Federal System Research Articles

Caught Between a Well-Intentioned State and a Hostile Federal System: Local Implementation of Inclusive Immigrant Policies.

In the United States, inclusive state-level policies can advance immigrant health and health care access by extending noncitizens' access to public benefits, workplace rights, and protections from immigration enforcement. Although state policies carry promise as structural population health interventions, there has been little examination of their implementation at the local level. Local jurisdictions play multiple roles in state policy implementation and possess distinct immigration climates. Examining the local implementation of state immigrant policy can address challenges and opportunities to ensure the health benefits of inclusive policies are realized equitably across states' regions. To examine the local implementation of state immigrant policies, we selected a purposive sample of California counties with large immigrant populations and distinct social and political dynamics and conducted and analyzed in-depth interviews with 20 community-based organizations that provided health, safety net, and other services. We found that there were tensions between the inclusionary goals of state immigrant policies and local anti-immigrant climates and federal policy changes. First, there were tensions between state policy goals and resistance from local law enforcement agencies and policymakers (e.g., Board of Supervisors). Second, because of the ongoing threats from federal immigration policies, there was a mismatch between the services and resources provided by state policies and local community needs. Finally, organizations that served immigrants were responsible for contributing to policy implementation but lacked resources to meet community needs while countering local resistance and federal policy threats. This study contributes knowledge regarding the challenges that emerge after state immigrant policies are enacted. The tensions among state immigrant policies, local immigration climates, and federal policy changes indicate that state immigrant policies are not implemented equally across state communities, resulting in challenges and limited benefits from policies for many immigrant communities.

Understanding the gap between the gender equality and social inclusion policy and implementation in the energy sector: The case of Nepal

Social norms are often put forward to explain resistance to gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), and women continue to be largely absent from decision-making positions in the energy sector worldwide. However, there is limited research on the institutional mechanisms of policy-making and implementation at different scales within a federal system.Using Nepal as a case study, this paper explores why, despite commitments, progress toward GESI objectives in the energy sector has been slow. Based on a review of energy policies, and interviews at federal, provincial and local government spheres, this paper focuses on the institutional and policy processes at play within the energy sector and between the three spheres of the federal system (the national, provincial and local). It examines the extent to which these processes undermine the implementation of inclusion policy. Understanding the broader institutional processes helps to identify different types of bottlenecks compromising progress in GESI: those which are linked to deficient policy regimes which cannot be addressed solely through additional GESI-focused interventions, and those which can be characterized as resistant to GESI-related issues. The aim of this research is also to understand why Nepal's public energy institutions, despite a constitutional commitment to gender equality and non-discrimination based on caste, class, ethnicity and religion, seem so reluctant to mainstream GESI within its policies and practice. The paper concludes that GESI implementation in the energy sector suffers from limited human resources, a narrow conceptual framing and delays in policy development and implementation within different spheres of the federal system. Moreover, shortcomings related to GESI policy-making and implementation should be considered within the broader context of federalism. Therefore, to support GESI policy implementation, bureaucratic as well as local-level ownership of the concept and its relevance for sustainable development must be developed and strengthened.

Nationalization of State Legislative Elections: Evidence From the Minnesota State Senate

This investigation explores the evolution of the relationship between national and local factors in Minnesota’s state legislative elections. Correlations demonstrate a growing connection between presidential and state legislative results between 1992 and 2020. Further, the findings reveal that national factors have exercised an outsized influence on State Senate election results in recent years, even when the strongest rival explanations are included in the analysis. In fact, when presidential vote and previous vote for a State Senate seat are assessed alongside incumbency and campaign spending in the 2020 election, presidential vote demonstrates the strongest influence on outcomes, while incumbency and candidate spending show negligible effects. The findings suggest that national factors thoroughly dominate state legislative elections. This has implications for policy responsiveness and raises the specter that the mismatch between a federal system and nationalized politics may prove unsustainable.

