Democratic Federation Research Articles

ITALIAN MINORITY IN ISTRIA: DEVELOPMENT IN CJNDITIONS OF MULTICULTURAL AND MULTI-ETNIC SOCIETY

The article identifies and discloses the problems of national minorities living on the territory of the Istrian peninsula with access to the Adriatic Sea and the region Venezia Giulia. It must be stressed that the population of Istria just over the past century four times "changed citizenship", having been in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Kingdom of Italy, Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia- FPRY (later - the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - SFRY), and, finally, the People`s and the Socialist Republic of Croatia. It is shown that all of these political changes in different periods strongly influenced mentality of the population, especially in matters relating to the treatment of national minorities. Consequently, the composite structure of the population of Istria and Venezia Giulia with time has undergone profound changes: Latinized ethnolinguistic group assimilated by Slavic population, but subsequently was different from the Slovenes and Croats. Before the First World War, these territories were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and there lived the Italians, Croats and Slovenes. After the war and the collapse of the empire the region became part of the Kingdom of Italy. New problems arose at the end of the Second World War, when most of the Istria and Venezia Giulia was under the control of the newly established Democratic Federal Yugoslavia. As a result, after the break-up of the federation of Yugoslavia and the formation of autonomous and independent states - former republics including Croatia, the status of national minorities have separate national and cultural groups, where Italians as an autochthonous national minorities enjoyed the status of the privileged minority.

The Election Law Connection and U.S. Federalism

A democratic federation's character may be importantly determined by the particular character of its electoral federalism. For the United States, “political safeguards” theorists provided foundational insights into the implications of interdependencies between state and federal officials, but were too casual in their remarks about election law as a de minimis contribution to federalism. In fact, the constitutional default of state legislative control over congressional redistricting and most other procedural election law has created powerful incentives for federal deference to state officials. This dependency may have created a tendency to respect the institutional prerogatives of state governments, though the relationship is dynamic and contingent, interacting with other factors such as the prevalence of divided party government at the national and state levels.

Autocracy-Sustaining Versus Democratic Federalism: Explaining the Divergent Trajectories of Territorial Politics in Russia and Western Europe

