polsic

Comparative Politics

POLSCI 202

UMASS Boston

Prof. Shuai Jin

Political Institutions and Federalism

Political Institutions

Legislative – executive relations

Parliamentary

Presidential

Semi-presidential

The design of elections (electoral system)

Plurality

Majority

Proportional presentation

Mixed

Number of parties (party system)

One-party non-democracy

One-party democracy

Two-party

Multi-party

National – local government relations

Unitary

Federal

Madison’s Dilemma

· Limited government vs. Effective government

· Concentrate power or disperse power

Constitution and Constitutional Design

Constitutions

Fundamental and supreme laws, usually written in a charter, that establish the basis of a political system and the basis for other laws

Constitutional Design

Features of constitutions that form the basis of the political system

Separation of powers

Responsibilities between levels of government

Responsibilities between branches of government

Flexible and Rigid Constitutions

Some constitutions are easily changed

These are more flexible constitutions

Other constitutions are more difficult to change

These are more rigid constitutions

Some constitutions are amended often, others rarely

Federalism and Unitarism

· The relationship between local and central governments

· Fundamental difference in how power is divided

Unitarism

A unitary system:

The central government is the only level of government specified in the constitution.

the central government has exclusive and final authority over policymaking across the entire national territory.

the central government is the ultimate source / origin of power. It decides the responsibilities and authorities of local governments, even borders of local units.

The central government has veto power over local governments’ decisions.

Federalism

A federal system:

The federal government and state / provincial government have overlapping political authority over the same group of people and same piece of territory.

State or provincial governments have exclusive control (constitutional guarantee) over at least one policy area.

The central government can not veto policy decisions that fall under subnational governments’ control.

Autonomy and power of subnational governments in federal countries vary considerably.

Formation of a federal system

“Coming-together” model

United States, Switzerland, Australia

A result of a “federal bargain”where previously sovereign polities agree to give up part of their sovereignty in order to pool their resources to increase their collective security and to achieve other goals.

“Holding-together” model

India, Span, Belgium

A result of a central decision: in previous unitary systems, leaders decide the best way to hold heir countries together is to devolve power constitutionally and turn the country into a federal system.

“Putting-together” model

The USSR

A result of coercion to put together a federal system, some of the components were previously independent states.

Why are most countries unitary?

What are the advantages of a unitary system?

It concentrates power in the central government -> effective government especially in times of need

Clear-cut responsibilities and authorities among the different levels of governments, less judicial disputes over authority

Laws are passed on the national level and are applied to all subnational units, less likely to have contradictory laws

What are advantages of a federal system?

· Maintain political order across wide swaths of territory

· Constrain the power of central governments – limited government

· Allows policies in line with local preferences.

· Protect the rights of ethnic, linguistic, or religious minority identity groups that live predominantly in certain regions, states, or provinces