Investigating the Practicality of True Federalism in Nigeria: A Review Literature

The growing frustration among different disenchanted regions of Nigeria raises the question of whether Nigeria’s current federal structure is delivering the full benefits of citizenship to every region. This study investigates the practicability of Nigeria’s federalism, taking stock of different challenges confronting the nationstate, which are mainly economic and political. The study adopts descriptive analysis, which allows us to identify and describe the topic in a clear and in-depth way. The data for the study were gathered from secondary sources such as journal articles, internet sources and textbooks. The inclusion of these sources was evaluated based on the relevance of their input to the discourse, providing information helpful to the understanding of the topic and supporting the argument of the paper. The study revealed that the current system of federalism fails to meet the standards of true federalism. This is based on the idea that the autonomy advocated for states and regions is not respected in law or practice. The study, therefore, recommends restructuring and autonomy, which are meant to give every state and region a sense of belonging, improve unity, create healthy competition and help citizens achieve their aspirations. This will safeguard against a heavyhanded and unfair central government, which will allow states to maintain a degree of autonomy and make decisions that they believe best serve local interests. The study concludes that Nigeria must focus on restructuring and autonomy to drive a decentralized governing structure, which creates balance, preserve the country's national unity and cohesion.

Revenue Collection and Spending Effectiveness of Nepal Government

This study examined and analyzed the revenue collection and effectiveness of spending for the period of 15 years (2005–2020) of the government of Nepal. The study employed the causal-comparative research design. For the comparison of results, it has demarcated findings before and after 2015, because the government of Nepal adopted a federal system instead of a unitary system in 2015. Where the sources of revenues are independent variables, government spending are mediating variables, and measures of effectiveness are dependent variables. Population growth moderates the relationship between revenue collection and spending. Similarly, corruption and inflation rate moderate the relationship between government spending and measure of effectiveness. The empirical data were taken from the official website of the Nepal Government and the World Bank. Three effectiveness measuring variables have appeared increasing for the study period. But employment to total population ratio has been found to decrease. Government spending has been positively related to per capita income after 2015, which was negative before that period. Government spending on health has been found positive and significant relationship with life expectancy at birth. Education expenditure has been found positively associated with the literacy rate after 2015, whereas there was a negative association before that period. The outcome of the study will be applicable to identify the areas for fiscal policy improvement to better serve its citizen.

A comparative analysis of the federal system in USA and Nigeria and its impact on national unity and development

This paper compares the federal system in two countries: Nigeria, a developing country and the United States of America (USA), a developed country. The subject examined is true federalism as it affects national unity and development. In order to achieve our aim, the following areas were explored in the literature review: the concept of federalism, the evolution of federalism, division of powers in federal states, revenue allocation and resource control in federal states. Relevant variables such as, democracy, independent judiciary and a powerful legislature were also examined as prerequisites for the existence of true federalism in a political system. Four research objectives and questions guided the study. The theoretical frame work for the study was hinged on K.C. Wheare’s Theory of Federalism. The work is purely qualitative, (doctrinal method of research) as only secondary data were used for the entire study. The research findings revealed that, the American federal system of government is more ideal and that Nigeria can borrow a lift from the USA if it desires to experience true federalism, which guarantees national unity and development.

