Federal Countries Research Articles

Environmental federalism in EIA policy: A comparative case study of Paraná, Brazil and California, US

The literature on environmental impact assessments (EIA) tends to focus on national case studies, while neglecting subnational EIA systems. Federalist countries represent 40 % of the world’s population and by their design link national and subnational governments in institutional arrangements that delineate or share power across administrative and sectorial areas. Therefore, the study of institutional arrangements’ influence on the conduct of environmental policy such as EIA is important in evaluating its effectiveness. This research aims to contribute to this area by examining the national and subnational EIA systems in two federalist countries, Paraná, Brazil and California, United States (US). This involved a literature review of the scientific and grey literature as well as legislation and regulations of each case study. This analysis was organized along operational, legislative, administrative, and procedural characteristics building upon existing methods from the EIA literature. The results show each federal country presents different approaches to EIA policy. Brazil represents a more centralized top-down approach based on a licensing system, which offers broader coverage of projects and in theory more standardized implementation. In the case of Paraná, there has been a recent shift towards decentralizing the EIA process for smaller projects to municipalities, although there remain institutional and technical challenges. The US EIA system covers only public projects and therefore is considerably limited in its coverage. California presents the most institutionally and technically competent EIA system of those compared in this study. However, it still suffers from problems of inconsistent implementation and litigation abuse. All case studies are facing increasing political pressures to streamline their processes, often with the proposal of arbitrary timelines.

Policy implementation in the health sector of the federal state of Belgium: An ethnographic approach

ABSTRACT When analysing public policies, an implementation gap is often attributed to unclear or irrelevant goals, implementers’ disobedience and/or the numerous layers of government involved. This paper focuses on the multi-layer problem, wondering whether aspects other than the number of layers have an influence on the implementation gap in federal contexts, for example, the layers’ degree of autonomy or the competencies ‘allocation. It addresses the following research question: from an organizational point of view, to what extent does federalism, as a specific institutional configuration, influence the constitution of an implementation gap as part of a public policy implementation process? This research focuses on the implementation of public policy in the Belgian health sector intended to integrate care for chronic patients. It highlights the blockages that may occur in a multi-layer federal country like Belgium, showing that federalism can become dysfunctional if the allocation of competencies was made in an incoherent manner.

Compliance With the “Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative for Neonatal Wards” in Russian Hospitals

The expansion of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative to neonatal wards, known as the Neo-BFHI, provides recommendations to support breastfeeding, as outlined in the Three Guiding Principles, the expanded Ten Steps, and the International Code for Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes. In 2017, Russia participated in an international survey about compliance with the Neo-BFHI. To assess breastfeeding support policies and practices in Russian neonatal wards at the country and federal district level in accordance with the Neo-BFHI recommendations. This study was a prospective cross-sectional survey. We used the Neo-BFHI Self-Assessment questionnaire to collect data from neonatal wards that had all levels of care. A total of N = 60 Russian neonatal wards in hospitals that have ever been designated Baby-Friendly or planned to do so participated in the survey. Compliance scores at the federal district and country level ranging from 0-100 were used to summarize results. The median country overall score was 90 (IQR = 83 - 93). Respect for mothers, continuity of care, having a breastfeeding policy, and rooming-in had the highest median scores. Family-centered care, antenatal informing, skin-to-skin contact, and human milk use had the lowest median scores. Neonatal wards in the hospitals that were ever designated as Baby-Friendly had significantly higher scores than those that were never designated. Most respondents (n = 48, 80%) expressed a desire to obtain Neo-BFHI designation in their neonatal wards. Neo-BFHI recommendations can be successfully implemented in Russian neonatal wards at hospitals designated Baby-Friendly or planning to be designated.

Disentangling the distributive impact of fiscal policy

This paper measures the distributive impact of fiscal policy on personal and regional income distribution and provides a decomposition of the redistributive effect of fiscal policy for individual income units and when they belong to groups. This methodology is useful to identify how much of redistributive effect and also progressive/regressive effects apply within groups, between groups and among overlapping units, and whether there are tensions between different effects. The execution of fiscal policy in Argentina for year 2010 is the case of study. Fiscal policy reduces income inequality under both personal and regional definitions. The vertical effect is strong and weakly compensated by reranking. The vertical effect is a net result of progressive expenditures and regressive taxes. The selection of groups displays particular results. The findings are relevant for the design of fiscal policy in federal countries that pursue both efficiency and equity goals. In the case of Argentina (and this certainly can be extended to other federal countries), this may include rebalancing expenditures among different kinds or levels of governments, as well as the re-designing the tax system and eliminating tradeoffs observed from the current context.

