related with stability. Ostrom (1973) argues that instability is an integral feature of federalism, as there is a complex relationship between the two levels of government. Bryce (1901) attributes instability towards the societal tension between centripetal and centrifugal forces. Moreover, some scholars indicate that rather than promoting diversity, it will reinforce the existing cleavages and incapable to address non-territorial societal cleavages.
The time, cost and efforts required to on decision making in federalized are much higher than unitary states due to overlapping structures and services. However, factors such as common heritage and application of federal principles effectively can contribute to success of federations.
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