Theorising federal togetherness in multinational states

Abstract

Many real-world multinational federal states seem to be engulfed in an almost permanent state of crisis due to a lack of ‘togetherness’ between federal partners. This has led, in cases such as Belgium and Spain, to near existential crises in which the longevity of the federation, as well as its ability to provide fundamental goods and services to its citizens, is called into question. This paper seeks to develop, for the first time within the realm of political philosophy, a greater understanding of the concept of ‘federal togetherness’ by unravelling its fundamental nature, the role that it plays in the multinational state, and the root causes of its evasiveness in many empirical cases. It is hoped that, once we have a more complete comprehension of this key multinational value, we will be in a more auspicious position from which to look to ameliorate the prospects of crisis-ridden federal states.