Low-stakes performance testing in Germany by the VERA assessment: analysis of the mode effects between computer-based testing and paper-pencil testing

The German school system employs centrally organized performance assessments (some of which are called “VERA”) as a way of promoting lesson development. In recent years, several German federal states introduced a computer-based performance testing system which will replace the paper-pencil testing system in the future. Scores from computer-based testing are required to be equivalent to paper-pencil testing scores so that the new testing medium does not lead to disadvantages for students. Therefore, the current study aimed at investigating the size of the mode effect and the moderating impact of students’ gender, academic achievement and mainly spoken language in everyday life. In addition, the variance of the mode effect across tasks was investigated. The study was conducted in four German federal states in 2019 using a field experimental design. The test scores of 5140 eighth-graders from 165 schools in the subject German were analysed. The results of multi-level modelling revealed that students’ test scores in the computerized version of the VERA test were significantly lower than in the paper-pencil version. Students with a lower academic achievement were more disadvantaged by the VERA computerized test. The results were inconsistent regarding the interactions between testing mode and students’ gender and mainly spoken language in everyday life. The variance of the mode effect across tasks was high. Research into different subjects and in other federal states and countries under different testing conditions might yield further evidence about the generalizability of these results.

Federal Government and Allocation of Taxing Powers under the Constitutions of India, Usa, Australia and Canada: a Comparative Study

Australis, Canada, USA and India, all have adopted a Federal structure of government although with varying degrees but still in consistency with the provisions contained in each other’s Constitutions. Federal structure of government calls for division of Ruling power amongst two different sets of governments in the same country along with a demarcation between the powers of both the tiers of governments. And such division and demarcations are mostly provided in the Constitutions of the Federal countries and similarly the Constitutions of all the above-mentioned countries more or less provide for the same. Financial powers are also subject of distribution under the Federal structure of government. Such financial powers also include taxing powers of the government. Under each Federal government, distribution of taxing powers is also more or less provided in their Constitution itself. This paper will therefore make an analysis of the Constitutions of the above four Federal countries in order to have an understanding about the manner how taxing powers have been distributed amongst the different tiers of governments in all these countries for the purpose of having a better Corporate Governance.

The Optimal Distribution Rule of Federal Funds to States in India: A Suggested Methodology

A federal country like India distributes centrally collected funds through certain distribution rules, framed by the finance commission every five years, which primarily aims at horizontal equity among the states, although the goal of vertical equity has also been accommodated lately. The distribution rules do change, but they are largely governed by population and taxable capacity in a static sense. As a result, this brings some horizontal equity in the stated time frame but misses the root cause of inequity among states. This highlights the importance of the dynamics of growth of per capita income of the states which depends on public capital formation since private investment is complementary to public investment. This also raises the issue of time preference along with the attitude towards inequality aversion on the part of individuals in different states in India, which determines the savings that set the limits to private capital formation. This helps one to estimate the optimal value of public capital in a state which would ensure certain predetermined growth target along with inclusivity. If the finance commission could accommodate in its distribution rule the development gap of each state in terms of actual and optimal public capital as mentioned, the horizontal as well as vertical equity can be pursued in a sustainable manner since this addresses both inequity among and within states over time.

Regional Aspect: Commodity Structure of Germany’s Exports

The article examines the specificity of commodities exports of Germany’s eastern and western lands. The indicators of sectoral export specialization are determined by comparing sectoral export quotas of the federal lands and the East/West with the general German sectoral export quotas. Calculations are based on data from the country's Federal Statistical Office for 2008 and 2019. As a result of the analysis of the indicators obtained, the general characteristics of the export specifics in relation to industrial branches and federal lands in two parts of the country are formulated, changes among the main specialized branches are explored, the roles of individual lands in the creation of export profiles of East and West Germany and the degree of correspondence between export profiles of the East/West and their lands are determined. The author outlines the convergence of new and old lands in various dimensions of specialization, the success of the East in the competition for specialization in the cars export and the preservation of significant Western advantages in the mechanical engineering’s export specialization and in the formation of new sectoral export focuses, and highlights the federal lands that have achieved high efficiency in the given field (Saxony in the East and Baden-Württemberg in the West).

COVID-19, Federalism, and Health Care Financing in Canada, the United States, and Mexico

National responses to COVID-19 depend in part on national health care financing arrangements. Yet the pandemic itself has not only strained system capacity, it has – through subsequent economic shocks – strained revenue sources that prop up these arrangements. In federal countries, fiscal pressures are particularly pronounced. As this paper argues, however, federal health financing regimes differ in ways that are shaping the agenda for post-pandemic reforms. The analysis, which focuses on health care financing in three federal countries (Canada, the United States, and Mexico), explores the current and potential future impact of COVID-19 on existing policy legacies.

