Global Dialogue on Federalism
Global Dialogue on Federalism
The Centre led Australia's participation in the 2007 Global Dialogue on Local Government and Metropolitan Regions in Federal Systems. The dialogue was one of a series organised by the Forum of Federations and the International Association of Centre for Federal Studies (based in Canada). Participating countries included Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the USA.
The Centre hosted an Australian Roundtable on 8-9 February, 2007. This was co-chaired by Centre Director Graham Sansom and Professor Cheryl Saunders, head of the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies at Melbourne University and President of the International Association of Centres for Federal Studies. It was attended by 18 senior representatives of local, State and federal governments plus leading academics.
The conclusions reached and issues raised at the Australian Roundtable were then discussed at an international dialogue in April, 2007 and subsequently incorporated into a book to be published later this year. Centre Director Graham Sansom wrote the Australian chapter for the book.
For further information contact Graham Sansom.
Global Dialogue on Federalism Roundtable, Chaired by Centre Director, Graham Sansom
Participants
Those attending the Australian Roundtable were:
A/Professor Graham Sansom, Director, UTS Centre for Local Government (co-chair)
Professor Cheryl Saunders, Director, Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies, University of Melbourne (co-chair)
Ms Renee Barbaro, Senior Policy Officer, NSW Local Government and Shires Associations
Cllr Paul Bell, President, Australian Local Government Association
Mr Adrian Beresford-Wylie, CEO, Australian Local Government Association
Ms Renee Campbell, Manager - Corporate Planning and Business Improvement, Wollongong City Council, NSW
Ms Vanessa Crimmins, Executive Director, Council of Capital City Lord Mayors
Mr Bruce Davidson, National President, Local Government Managers Australia
Mr Stephen Hains, CEO, City of Salisbury, SA
Professor Brian Howe, Centre for Public Policy, University of Melbourne
Ms Clare McArdle, Director - Local Government Sector Development, Department for Victorian Communities
Mr Barry O'Neill, Head - Local Government Section, Department of Transport and Regional Services
Mr John Ravlic, CEO, Local Government Managers Australia (National)
Hon Mike Reynolds, Speaker, Queensland Parliament
Ms Marguerite Scott, Director - Community Development Division, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Tasmania
Dr Shayne Silcox, CEO, City of Belmont, WA
Mr Roger Wilkins, Head - Government and Public Sector, CitiGroup
Mr Ross Woodward, Deputy Director General, NSW Dept Local Government
The Global Dialogue Concept
A Global Dialogue on Federalism is an innovative program of the Forum of Federations and the International Association of Centers for Federal Studies (IACFS). The Forum is an international network on federalism that seeks to strengthen democratic governance by promoting dialogue on and understanding of the values, practices, principles and possibilities of federalism. The IACFS is an association of centers and institutes throughout the world with interests in independent research and publications about political, constitutional, legal, administrative, fiscal, economic, historical, and philosophical issues relevant to political systems that have federal features. The goal of the program is to engage participants in a comparative dialogue about core themes on federalism, with the aims of learning from each other and building an international network. This goal is achieved through a series of country and international roundtables. The knowledge and ideas generated from the dialogue are captured in publications on each theme, fostering future learning opportunities.
Past themes explored the areas of constitutional origins, structure, and change; distribution of powers and responsibilities; legislative, executive, and judicial governance; fiscal federalism, and foreign relations. Examples of future themes include political parties, interest groups, and civil society. All themes are applied to federal countries or those with federal features. In a world that today is experiencing economic, social and political change at an unprecedented rate, federal systems are undergoing continuous transformation. Federations are faced with the need to learn and adapt in order to cope with the challenges they face. In such a context, it is valuable to exchange experience about various ways of tackling common problems. Federal countries can benefit by learning from both the successes and failures of other federations.
There is, of course, no simple prescription for achieving a successful federal system. Whatever the value of sharing knowledge and expertise internationally, the experiences of one federation cannot be automatically applied to another. The Global Dialogue program is structured with this important principle in mind.
It is clear from its name that the Global Dialogue program utilizes dialogue, a method of communication where all participants are open to learning from each other. A successful dialogue depends to a great extent on the way participants are selected. All participants must be knowledgeable in their field and willing to learn. In addition, as a group, participants must be representative of diverse interests and viewpoints, to ensure that a broad picture of the subject is presented. Using these criteria allows the participants to come to the most inclusive and insightful conclusions.
Global Dialogue on Federalism Roundtable
The Local Government Theme
The purpose of the theme is to examine the role and place of local government and metropolitan regions in 12 very different federal or federal-type countries and to explore their relationship with the other orders of government and their impact on the system of federalism as a whole.
While local government is found in all federal countries, its place and role in the governance of these countries vary considerably. In some local government is considered an essential part of the federal nature of state and recognized in the constitution as such. In others local government is simply a creature of the subnational states/provinces. When referring to local government it is more correct to refer to local governments (plural) as these institutions come in all shapes and sizes, performing widely divergent functions. They range from metropolitan municipalities of mega-cities, to counties, small town councils, and villages. Their focus is either multi-purpose in the case of municipalities or single purpose in the case of special districts and school districts. What unites these institutions of state is that there is no level of government below them. That is also their strength and democratic claim; they are the government closest to the people.
