Democratic Federalism : The Economics, Politics, and Law of Federal Governance

**An authoritative guide to federal democracy from two respected experts in the field** Around the world, federalism has emerged as the system of choice for nascent republics and established nations alike. In this book, leading scholars and governmental advisers Robert Inman and Daniel Rubinfeld consider the most promising forms of federal governance and the most effective path to enacting federal policies. The result is an essential guide to federalism, its principles, its applications, and its potential to enhance democratic governance. Drawing on the latest work from economics, political science, and law, Inman and Rubinfeld assess different models of federalism and their relative abilities to promote economic efficiency, encourage the participation of citizens, and protect individual liberties. Under the right conditions, the authors argue, a federal democracy—including a national legislature with locally elected representatives—can best achieve these goals. Because a stable union between the national and local governments is key, Inman and Rubinfeld also propose an innovative method for evaluating new federal laws and their possible impact on state and local governments. Finally, to show what the adoption of federalism can mean for citizens, the authors discuss the evolution of governance in the European Union and South Africa’s transition from apartheid to a multiracial democracy. Interdisciplinary in approach, __Democratic Federalism__ brims with applicable policy ideas and comparative case studies of global significance. This book is indispensable for understanding the importance of federal forms of government—both in recent history and, crucially, for future democracies. "Federalism, defined generally as a collection of self-governing regions under a central government, is widely viewed as a sensible choice of polity both for emerging democracies and for established states. But while federal institutions are positively correlated with valued economic, democratic, and justice outcomes, ultimately it is unclear how they are connected and which cause which. In Democratic Federalism, Robert Inman and Daniel Rubinfeld explore how federalism works and propose concrete and proven policy guidance on how federalist policies can be designed and implemented successfully. The authors define federalism according to three parameters: how much federal revenue comes through local governmental bodies, the number of local governmental bodies, and the extent to which these local bodies are represented federally. In applying these parameters to economic concepts and theory, Inman and Rubinfeld explain how federalism works in a way meant to engage scholars in political science and sociology and policymakers drafting regulation in federalist governments. The book offers applicable ideas and comparative case studies on how to assess potential policies and how to actually design federalist institutions from scratch. Both authors have real experience with both, most notably in their work advising the South African government on how to build a federalist democracy. This book will be an essential guide to understanding and applying federalist concepts and principles"-- Provided by publisher Around the world, federalism has emerged as the system of choice for nascent republics and established nations alike. This book considers the most promising forms of federal governance and the most effective path to enacting federal policies. The result is an essential guide to federalism, its principles, its applications, and its potential to enhance democratic governance. The book assess different models of federalism and their relative abilities to promote economic efficiency, encourage the participation of citizens, and protect individual liberties Contents Acknowledgments 1 Introduction Part I. The Institutions of Democratic Federalism 2 Economic Federalism 3 Cooperative Federalism 4 Democratic Federalism: The National Legislature 5 Democratic Federalism: The Safeguards Part II. Encouraging the Federal 6 FIST: Having the Federal Dialogue 7 Fiscal Policy in the Federal Union 8 Regulation in the Federal Union Part III. On Becoming Federal 9 The European Union: Federal Governance at the Crossroads 10 Mandela’s Federal Democracy: A Fragile Compact 11 Epilogue Bibliography Name Index Subject Index