Zakon o fiskalnoj odgovornosti i podnacionalnim finansijama u Indiji - analiza fiskalnog scenarija u Asamu

Fiscal responsibility law has become an important instrument for better fiscal management and ensuring fiscal discipline, particularly so in the federal countries where their subnational governments often indulge in fiscal indiscipline. In 2003, India adopted the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act for rule-based fiscal discipline, and the states of India were also asked to adopt their own fiscal rule legislation in line with the legislation adopted by the central government. As a fiscally weak Indian state, Assam enacted the Assam Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (AFRBM) Act in 2005 for better fiscal management. The paper attempts to examine the impact of the AFRBM Act on the fiscal performance of the state by analyzing the dynamics of the fiscal variables in the pre and post-AFRBM Act periods. The study finds that the state has improved its fiscal condition after the introduction of the AFRBM Act, even though it has remained prone to fiscal shocks.

Gandhian Model of Community Development

Gandhian Model of Community Development (GMCD) is a sustainable development model for governments in the central, provincial, and local levels of democratic federal countries in the world by the scientific analysis of Gandhian ideology in a specified community. Community Development is a method, a strategy, and a campaign to uplift human life settlements and to solve the community problems from a simple local perspective. The human settlement with local communal acceptance, local norms, and values, environmental protection, help and cooperation, trusteeship, health, education, sanitation, training, transportation, marketing, etc. are the major components of the Gandhian Model of Community Development. The global acceptance with local initiation, norms, knowledge and practices in the positive changes on human life is Gandhian Community Development. It is the core ideological view of the great leader of south Asia-Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi is also pronounced as second Buddha of the world.
 The main objective of the study is to develop a Gandhian Model of Community Development with the incorporation of thoughts and ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi. The study is the collection of Gandhian ideology with a programmatic model for the future development of the human being specified within the boundary with the specified indicators of the Gandhian Model of Community Development. It is a hermeneutic and historical interpretation of three universal truths- Generation, Operation, and Destruction for the liberation of human beings from a sustainable development strategy guided by Mahatma Gandhi. His ideas are herminuted in contemporary sustainable community development. In conclusion, the Gandhian Model of Community development is a model having Balance Sheet of Production and Consumption within the specified municipality and Gandhian Development Indicators for human liberation or development toward ultimate freedom.

Identity Based Federalism and its Implications: An Analytical Study

The article has focused upon identity-based federalism practiced in some of the countries in the world. It has clarified the fears and the suspicions about secession if identity-based federalism would have been implemented in Nepal. Thus, it has been explored to get answers about the probability of secession, the constitutional procedural for the implementation of secession rights and its linkage. The content analysis method with comparative assessment has been used in order to meet the objectives. Because of the provisions made in those constitutions, social-economic and political dynamism of the states, the research has found that there is negligible secession probability. The countries having secession rights, with some constitutional disputes in a long row, have shown less chances of secession. The article has examined constitution of all these federal countries. The Experience of Ethiopia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Belgium and Canada have obviously shown the fearless probability about secession. Experiences in these countries have conclusively shown that the fear and suspicions about the fragmentation of Nepal as imposed does not relatively occur.

The genesis of budgetary federalism and interbudgetary relation formation and development in the Russian Federation

Budgetary federalism in modern conditions acts as a key link in the financial system of the Russian Federation. And this is natural, because the efficiency of the entire budgetary system, and hence the economy of the national economy as a whole, depends on the effectiveness of budgetary federalism functioning. Of course, one can hardly overestimate the importance of budgetary federalism for such countries as Russia, the United States, Great Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, and others, which are considered as a federal state. One of the most important problems in federal countries is the need to develop a modern economic mechanism for vertical alignment in order to distribute optimally the financial flows between the corresponding levels of the budget system. Another independent problem is the need for horizontal alignment,

The genesis of budgetary federalism and interbudgetary relation formation and development in the Russian Federation

Budgetary federalism in modern conditions acts as a key link in the financial system of the Russian Federation. And this is natural, because the efficiency of the entire budgetary system, and hence the economy of the national economy as a whole, depends on the effectiveness of budgetary federalism functioning. Of course, one can hardly overestimate the importance of budgetary federalism for such countries as Russia, the United States, Great Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, and others, which are considered as a federal state. One of the most important problems in federal countries is the need to develop a modern economic mechanism for vertical alignment in order to distribute optimally the financial flows between the corresponding levels of the budget system. Another independent problem is the need for horizontal alignment,

Covid-19 Mortality: A Matter of Vulnerability Among Nations Facing Limited Margins of Adaptation.