소수자 인권에 있어 Dobbs 판결의 의미와 반향

On June 24, 2022, the United States Supreme Court effectively removed the right to abortion from the list of fundamental rights under the U.S. Constitution in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The right to abortion had been considered a core right, derived from the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment since its affirmation in Roe v. Wade in 1973, but it lost its constitutional value and stature in the U.S. federal legal system nearly half a century later. The debate and conflict surrounding the Dobbs decision echo the social unrest that the Roe decision, which first recognized abortion rights, initially induced.
 This article does not engage directly with the varied and contentious positions on abortion that rest on religious, moral, and political grounds. Rather, it seeks to discuss the impact of the Dobbs decision on the rights of minorities from the perspective of constitutional theory and judicial policy. The Dobbs decision not only directly affects the lives and rights of women in the United States, but it also potentially represents a critical turning point in the rights of minorities in general when viewed in light of the legal principles it espoused. Based on the Fourteenth Amendment (Due Process Clause, Equal Protection Clause), the U.S. Supreme Court has discovered a series of individual liberties and rights that are not explicitly stipulated in the constitutional text through interpretation, recognizing these as fundamental rights deserving of special constitutional protection. Restrictions or discrimination relating to fundamental rights are subjected to a high-intensity judicial review standard and are strictly controlled. The method and criteria for recognizing fundamental rights are extremely important in activating the human rights advocacy function of the U.S. Supreme Court and have a profound impact on minorities, who can only expect judicial protection as they cannot secure respect for their values and lifestyles in the political process governed by majority rule. The Supreme Court has long used ‘history and tradition’ as a key criterion in confirming fundamental rights, but the Dobbs decision applied this criterion in a more conservative direction. As a result, the decision curtailed the progressive trend observed in the fundamental rights analysis in the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, leading to what can be seen as a counter-revolutionary conclusion - ‘evicting’ the right to abortion from the list of fundamental rights. From this point, the Dobbs decision can be assessed as a rupture in the constitutional progress that the Supreme Court has made based on the Fourteenth Amendment's fundamental rights analysis, as well as a fracture in the role and function of advocating for minority rights that the Supreme Court has emphasized.

Receiving the right political system for afghanistan

This research, which has focused on finding a suitable political system for Afghanistan, has described discussions such as (explaining the concept of political system and structure, parliamentary system, advantages and disadvantages of parliamentary system, presidential system, advantages and disadvantages of parliamentary system and criticism of the current political system of Afghanistan). At the beginning of the research, we will get acquainted with the familiar discussion of the political system and structure, the comparison of the parliamentary system and the presidential system. In the era of globalization, countries experienced different systems from the centralized presidential system to the decentralized federal system, which in their nature have opponents and but the case and goal we are looking for is to get the right system, most of the scientists and writers expressed their opinion that the parliamentary system was more efficient in most of the countries that are transitioning towards modern democracy, compared to the centralized presidential system. End and the result that magnifies the current research is that the parliamentary system and the presidential system each have their own positive and negative points (advantages and shortcomings) that both of these systems are now clearly experienced in most countries of the world, which is a good example. The presidential system can be seen in the United States and a good example of the parliamentary system can be seen in the British political structure. But! The experiences gained from the experience of the parliamentary system in the majority of countries indicate that a non-centralized parliamentary system can be a good answer in the discussion of good governance and the experience of modern democracy in multi-ethnic and multi-racial societies like Afghanistan. According to the theory of separation of powers, the parliamentary system has better flexibility than the presidential system, which can prevent the tension between the two main branches of government (legislature, executive) and bring stability to most societies.

What is Federalism? Some Definitional Clarification

Abstract The most prominent conceptualization of federalism is as a political organization combining “self-rule” with “shared rule”. The abstractness that makes this formula so attractive has, however, opened the door to misinterpretation and, in turn, encouraged misconceptions about the essential nature of federalism. “Shared rule” has been misinterpreted as meaning participation of the constituent units in central-government decision-making, or co-determination. This confuses common aspects of federal design, such as bicameralism, or important elements of federal practice, such as intergovernmental relations, with the essential or defining features of a federal system. The analysis here clarifies the meaning of shared rule and confirms that the existence of two constitutionally guaranteed orders of government, each enjoying a direct relationship with the people and exercising meaningful powers, is both necessary and sufficient for a political system to be characterized as a federation.

Accounting for Indigenous cultural connections to land: insights from two Indigenous groups of Australia