This article provides a comparative assessment of territorial politics in Russia and Western Europe. The consolidation or deepening of regional autonomy in Western Europe contrasts with the transformation of Russia from a segmented and highly centrifugal state into a centralized authoritarian state in the course of just two decades. The consolidation of territorial politics in Western Europe is linked to the presence of endogenous safeguards that are built into their territorial constitutional designs and most importantly to the dynamics that emanate from multi-level party competition in the context of a liberal and multi-level democracy. In contrast, in Russia, neither endogenous safeguards nor multi-level party democracy play an important role in explaining the dynamics of Russian federalism, but who controls key state resources instead. We argue that under Putin power dependencies between the Russian center and the regions are strongest where regional democracy is at its weakest, thus producing ‘autocracy-sustaining’ instead of a democratic federation. By studying the relationship between federalism and democracy in cases where both concepts are mutually reinforcing (as in Western Europe) with the critical case of Russia where they are not, we question the widely held view that democracy is a necessary pre-condition for federalism. Extracto En este artículo ofrecemos una valoración comparativa de la política territorial en Rusia y Europa occidental. La consolidación o profundización de la autonomía regional en Europa occidental contrasta con la transformación de Rusia que en tan solo dos decenios ha pasado de ser un Estado segmentado y sumamente centrífugo a un Estado autoritario y centralizado. La consolidación de la política territorial en Europa occidental está vinculada a la presencia de protecciones endógenas que se incorporan en sus diseños constitucionales territoriales, y, lo que es más importante, en las dinámicas que emanan de la competencia de partidos de varios niveles en el contexto de una democracia liberal y de muchos niveles. Por el contrario, en Rusia ni las protecciones endógenas ni una democracia de partidos de varios niveles desempeñan un papel importante a la hora de explicar las dinámicas del federalismo de Rusia, sino más bien la cuestión de quién controla los principales recursos estatales . Sostenemos que bajo Putin las dependencias de poder entre el centro de Rusia y sus regiones son más fuertes donde la democracia regional es más débil, creándose así una federación que ‘respalda la autocracia’ en vez de una federación democrática. Al estudiar la relación entre el federalismo y la democracia en los casos en los que ambos conceptos se refuerzan mutuamente (como en Europa occidental), con el caso crítico de Rusia donde esto no ocurre, cuestionamos la opinión mayoritaria de que la democracia es una precondición necesaria para el federalismo. 摘要 本文提供俄罗斯与西欧地域政治的比较评估。仅仅二十多年的发展历程中，西欧的区域自主性便已加强或深化，恰与俄罗斯从一个四分五裂且高度离心的国家转变成为中央极权国家的路径相反。西欧地域政治的强化，与其领域性的宪政制度设计所建立的内生性自我防卫有关，并且主要关乎自由主义和多层级民主制度脉络下多层级政党竞争所生成的动态关係。反之，在俄罗斯，不论是内生性的自我防卫或多层级的政党民主政治，皆无法解释俄罗斯联邦主义的动态，谁掌握了主要的国家资源反而是其中的关键。我们主张，在普丁政权之下，俄罗斯各区域与中央的依附关係最强，而区域民主最弱，因而造就了‘专制的维系’，而非民主的联邦制度。透过研究联邦主义和民主相互强化的桉例（例如西欧）和俄罗斯的相反桉例之间的关係，我们质疑民主做为联邦主义存在的先决条件此一普遍观点。 Résumé Le présent article cherche à fournir une évaluation comparative de la politique territoriale en Russie et en Europe occidentale. La consolidation ou l'approfondissement de l'autonomie régionale en Europe occidentale contrastent avec la transformation de la Russie en deux décennies seulement d'un État segmenté, hautement centrifuge, en un État autoritaire, centralisé. La consolidation de la politique territoriale en Europe occidentale est liée à la présence des sauvegardes endogènes qui sont intégrées dans l'architecture constitutionnelle territoriale et, surtout, à la dynamique qui émane de la concurrence à niveaux multiples dans le contexte d'une démocratie libérale à plusieurs niveaux. Par contraste, en Russie, ni les sauvegardes endogènes, ni la démocratie à plusieurs niveaux ne jouent aucun rôle important pour expliquer la dynamique du fédéralisme russe, mais plutôt qui contrôle les ressources d’État essentielles. On affirme que, sous Poutine, les dépendances politiques entre le centre politique russe et les régions sont les plus fortes là où la démocratie est à son niveau le plus faible, ce qui produit une fédération qui soutient l'autocratie plutôt que la démocratie. En étudiant le rapport entre le fédéralisme et la démocratie dans les cas où les deux notions se renforcent mutuellement (comme en Europe occidentale), contrairement à la Russie où elles ne le sont pas, on met en doute le point de vue largement répandu que la démocratie constitue un préalable du fédéralisme.

Authority, Nationality, and Minorities: A Post-Razian View

Joseph Raz proposes that identification with one’s community can provide a reason to identify with the community’s laws and government and, by extension, a reason to accept the putative legitimacy of the state’s authority. Building on Raz's theory, this paper considers how nationality figures in the legitimacy of political authority. I argue that reasons of nationality are indeed genuine normative reasons for accepting political authority, but their normative force is inconclusive. In particular, the normative force of nationality depends in part on the democratic credentials of the government and the law in question. Nevertheless, I go on to argue that nationality has special and sometimes decisive importance for political authority; nationality provides a particularly salient solution to the problem of the personal scope of authority, i.e the “boundary problem”, a problem that is logically prior to the operation of democratic procedures. This conclusion has important implications for nationally divided societies. In the absence of a common nationality, standard democratic procedures do not provide minority national groups with comparable access to the conditions for legitimate authority. Special counter-majoritarian measures for accommodating nationalist minorities (such as federalism or consociational democracy) can therefore be justified in so far as they might allow for more equitable access to those conditions.

