Introduction to Comparative Politics - PS 50

Felipe Nunes
October, 26 2011
This document outlines the main issues to be discussed in section 5
of PS 50. This week we touch the definitions, advantages and disadvantages of federal systems, as well as bicameral legislatures. We also
analyze the trade-offs of legislative organizations around the world.

Intro
There are two kinds of classification: (1) de jure federal systems, and
(2) de facto federal systems. We will conventionalize to call de jure
federal systems as federalism, whereas de facto federal system as decentralization. The difference between them is related to the formal
structure and the real operation of each system.

Federalism
Definition: A federal state is one in which sovereignty is constitutionally split between at least two territorial levels so that independent
governmental units at each level have final authority in at least one
policy realm.
Federal vs. Unitary States: To be classified as federal (de
jure or federalism in structure), a country must satisfy 3 structural
criteria:
1. Geopolitical division: the country must be divided into mutually
exclusive regional government that are constitutionally recognized
and that cannot be unilaterally abolished by the national or central
government.
2. Independence: The regional and national governments must
have independent bases of authority. Typically, this independence
is established constitutionally by having the regional and national
governments elected independently of one another.
3. Direct governance: Authority must be shared between the regional governments and the national government; each governs its
citizens directly, so that each citizen is governed by at least two
authorities.

introduction to comparative politics - ps 50 2

Features (Examples):
1. Rare in the world: only 10% of countries
2. Large countries: Australia, Brazil, Soviet Union, U.S.
3. Heterogeneous and diverse countries: Belgium, Ethiopia,
Malaysia, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia.
Distinctions Between Federal Systems
1. Congruency:
(a) Congruent: exists when the territorial units of a federal state
share a similar demographic makeup with one another and the
country as a whole (i.e. U.S. and Brazil)
(b) Incongruent: exists when the demographic makeup of territorial units differs among the units and the country as a whole (i.e.
Switzerland and Belgium)
2. Symmetry:
(a) Symmetric: exists when the territorial units of a federal state
possess equal powers relative to the central government (i.e.
U.S.)
(b) Asymmetric: exists when some territorial units of a federal
state enjoy more extensive powers than others relative to the
central government (i.e. Belgium, Canada, Malaysia, Russia, and
Switzerland).

Decentralization
Refers to the extent to which actual policy-making power lies with the
central or regional government in a country. The process in which the
power is transferred from central to local governments is called devolution. This might happen by (a) the constitution of a federation or
by (b) delegating powers.
Decentralized vs. Centralized States: To be classified
as federal (de facto or decentralized in structure), a country must have
members with fiscal decentralization. Most of the cases it means that
the degree of decentralization is measured as the percentage of all tax
revenue that is collected by the central government.

introduction to comparative politics - ps 50 3

1. Empirical analysis show that federalism and decentralization tend

to go together, although there is enormous variation between unitary and federal systems in respect to the percentage of revenue
collected by the central government.

Why do We Adopt Federalism?

1. State Building (Coming-together federalism): is the result
of a bargaining process in which previously sovereign polities voluntarily agree to give up part of their sovereignty in order to pool
together their resources and improve their collective security or
achieve economic goals (i.e. Australia, Switzerland, and U.S.).
2. State preserving (Holding-together federalism): is the result
of a process in which the central government of a polity chooses to
decentralize its power to subnational government in order to diffuse
secessionist pressures (i.e. India, Spain, U.K., and Belgium).
3. Ethnic Federalism: natural divisions in the society may be better
represented in the government with federal divisions following the
same lines as the minority groups (i.e. Canada, maybe Spain in the
future).

introduction to comparative politics - ps 50 4

Advantages of Federalism
1. Satisfy Popular Preferences
2. Brings Government Close to People
3. Increases Accountability and Responsiveness
4. Encourage Participation
5. Produces Efficiency and Less Corruption
6. Encourages Policy Experimentation
7. Bulwark Against Tyranny
8. Ability to Protect Territorially Based Groups