PurposeThis paper aims to present the findings of a government-initiated project that sought to explore the possibility of incorporating cultural connections to land within the federal national accounting system using the United Nations Systems of Environmental-Economic Accounting (UN-SEEA) framework as a basis.Design/methodology/approachAdopting a critical dialogic approach and responding to the calls for critical accountants to engage with stakeholders, the authors worked with two Indigenous groups of Australia to develop a system of accounts that incorporates their cultural connections to “Country”. The two groups were clans from the Mungguy Country in the Kakadu region of Northern Territory and the Ewamian Aboriginal Corporation of Northern Queensland. Conducting two-day workshops on separate occasions with both groups, the authors attempted to meld the Indigenous worldviews with the worldviews embodied within national accounting systems and the UN-SEEA framework.FindingsThe models developed highlight significant differences between the ontological foundations of Indigenous and Western-worldviews and the authors reflect on the tensions created between these competing worldviews. The authors also offer pragmatic solutions that could be implemented by the Indigenous Traditional Owners and the government in terms of developing such an accounting system that incorporates connections to Country.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to providing a contemporary case study of engagement with Indigenous peoples in the co-development of a system of accounting for and by Indigenous peoples; it also contributes to the ongoing debate on bridging the divide between critique and praxis; and finally, the paper delves into an area that is largely unexplored within accounting research which is national accounting.

Problematizing Modern Democracy in the United States:

Since Donald Trump’s presidency and the diverse efforts to undermine the transfer of power after the 2020 election, the risks of extreme polarization and democratic backsliding in the United States (US) have been highlighted in the literature. Yet the epistemic dimension of these developments remains underresearched. Embedded in a genealogical Foucauldian governmentality/counter-conduct approach, this contribution addresses the puzzle of how election denialism and related (violent) anti-system activity are being rationalized, legitimized, and anchored in political subjectivities as efforts to ‘protect’ American democracy. This perspective allows to inquire into liberalism’s authoritarian potential that can be mobilized through different forms of counter-conduct. The study analytically disentangles these forms based on their prime targets, modes of operation, and the forms of knowledge they rely on. Focusing on the swing state of Arizona, the empirical analysis furthermore highlights the role of the subnational level in interlinking counter-conduct and (autocratizing) governmental practices in a federal system. Conceptually, the study renders visible a profound struggle over the epistemic foundations of the current liberal constitutional and political order that clearly transcends the issue of the 2020 election, Donald Trump, and even the context of the United States. Indeed, similar patterns of subjectivation and counter-conduct can also be detected for example in Germany. Moreover, this paper expands the scope of the concept of counter-conduct to study radical right-wing contestations and related questions of epistemic (in)justice. It thereby seeks to encourage debate on how political science can address the pluralization and polarization of contents, standards, and forms of knowledge as they become relevant to democratic backsliding.

Federalism and Confidence in Australian Governments During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic was the most severe global health crisis for a century. Most advanced democracies introduced restrictions on social interaction to reduce community infection. This article examines how public confidence in Australia’s federal system of government was affected by these restrictions. We use a longitudinal dataset collected nationally between 2020 and 2022 to evaluate how public confidence in both federal and state governments varied with the level of government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions. The results show that confidence in both levels of government surged in the initial stages of the pandemic and remained high for the first year, gradually declining thereafter. Variations in the level of restrictions had a significant longitudinal association with confidence, with a negative relationship with confidence in state governments and a positive relationship with confidence in the federal government. The public clearly distinguished between the responsibilities of the different levels of government in managing the health crisis.

Rural Water Supply Systems in Nepal: Factors Affecting Equitable Access to Water

Issues of gender and social inclusion in the governance mechanism of rural water supply systems have been a major concern of users, policymakers, and practitioners in Nepal. Amid changing livelihood context due to migration, transition to a federal governance structure, and social hierarchies, communities face persistent inequities in access to safe water, while its supply continues to diminish. In this context, increasing competition for water has in many instances resulted in the fulfillment of water needs of some groups, while compromising the water needs of others. In such instances, it is usually the poor and marginalized groups who are disproportionately affected. Moreover, understanding the factors affecting equitable access to an adequate supply of water now particularly after Nepal’s entry into the new federal governance system, and COVID-19 pandemic is paramount.
 Based on the learnings of 3-year research project that seeks to understand the role of gender and power dynamics in the functionality of community water systems, this paper will provide insights on collective water management practices. A mix of qualitative inquiries such as focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, social and institutional mapping, and observation were utilized to collect the data. This paper will present evidence from the project sites highlighting how community institutions are managing the supply and distribution of water particularly by discussing factors influencing equitable water supply.