Context: The human development territories have been severely constrained under the Covid-19 pandemic. A common dynamics has been observed, but its propagation has not been homogeneous over each continent. We aimed at characterizing the non-viral parameters that were most associated with death rate.Methods: We tested major indices from five domains (demography, public health, economy, politics, environment) and their potential associations with Covid-19 mortality during the first 8 months of 2020, through a Principal Component Analysis and a correlation matrix with a Pearson correlation test. Data of all countries, or states in federal countries, showing at least 10 fatality cases, were retrieved from official public sites. For countries that have not yet finished the first epidemic phase, a prospective model has been computed to provide options of death rates evolution.Results: Higher Covid death rates are observed in the [25/65°] latitude and in the [−35/−125°] longitude ranges. The national criteria most associated with death rate are life expectancy and its slowdown, public health context (metabolic and non-communicable diseases (NCD) burden vs. infectious diseases prevalence), economy (growth national product, financial support), and environment (temperature, ultra-violet index). Stringency of the measures settled to fight pandemia, including lockdown, did not appear to be linked with death rate.Conclusion: Countries that already experienced a stagnation or regression of life expectancy, with high income and NCD rates, had the highest price to pay. This burden was not alleviated by more stringent public decisions. Inherent factors have predetermined the Covid-19 mortality: understanding them may improve prevention strategies by increasing population resilience through better physical fitness and immunity.

Failure to lead on COVID-19: what went wrong with the United States?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the federal decisions to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response in the United States and consider the different approaches employed by the California state government.Design/methodology/approachThis paper focuses on COVID-19-related issues, responses and implications in federal countries, and largely draws comparisons between the Trump Administration and California state.FindingsThe slow response of the federal government could have been avoided, had there been a current and tested national plan. The defunding of the Office of Pandemics and Emerging Threats, and the lack of coordination between the Trump Administration and the states have contributed to its ranking as the country with the highest COVID-19 infection and fatality rates worldwide. California state oversaw an effective initial pandemic response, which was ultimately undermined by a lack of national support and the refusal of some citizens to comply with the restrictions.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper draws upon open-source information published on government websites and news media.Originality/valueAs the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is currently ongoing, information about the federal governance and state response is still evolving. The authors examine California as a state exemplar, since it is the largest such jurisdiction by populace and the first state to issue statewide mandatory lockdown measures. This comparison offers insights as to the decisive initiatives that could have occurred at the federal level. The “lessons learned” highlight the critical role of crisis leadership in societal and public health preparedness for future pandemic events.

FORMATION OF AN EFFECTIVE SYSTEM OF FISCAL FEDERALISM IS A STRATEGIC FACTOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY

The problems of formation of an effective system of fiscal federalism in modern Russia are considered. For a number of objective and subjective reasons, inter-budgetary relations between the federal center and the regions are based on an obvious priority in favor of the interests of the federal center. This has an extremely negative effect on the socio-economic development of the country's regions. The article presents an overview of scientific studies devoted to determining the need to use fiscal federalism as a strategic factor ensuring the effective development of the country's regions. The system of fiscal federalism in the USA and Germany, its advantages and disadvantages is analyzed. The author notes that the experience of these countries confirms the need to use fiscal federalism in countries with a large territory and significant differences in the level of economic development between regions. Ensuring the competitiveness of the region and its transition to an innovative development model can become a reality only if the regions, firstly, have the necessary financial resources for this; secondly, if they are independent in making decisions on determining the direction of using these resources. When the system is conserved, when the region is strategically dependent on the opinion of the federal center, it is a dead-end option. The economic situation in the Udmurt Republic is analyzed, which is a typical example of an industrial region in the Urals. In the current century, three programs for the development of the regional economy have been adopted. However, the practical implementation of the programs ran into great difficulties, since Russian regions are unable to ensure the solution of current problems and development for the future due to the lack of the necessary financial resources. In these conditions, the formation of a modern effective system of fiscal federalism should be considered as a problem requiring a mandatory prompt solution. The socio-political situation in the country and the prospects for its development are determined by the state of affairs in the regions. Therefore, the development of fiscal federalism acts as a strategic condition for the development of the national economy as a whole.

