20 November 2019 might go down in history as one of the turning points for federalism in Ethiopia. It was the day on which the unparalleled clause of the Ethiopian Constitution, which provides ethnic communities with the right to establish their own state (i.e. subnational unit), was put into practice.
Continue Reading →Elections in the small, peaceful, politically stable region of Umbria in central Italy normally go rather unnoticed. This didn’t change when the direct election of regional presidents was introduced in 1995, making Italy the only European country with a presidential system at regional level. The stunning victory of the right not only brought Umbria into the spotlight of national politics but also cast light on the erosion of regionalism in Italy.
Continue Reading →The move of India’s Government to nullify Article 370 of the Constitution not only broadened the legislative powers of the Union Parliament over the Jammu & Kashmir but also demoted J&K to the position of a Union Territory. Apart from doubts about the Government’s power to bring about these changes and their legitimacy, it is an open question whether Article 370 is a basic feature of the Constitution of India. Given the sacrosanct political arrangement it encapsulates as well as its role as an exemplar of Indian federal asymmetry, it is now upon the Supreme Court to formally acknowledge the constitutional basis of India’s delicate distribution of powers.
Continue Reading →Tomorrow, the trail against nine Catalan separatist leaders will start. Without doubt, this trial will shape the future of the Spanish Constitution.
Continue Reading →Die erste große Reform der bundesstaatlichen Strukturen in Deutschland in diesem Jahrtausend ist zwölf Jahre her, die zweite neun. Jetzt wird die bundesstaatliche Ordnung erneut auf grundlegende Weise umgestaltet. Doch für den großen Zentralisierungsschub, der damit einhergeht, scheint sich die Öffentlichkeit kaum zu interessieren.
Continue Reading →On the morning of 4 August 2018, troops were seen taking over key positions in Jijiga, a capital city of the State of Somali, one of the constituent units of the Ethiopian federation. Heavily armed military vehicles were stationed outside the state parliament, the offices of state government and the state TV station. It was not an invasion by a foreign force. It was a federal intervention.
Continue Reading →President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office in July 2016, His party, PDP-Laban, had campaigned under the slogan: “No to Drugs, Yes to Federalism”. Duterte thus is committed to shepherding the Philippines towards a federal form of government; an undertaking that would require an extensive overhaul of the country’s constitution. The future of constitutional change under Duterte in any event is uncertain for a series of constitutional and political reasons. Critically, some of the most pressing of these concern the process of constitutional change itself.
Continue Reading →Qianfan Zhang, constitutional lawyer from Peking, came to Berlin to study German federalism – a model that might help to invigorate China’s 2000-year-old centralized system.
Continue Reading →Three weeks after Catalonia, two of Italy’s wealthiest regions are going to the polls over similar issues related to autonomy. On Sunday, the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto will vote on a one-question query on whether to demand greater autonomy from Rome. Despite their apparent simplicity, both questions are formulated in such a way as to be misleading. Few months before the national election, the referendum may be considered as a test for Northern League, or even a rehearsal in view of a political campaign based on the promise of a greater return on taxes.
Continue Reading →The events of the past week in Catalunya (and of the weeks that will follow) are very serious and worrying. Catalunya is a region of a Member State of the EU that has begun a unilateral process of independence, disregarding the Constitution, its Statute of Autonomy and the opposition of half of the Catalan population. It’s a remarkable challenge for Spanish democracy. It’s a challenge for the EU as well.
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