Comparing State-level policy responses to economic reforms in India

By rewriting the rules of economic governance in India’s federal democracy, economic reforms adopted in the 1990s have had far-reaching consequences on the relations between the Union (or central state) and the States. First, the dismantling of the centralised management of the economy has created greater scope for State governments to elaborate their economic development policies. Second, the reforms require cooperation from State governments and hence State-level politics and governance have taken on greater importance for India’s overall development trajectory. On the basis of fieldwork-based research, this paper discusses policy frameworks in four States (Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala and Orissa) comparing and contrasting their promotional policies, aimed at attracting investments, as well as their approaches to structural reforms. For each case we explain political actions and discourse using a qualitative political economy approach. The article addresses a gap in the existing literature, which tends to focus on inter-State comparisons of economic performance. There has been relatively little academic attention to the comparative study of State-level policy response to the national economic reform agenda. One of the objectives of this study is to understand how subnational political elites, who now have more ‘policy space’ (if not necessarily more fiscal space), elaborate their economic development strategies in relation to the central state, on one hand, and to social forces in their political jurisdictions, on the other. We examine the social compromises that are expressed by these State-level policies, which provide evidence of the distinct political economies prevailing in India at the subnational level.

The Impact of India’s Regional Parties on Voter Turnout and Human Development

While some analysts fear that regional parties in federal democracies are narrow in orientation, Indian experience has shown that regional parties can sometimes improve both voter turnout and human development (HD) in their region. Based on the experience of the South Indian states of Kerala and Tamilnadu, this article develops a theory of how regional parties in developing countries may occasionally succeed at these goals while identifying five obstacles that may prevent HD improvement even if voter turnout expands. Testing this theory across Indian states over the period from 1970 to 2000, I discover that regional parties significantly increased voter turnout. Utilising pooled regression analysis of the human development index (HDI), I find that HD performance was largely determined by initial conditions, social spending, agricultural yield and gender equality, but the evidence also suggests a small but positive relationship between regional party control of state governments and HDI improvement.

States and strategy in new federal democracies

A growing body of research demonstrates that parties are vital for the health of democracy. While party activities are therefore increasingly supported by direct public subsidies, we know relatively little about the ways in which parties spend this money. Using an original dataset of intra-party cash transfers, this article examines resource allocation in three major Mexican parties. The analysis demonstrates that parties’ spending patterns differ. Decentralization, which has increased the power and prestige of subnational office, prompts all parties to focus spending on states holding local elections. Parties with a regionalized support base, however, invest primarily in states where they are competitive. This tendency to favour party strongholds has important implications for party system development, particularly for party system nationalization, as well as for emerging work on subnational authoritarianism.

INDONESIAN WOMEN, THE WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION AND THE STRUGGLE FOR ‘WOMEN'S RIGHTS’, 1946–1965

This article examines the transnational links Indonesian women made with women abroad by means of participation in the WIDF (Women's International Democratic Federation) from 1946–1965. Drawing on Indonesian women's speeches at WIDF congresses, contributions to WIDF publications and documents from Gerwani (Gerakan Wanita Indonesia, the Indonesian Women's movement) national congresses the article argues that the WIDF provided an important political compass for Indonesian women on the political left and directly influenced the form and content of its campaign for women's rights. At the same time Gerwani women were able to draw attention and attract support from the extensive membership of the WIDF for domestic challenges, which they positioned as connected to broader struggles against imperialism. With a rapidly rising membership Gerwani was assuming increased importance and influence in the WIDF by the early 1960s and had begun to shape the direction and causes of the WIDF.

Federal Directives, Local Discretion and the Majority Rule

I consider a heterogeneous federal system in which policy coordination is desirable but underprovided in the absence of a federal intervention. To improve policy coordination, the federal layer can intervene by imposing bounds on local policies. These federal bounds define a restricted policy space within which local jurisdictions have residual discretion. I analyze a voting game in which the federal bounds are determined directly by the citizens via federal majority rule. The voting equilibrium exhibits various forms of inefficiencies. When the distribution of voters' ideal policy is skewed in one direction, the federal bounds are biased in the opposite direction. When the gains from policy coordination are negligible, local discretion is too limited, and a majority of voters are worse-off with the federal intervention than without. When policy coordination is more important, the federal intervention is supported by a majority of voters, but contrary to the received wisdom, it is socially worse than no intervention. Hence, the model shows that inadequate and excessively rigid federal interventions can emerge in a democratic federation without agency costs or informational imperfections.

