Handbook of Federal Countries, 2002

For more than two centuries federalism has provided an example of how people can live together even as they maintain their diversity. While the implosion of the former Yugoslavia illustrates that federalism is not, and cannot be, a panacea, its abiding success in other countries shows that it is a system worth examining. The Handbook of Federal Countries, 2002, a project of the Forum of Federations – an international network that seeks to strengthen democratic governance by promoting dialogue on and understanding of the values, practices, principles, and possibilities of federalism – does exactly this, incorporating available information about existing federations in one place for easy, convenient reference.

The Handbook of Federal Countries, 2002 includes articles on the twenty-one countries that classify themselves as federations as well as four whose systems incorporate sufficient elements of federalism that it is useful to include them. These articles – written by authors around the world – examine the development, institutions, constitutions, and dynamics of federalism and include tables containing current political/geographic and economic/social information. The Handbook also includes four comparative papers, each of which examines a theme of concern to federal countries: foreign policy in an era of globalization that increasingly encroaches on the jurisdiction of constituent units and demands their active participation; use of federalism to accommodate minorities; distribution of resources and power (fiscal federalism); and issues relating to regional autonomy and federalism in a European context. Contributors include Dirk Anthony Ballendorf (University of Guam), Kaiser Bengali (Social Policy and Development Centre, Karachi), Allan R. Brewer-Carías (Universidad Central de Venezuela), David R. Cameron (University of Toronto), Valeriano Mendes Ferreira Costa (State University of Campinas - UNICAMP, Sao Paulo), Mihailo Crnobrnja (College of William and Mary), Aisha Ghaus-Pasha (Social Policy and Development Centre, Karachi), Ann L. Griffiths (Dalhousie University), Siobhán Harty (University of Wales, Aberystwyth), Rudolf Hrbek (Institute für Politikwissenschaft), John Kincaid (Lafayette College), André Lecours (Concordia University), George Mathew (Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi), John McGarry (University of Waterloo), Gordon P. Means (McMaster University), Nelson Michaud (Université du Québec), Yemile Mizrahi (Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, AC, México City), Faissoili Ben Mohadji (Politico-Administrative de Mohéli), Festus C. Nze (National University of Lesotho, Lesotho), Viviana Patroni (York University), Tom Pätz (Office of the Prime Minister, Addis Ababa), Peter Pernthaler (University of Innsbruck, Austria), Cheryl Saunders (University of Melbourne), Sanford F. Schram (Bryn Mawr College), Julie M. Simmons (University of Toronto), Thomas Stauffer (Institute of Federalism, Fribourg, Switzerland), Roland Sturm (University of Erlangen-Nürnberg), Urs Thalmann-Torres (Institute of Federalism, Fribourg, Switzerland), Nicole Töpperwien (Institute of Federalism, Fribourg, Switzerland), Ronald L. Watts (Queen’s University), Janis van der Westhuizen (University of Natal, Durban), Gary N. Wilson (University of Toronto), and Marie-Joëlle Zahar (Université de Montréal).