Federal and Regional States

The report was undertaken after a decision was made by the Venice Commission to conduct a study on the problems of federalism. It is largely based on answers to questionnaires concerning federal and regional states. The questionnaires were designed with Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States in mind, though Bulgaria, Finland, Portugal, and the Ukraine also responded. The report is organized as follows: Part 1 deals with basic aspects of federalism versus regionalism in the subject states, whether symmetric or not, the legal basis for the order of government and their territorial basis, if any. Part 2 looks at the distribution of powers, focusing on tax. Part 3 looks at the organs and political systems of the orders of government within each state. Part 4 looks at the means of participation in the central state by the constituent units in that state; specifically it looks at the function, if any of the second chamber of the legislature. Part 5 looks at the co-operative federalism or regionalism, if any. Part 6 looks at the accountability mechanisms for ensuring the distribution of power between orders of government are not contravened.
Keywords: Federalism/Federal, Asymmetrical federalism, Orders of Government, Regional Government, Local Government, Subnational Units, Distribution of powers, Residual powers, Concurrent powers, Delegated powers, Tax/Taxation, Revenue Sharing, Legislature/Legislative, Second Chambers. Request Copyright.