The Federalization of Iraq and the Break-up of Sudan

AbstractIn 2005, after the making of the Constitution of Iraq and the making of Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement, many analysts expected the imminent break-up of Iraq, and that the South Sudanese would eventually opt for federalism and power-sharing rather than secede from Sudan. Six remarkable parallels in the histories of Iraq and Sudan suggest that analysts should have predicted that the Kurds and the South Sudanese would have been equally ardent secessionists in the early twenty-first century. Yet Kurdish nationalist leaders chose federalization in and after 2005, whereas South Sudanese nationalists eventually chose secession after a brief federal power-sharing experiment. The different choices of the respective nationalist leaders were therefore critical, but some plausible explanations of their different choices do not withstand scrutiny. The differing outcomes, so far, are necessarily but not sufficiently explained by the different geopolitical neighbourhoods of Iraq and Sudan. The author suggests that secessions are also driven by political parties who are willing to downsize their state rather than modify the existing regime, and by nationalists who calculate that they are unlikely to have political pivotality in a federal democracy. One implication is that federal power-sharing bargains have a better chance of working in deeply divided places when potential secessionists believe that they may have political pivotality within a federation.

Ethnic-based federalism and ethnicity in Ethiopia: reassessing the experiment after 20 years

One of the core principles instituted by the post-1991 government in Ethiopia that took power after a successful armed struggle was ethnic-based federalism, informed by a neo-Leninist political model called revolutionary democracy. In this model, devised by the reigning Tigray People's Liberation Front (later EPRDF), ethnic identity was to be the basis of politics. Identities of previously non-dominant groups were constitutionally recognized and the idea of pan-Ethiopian identity de-emphasized. This article examines the general features and effects of this new political model, often dubbed an “experiment”, with regard to ideas of federal democracy, socio-economic inclusiveness, and ethno-cultural and political rights. After 20 years of TPLF/EPRDF rule, the dominant rhetorical figure in Ethiopian politics is that of ethnicity, which has permeated daily life and overtaken democratic decision-making and shared issue-politics. The federal state, despite according nominal decentralized power to regional and local authorities, is stronger than any previous Ethiopian state and has developed structures of central control and top-down rule that preclude local initiative and autonomy. Ethnic and cultural rights were indeed accorded, and a new economic dynamics is visible. Political liberties, respect for human rights and economic equality are however neglected, and ethnic divisions are on the increase, although repressed. Ethiopia's recent political record thus shows mixed results, with positive elements but also an increasingly authoritarian governance model recalling the features of the country's traditional hierarchical and autocratic political culture. This may produce more debate on the need for “adjusting the experiment”.

Yugoslav Propaganda Film: Early Works (1945–52)