The earliest federal constitutions (United States, Switzerland, Canada, Australia) did not refer to local government (and if they did, then merely as a competence of state/provincial government). Local government was thus merely a creature of statute at the discretion of the state/province. Since the Second World War, however, federal constitutions have increasingly recognized local government as a constituent part of the federal state. A principal reason for this growing recognition of local government is the democratic potential of the government closest to the people. This was the case in Germany, Brazil, Nigeria and South Africa. In India, entrenching local self-rule in the constitution was seen as vital for the mobilization of local resources for development. On the other hand, changes to the Swiss Constitution, giving recognition to local government, merely recorded the entrenched status of municipalities in the political life of that country.
The place and role of local government have also come strongly to the fore in the governance of metropolitan regions. Where local governments have to deal with the challenges of massive conurbations, they are also staking claims to be partners at the federal table of government. Articulating this view is, for example, the mayor of the metropolitan council of Toronto. He points out that the city's budget is larger than many Canadian provinces, yet it is not regarded as a partner in government. The claim he voices is thus for money, power and respect. Urban governments require new fiscal tools to meet their increasing responsibilities, they need powers commensurate to the challenges of urbanization, and finally, given the vital role they play in the social and economic wellbeing of the country as a whole, they want respect - a seat at the table of government.
In systems where the federal state is conceived of as comprising only the federal government and states/provinces, the former usually has little or no direct relations with local government and concerns and interests of the latter are mediated by the states/provinces. Where government powers are divided and shared among the three orders of government, direct relations between the federal government and local government usually follow, producing an inherently more complex system of government.
Increasingly local government plays a significant role in government. The constitutional recognition of local government over the past half century bears testimony to this. The complaint by local government about the off-loading of more and more responsibilities on municipalities is a recurring theme world wide. In the age of globalization, where the world is getting smaller, communities have a renewed interest in the comfort zone government closest to them may offer. Although the majority of local governments are still to be found in small towns and villages, with the town hall meetings exemplifying local self-government, the majority of the population in most country's live in cities and metropolitan regions, the governance of which is not only more complex, but also affects the health of the entire country. These developments on the role and place of local government place new demands on the theory and practice of federalism.
Key questions to be covered by the dialogue include the following:
- Has local government become a partner in the federal system of government, or is it still under the tutelage of states/provinces? What are the principal historical, social or political reasons for the place that local government occupies in the system?
- Where local self-government has received constitutional entrenchment, what has been the impact on the functioning of local government? Are local governments more democratically accountable and are they providing better services? Are citizens better off?
- Has the relationship between local government and the federal government changed? Are there direct relations between local government and the federal government or do states/provinces mediate that relationship?
- How has the recognition of local government as a partner in the federal system of government affected the relationship between the federal government and states/provinces? Is there competition between the large local governments, such as metropolitan cities, and states/provinces for power and resources?
- Where local government is a partner in the federal system, what has been the impact on the system as a whole? Have intergovernmental relations become more complex and unwieldy?
- What does the future hold? What are the likely developments?
Process
Each Global Dialogue theme entails a multiple-staged process. During the first stage background information on the theme is distributed in the form of a Theme Template. This document is produced by a leading expert on the theme referred to as the Theme Coordinator. She or he researches the current information on the theme and assesses which federal countries will be the most appropriate to ensure that the theme is explored from multiple perspectives. The Theme Template is comprised of a set of cross-cutting analytical questions as well as an internationally comprehensive set of questions covering institutional provisions and how they work in practice. The Theme Template guides the dialogue and the theme book.
In the second stage participants reflect on their own experience in light of the questions they received in the previous stage. This occurs at a roundtable held in each featured country and convened by a Country Coordinator. The selected participants gather to share their expertise on the theme, providing diverse viewpoints within the context of their country. Country Coordinators are then equipped to write a booklet article that reflects the highlights of the roundtable dialogue. The booklet provides an accessible, widely distributed summary of key issues and insights from each of the country roundtables.
Once each country has held its roundtable, representatives gather at an international roundtable, which features key questions of international importance identified at each country roundtable. The representatives are experts who share their varied experiences and perspectives, as well as the knowledge gained from their country's roundtable, to identify commonalities and differences and to generate new insights. The goal of this stage is for individuals to become more receptive to new ideas and points of view and to enable them to see and interpret their own social and political reality in new ways. The diversity of the countries and viewpoints offer participants a broad understanding of the theme for a truly comparative dialogue.
To ensure that the knowledge gained at the roundtables does not end with only those who were able to participate in them, country coordinators then write a detailed chapter for the theme book. This and the booklet integrate the reflections from the country roundtables and new insights from the international roundtable into a comparative whole, thus building on the progress already made and creating opportunities to make practical use of the material in governance or as the basis for future international conferences on federalism.