Disadvantages of Federalism
1. Unnecessary Duplication of Government
2. Collective Action Problems in Formulating Policies
3. Unreasonable Competition
4. Amplification of Internal Inequalities
5. Less Accountability
6. Produces Corruption

introduction to comparative politics - ps 50 5

Bicameralism
Political Scientists also distinguish states according to whether they
have one or more than one legislative branch.
Bicameral vs. Unicameral Legislatures
1. Unicameral Legislature: is one in which legislative deliberations
occur in a single assembly.
2. Bicameral Legislature: is one in which legislative deliberations
occur in two distinct assemblies.
Distinctions Between Bicameral Systems
1. How Long do They Serve? Upper houses tend to serve longer
terms than lower houses.
2. How Are They Elected?
(a) Directly Elected (i.e. Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil,
Chile, Japan, Mexico, the U.S., and Venezuela)
(b) Indirectly Elected (i.e. Austria, France, India, and Netherlands)
(c) Appointed (i.e. Germany, Ireland, Russia)
3. Congruency: How are Members Elected and Whom that Membership is Supposed to Represent? Usually Upper Houses are meant
to represent regions, whereas Lower Houses the population.
(a) Congruent: occurs when the two legislative chambers have
a similar political composition, members are elected by same
electoral rules and in the same districts (i.e. Italy, Jamaica,
Japan, and Netherlands)
(b) Incongruent: occurs when the two legislative chambers differ
in their political composition. (i.e. Brazil, Germany, France,
Canada, India, U.K, and U.S.)
4. Symmetry:
(a) Symmetric: occurs when the two legislative chambers have
equal or near equal constitutional power. Total symmetry exists
when the agreement of both chambers is necessary to enact a law
(i.e. Brazil, Colombia, Italy, U.S., Germany, and Japan).
(b) Asymmetric: occurs when the two legislative chambers have
unequal constitutional powers. Total asymmetry exists when one
chamber is granted ultimate decision-making power (i.e. Canada,
France, India, and U.K.).

introduction to comparative politics - ps 50 6

Why do We Adopt Bicameralism?

1. Accomodate Aristocracy: Philosophers of science tended to
argue that bicameral systems tend to produce better results as the
wise man of society would seat on the Upper House. This, then,
became a justification for the existence of class representation,
where Upper House represented aristocracy, and Lower House the
workers.
2. Territorial Representation: With two houses the government
could be designed in a way so that different politicians had different
incentives in government. Some would represent local interests,
whereas others would represent national interests.
3. Check on Lower House: Upper houses tend to have great power
of control under Lower House, especially in strong bicameral systems (symmetric and incongruent).

introduction to comparative politics - ps 50 7

Bicameralism and Federalism

1. Are They Necessary to Each Other?

Unitary

Unicameral
China, Peru, Ecuador, Portugal

Venezuela, Australia, Nigeria

Federal

Bicameral
France, India, Italy, Japan,
U.K., Spain, Uruguay, Chile,
Bolivia, Colombia
Brazil, U.S., Argentina,
Canada, Germany, Russia,
South Africa, Mexico, Austria,
Switzerland, Belgium

2. U.K. example: Bicameral, but unitary (people in England are

only subject to the National Parliament authority, and this national parliament can take the power of the regional assemblies if it
wants).
3. Chine example: Large, heterogeneous, but unitary and unicameral. This is the only case with such features. The reason may be
the authoritarian regime.
Judiciary
1. Judicial independence: what is it? What does it mean for a
judiciary to be independent? Other branches cant remove judges
or cant dissolve judiciary; meaning freedom from interference from
other branches. Or they cannot be punished by its decisions.
2. What is judicial review? Idea that the legislative and executive branches must be subject to review by a third party, here the
judiciary, limited in its powers and actions by a constitution.
3. What are constitutions? How can they be reformed? A
set of rules which lays out the rules for how the country will be
governed and how regular law making will proceed. Two types
Legislature has lots of power: legislative supremacy constitutionalism;
Executive and legislature subject to review: higher level
constitutionalism.
4. Who does control the guards?
5. Decentralization (tax revenues share) requires, in general,
more arbiters (judges). What does that mean?

introduction to comparative politics - ps 50 8

Trade-offs