THE BIRTH OFTHE NEW YUGOSLAV COMMUNIST state from the ashes of World War Il announced a new era of the Yugoslav film, its life starting from the whirlpool of the revolution. The devastated country lived to see liberation from the German occupation, but with an almost completely destroyed infrastructure, demolished cinema facilities, and a lack of qualified professionals. Immediately after the end of combat activities, the new communist regime decided to tackle the film issue seriously, having in mind prewar and war experiences and especially the experiences and legacy of its grand mentor, the Soviet Union. Organization of the national cinematography commenced slightly before the end of the war on July 16, 1944, when the film section within the Propaganda Division of the Serbian National Liberation Army general staff was established. The primary objective of this section was rehabilitating the remaining cinemas, organizing film projections, and reviewing and censoring existing films. After the liberation of Belgrade, in December 1944, the film section was established within the Propaganda Division of the National Liberation Army and Partisan Units of Yugoslavia, with the purpose of organizing the procurement and projection of films in addition to their production, sale, and distribution in the liberated territory. At the same time, in November 1944, the State Film Company of the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia (DFY) was established; its mission was to work on cultivating cinematography in the country, to monitorthe importingand distribution of films, and to supervise operation of cinemas. In the course of the following year, in November 1945, the Film Company of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was established, whereas the film sections within Supreme Headquarters and the general staff of the National Liberation Army and Partisan Units of Yugoslavia and Serbia were terminated. In parallel, the new personnel structure of professionals to be involved in designing the national film in this initial period was being established. The enthusiasm of many prewar film and literary authors, painters, and other artists (AleksandarVucho, Radosh Novakovich, Branko Belan, Franc Kosmach, Nikola Popovich, and others), many of whom were active participants in the People's Liberation War, was employed in the manner of outstanding workmanship for rehabilitation of the national cinematography. In the early period of Yugoslav film, propaganda was a high-ranking institution, taking into account a need for mobilization of the masses for the purpose of rehabilitation and reinforcing the newly established revolutionary regime. In accordance with the proclaimed objectives of the Communist Party, the propaganda was related to many segments of social activities, media, and communication, including film. With respect to the fact that the regime was well-versed in the Soviet propaganda model, in this early period of Yugoslav cinematography, immediate steps were taken to utilize film for propaganda purposes. The administrative period in managing the national cinematography commenced with the establishment of the new Film Company at the federal level. This company had the same responsibilities as the previous one- that is, the exclusive right to import and distribute films, organize mobile cinemas, and produce national films. The administrative period of Yugoslav cinematography, according to Petar Volk, was the most interesting phase from the propaganda point of view, considering that the foundation for development and implementation of the propaganda film was set during this period; Yugoslav cinema would record dynamic growth in the years to follow, until the breakup of Yugoslavia (10-34). The major role in this state-owned film enterprise was reserved for Agitprop of the Central Committee of the Yugoslav Communist Party (i.e., its department of culture), in trying to establish- following the Soviet propaganda model- absolute control in the fields of culture and film. …

For Mothers, Peace and Family: International (Non)-Cooperation among Italian Catholic and Communist Women's Organisations during the Early Cold War

In July 1955, women from around the globe gathered in Lausanne, Switzerland for the World Congress of Mothers organised by the social-communist Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF). On the third day of four days of proceedings, an Italian housewife named Clotilde Cassigoli delivered an impassioned speech calling on women to unite across the divides of the Cold War, and cooperate to ensure that their children and grandchildren would not have to know the horrors of war she had witnessed in Florence at the end of the Second World War. Her plea ultimately went unheeded. This article analyses the national and international activities of Catholic and communist women's organisations between 1945 and 1956 to expand understandings of women's political involvement during the Cold War. My examination of the Italian case will show that during this era cooperation between the politically opposed women's groups was only possible in a limited framework. By interpreting the associations’ discourse of motherhood and peace through a Cold War lens, I show that the Italian women's leaders were successful at advancing their own objectives and making inroads into the homes of more Italian women while they simultaneously constructed a divisive Cold War international women's movement.

Anarchism and syndicalism in an African port city: the revolutionary traditions of Cape Town's multiracial working class, 1904–1931

This paper examines the development of anarchism and syndicalism in early twentieth century Cape Town, South Africa, drawing attention to a crucial but neglected chapter of labor and left history. Central to this story were the anarchists in the local Social Democratic Federation (SDF), and the revolutionary syndicalists of the Industrial Socialist League, the Industrial Workers of Africa (IWA), and the Sweets and Jam Workers’ Industrial Union. These revolutionary anti-authoritarians, Africans, Coloureds and whites, fostered a multiracial radical movement – considerably preceding similar achievements by the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) in this port city. They were also part of a larger anarchist and syndicalist movement across the southern African subcontinent. Involved in activist centers, propaganda, public meetings, cooperatives, demonstrations, union organizing and strikes, and linked into international and national radical networks, Cape Town's anarchists and syndicalists had an important impact on organizations like the African Political Organization (APO), the Cape Federation of Labour Unions, the Cape Native Congress, the CPSA, the General Workers Union, and the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union of Africa (ICU). This paper is therefore also a contribution to the recovery of the history of the first generation of African and Coloured anti-capitalist radicals, and part of a growing international interest in anarchist and syndicalist history.