In Memoriam

3 April 1934–29 August 2020 Ronald W. Goede passed away, age 86, of complications related to cancer. His last days were at home under hospice care with his wife Lisa and family at his side. He was born in Columbus, Nebraska, and graduated from high school in Lincoln. Ron served 8 years in the Air Force and earned a BS from the University of Nebraska, majoring in zoology and botany. He completed a MS in fisheries biology at Utah State University in 1961. His career began with the Missouri Conservation Commission as a research biologist and expanded to training in fish disease at the Fish Farming Experiment Station at Stuttgart, Arkansas. In 1963, Ron was hired as Missouri’s first hatchery biologist, where he was sent to the Eastern Fish Disease Laboratory in Leetown, West Virginia to study fish diseases under his mentor, Stan Sniesko. In 1966, Ron was recruited by the Utah Department of Fish and Game. He served for 34 years as director of the Fisheries Experiment Station in Logan, retiring in 2000. As the sole state fish pathologist, Ron directed efforts on standard aquaculture methods, fish quality, health management, and disease control, while building a full-service diagnostic lab. He wrote policies, rules, and regulations for Utah’s public and private hatcheries and fought for their implementation during a time when IPN (viral disease) and whirling disease plagued the resource. Ron developed and presented a drainage concept of disease control, which was approved and adopted by all seven states of the Colorado River Wildlife Council in 1972. This initiative became a template for the states of the Great Lakes Commission and Canada, the Atlantic Seaboard, and the Columbia River drainages, effectively changing disease management nationwide. Ron was instrumental in changing the constitution of the American Fisheries Society to establish discipline sections. He helped develop the Fish Health Section as the first section, which established peer-reviewed standard methods and professional certification. Ron was president of the Bonneville Chapter, the Western Division, and the Fish Health Section of the American Fisheries Society. In 1988, Ron chaired an international 3-day meeting in Denver on Whirling Disease, and hosted the first Rocky Plains Fish Health Workshop, which continues annually. In subsequent years, Ron developed the Health/Condition Profile (HCP), a necropsy-based fish-health assessment protocol, illustrated by his own photographs. Ron taught the protocol to over a thousand biologists representing state and federal agencies, universities, and countries. The HCP became a standard tool used by fisheries professionals. Ron also taught a 2-week aquaculture course periodically to all Utah fish culturists, changing Fish and Game fish culture from an art to a shared science. From 1976 to 1986, Ron was part of the lecture staff at the National Fisheries Academy at Leetown, West Virginia, teaching diagnostic approach, health assessment, and bio-legal perspective. As an adjunct professor at Utah State University, he taught a course on fish diseases for 12 years and served on graduate committees. He was certified as a Fish Health Inspector and Fish Pathologist and was an expert witness in legal disputes. Ron worked to get legislation that created a Fish Health Policy Board with the mission to balance natural resource stewardship and commodity. In 1998, the Board was created within the Utah Department of Agriculture and continues to set policy for fish health management. Throughout his career, Ron received numerous awards and was well known for his quick wit and humor. Ron co-founded the Bridger Folk Music Society, which produced concerts featuring internationally-acclaimed artists, dances, and workshops. We’ll miss him.

The Effects of Intergovernmental Grants in Ethiopia: International Lessons

Intergovernmental grants are an important feature of federal systems of governments in many countries. Grants from one level of government to another have been primarily used as a way of addressing the vertical fiscal imbalance that is often created in a federation. In the presence of disparate taxing capacity of regions, designing a good intergovernmental grant system that is acceptable by all regions is usually challenging. Yet the success of fiscal federalism greatly depends on how the federal government addresses the fiscal needs of regional governments through intergovernmental transfers. What lessons can relatively young federal countries like Ethiopia draw from the experiences of other countries? We examine various kinds of grants and their potential effects on the recipient regional government spending and economic growth. We also explore how federal transfers might affect the fiscal behaviour of regional governments and the welfare of the residents of recipient regions. We look at these important issues from both theoretical and practical perspectives focusing on the applicability of the international lessons to Ethiopia. Keywords: Grant, Intergovernmental, lesson, International DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/10-10-03 Publication date: October 31 st 2020

Patterns of Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Federal vs. Unitary European Democracies

Do countries with federal political structures develop more or less effective policies compared to those with unitary political structures? We seek to resolve this long-standing theoretical debate by arguing that the extent to which federalist countries reap the benefits or suffer the costs of giving sub-national units greater autonomy depends on whether a given policy is itself more optimally implemented homogenously or heterogeneously across different regions. Using both statistical and qualitative case study methods, we analyse national and sub-national policy responses to COVID-19 in 2 federal (Germany and Switzerland) and 2 unitary countries (France and Italy). We find that overall, federal countries are more likely to possess heterogeneity in their policy responses than unitary countries. We find mixed evidence as to whether federal or unitary countries' policies are more responsive to the severity of the COVID-19 crisis at the sub-national level.