Federal Institutions and the Democratic Transition: Learning from South Africa

We present a model of a peaceful transition from autocracy to democracy using federal governance as a constitutional means to protect the economic interests of the once ruling elite. Under “democratic federalism,” the constitution creates an annual policy game where the new majority and the elite each control one policy instrument of importance to the other. The game has a stable stationary equilibrium that the elite may prefer to autocratic rule. We apply our analysis to South Africa’s transition from white, elite rule under apartheid to a multi-racial democracy. We calibrate our model to the South African economy at the time of the transition. Stable democratic equilibria exist for plausible estimates of redistributive preferences and rate of time preference (“impatience”) of the new majority during the early years of the new democracy. The future of the democratic federal bargain is less certain under the new populist presidency of Jacob Zuma (JEL H11, H77, P48).

An Iraq of Its Regions: Cornerstones of Federal Democracy? – Edited by Reidar Visser and Gareth Stansfield

An Iraq of Its Regions: Cornerstones of Federal Democracy? – Edited by Reidar Visser and Gareth Stansfield

Federal Democracy in India and the European Union: Towards Transcontinental Comparison of Constitutional Law

Federal Democracy in India and the European Union: Towards Transcontinental Comparison of Constitutional Law

An Iraq of Its Regions. Cornerstones of a Federal Democracy?

An Iraq of Its Regions. Cornerstones of a Federal Democracy?

Edwardian Intellectuals and Political Religions: A Survey

Historians of fascism trace elements of its ‘sacralised politics’ to left-wing religiosity at the turn of the century. Emilio Gentile has provided detailed criteria to distinguish ‘political religion’ from ‘civil religion’ and ‘politicised religion’ from ‘religion as politics’. This paper tries to apply this taxonomy to late Victorian and Edwardian socialism in Britain. Intellectual arguments for a ‘religion of socialism’– as well as less-theorised religious behaviour – are evident within three groupings that shaped the British socialist revival: the Social Democratic Federation, The Fabian Society, and the Independent Labour Party. Surveying members of each, including Ernest Belfort Bax, the Webbs, Shaw, Wells; John Trevor, and Keir Hardie, the paper lastly turns to Edward Carpenter, who moved between the aforementioned groups during his career, and whose popular and influential writings vividly capture socialism’s spiritual character. His case also illustrates the major obstacle in applying Gentile’s taxonomy to this period, namely the pervasive monism of the age, which blurs concepts of the temporal and divine. In conclusion, we can see that Edwardian socialism provided good conditions for the emergence of political religion but also for the civil religion of today’s centre left. A much more detailed discussion, beyond our scope here, might consider Gentile’s distinctions between functionalist, manipulative, noumenal forms of religiosity; distinctions brought home to Edwardian intellectuals through new theories of charisma and crowd psychology. Their knowledge, and application, of these ideas more clearly anticipates the rise of fascism; although, in the same generation, we should note a return to dualism as a defence against totalitarian political religion.

Continuing Cold War Paradigms in Western Historiography of Transnational Women’s Organisations: the case of the Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF)

This article explores Cold War assumptions that have shaped the western historiography of inter/transnational women’s organisations, in particular the International Council of Women (ICW), the International Alliance of Women (IAW), and the Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF). A number of assumptions are discussed—that the western organisations were ‘politically neutral’, with their feminist identity or agenda taken for granted; secondly, that the ICW and IAW were located ‘in the West’ and the WIDF ‘behind the Iron Curtain’, without any interaction between them; and thirdly, that the Congress of American Women (CAW) and its international umbrella organisation, the Women’s International Democratic Federation, were deeply politicised, i.e. ‘Communist’ but not ‘feminist’. It is argued that these assumptions have contributed to a one‐sided emphasis on western international women’s organisations and to a state of ‘not knowing’ about the WIDF. In the second part of the article, the WIDF is briefly discussed, with a focus on its early life in war‐ravaged Europe.