Who Pays? Cost-Sharing for Disaster Management in the US and Japan

Whether national and local governments should assume larger financial responsibility for reducing disaster risk remains a controversial issue. Local governments lack resources to cover the full cost of managing mega-disasters and need assistance from higher level governments. However, national governments covering all costs may create moral hazards, discouraging local governments from investing in ex-ante measures. This study identifies national and local governments’ fiscal responsibility determinants for disaster management. Despite the differences between the federal system in the US and the centralized system in Japan, the two countries’ national governments share common practices. Both have continuously developed legislation to expand their financial responsibilities for relief and recovery efforts as disaster consequences have increased. We argue that despite major institutional differences in Japan’s unitary and the US federal government systems, both have expanded the areas covered by national assistance along with the amount over time. These findings bring with them recommendations for governments in an era of increasing extreme weather events due to climate change.

Maximizing the potential value of the nursing workforce

This panel paper is the fifth installment in a six-part Nursing Outlook special edition based on the 2022 Emory Business Case for Nursing Summit. The 2022 summit convened national nursing, health care, and business leaders to explore possible solutions to nursing workforce crises, including the nursing shortage. Each of the summit’s four panels authored a paper in this special edition on their respective topic, and this panel paper focuses on maximizing the potential value of the nursing workforce. It addresses topics including the need to create a nursing-inclusive federal health care billing system improve nursing salaries by designing/testing nurse-informed compensation models, and strengthen nursing's national professional infrastructure.

Growing crisis of the us federal finances system USA: default delayed but not cancelled

The article analyzes the course and results of the US budget crisis caused by the need to raise the ceiling of public debt, which reached $31.4 trillion by the beginning of 2023. It is emphasized that this budget crisis is the second crisis of its kind after 2011. The article draws major historical parallels between the 2011 and 2023 budget crises. It is noted that both crises arose as a result of the victory of the Republican Party in the 2010 and 2022 midterm elections, which allowed the Republican leadership of the US House of Representatives to draw up plans to sharply decrease the growth rate of the leverage on the American economy. Both in 2011 and 2023, in the House of Representatives Republicans were opposed by the Democratic administrations of B. Obama and J. Biden. It is mentioned that they invariably advocated an "automatic" increase of the ceiling of the public debt, while Republicans demanded budget reforms, insisting on dramatic reduction in expenses on federal budget. According to the author, the inertia of uncontrolled growth of budget defi cits and an increase in the pyramid of debt obligations is deeply rooted in the United States, and at the same time the politicians of both ruling parties seek to shift the solution of the country’s acute fi scal problems to subsequent administrations and congresses of new convocations. By 2033, the federal government’s gross debt is expected to be $50.0 trillion, the ratio of gross debt to GDP will have reached nearly 130.0 %, and the amount of paid interest will be comparable to the size of military budgets.

The Twin Challenges Facing Myanmar and How the World Can Help

Abstract The Myanmar resistance’s urgent task is to push the hated, brutal military out of political power once and for all. Just as importantly, however, it simultaneously needs to create the best possible conditions for any future democratic government to succeed. This goal will require addressing a wide range of difficult issues that either have lingered unresolved for many years or that have grown out of the post-2021 coup and subsequent conflict. These include restructuring the security forces, developing and implementing a system of federalism, building rule of law, tackling long-standing identity issues, and rebuilding and reinvigorating the economy. It will also need to establish an interim governance structure and decide how to maintain security and basic governance during the inevitable transition period. The international community should step up efforts to help the resistance achieve both of these goals, including by increasing aid, training and scholarships and establishing a “Friends of Myanmar Democracy Group” to coordinate approaches.

The Ongoing Significance of Federalism to Australian Treaty Practice

Abstract This article considers the significance of Australia’s federal constitutional structure to its relationship with international law. It focuses specifically on how Australia’s federal system continues to influence Australia’s ability to assume, implement and comply with international obligations, by considering a series of examples in which states and territories have acted inconsistently with those obligations. It argues that understanding the domestic legal framework that governs how a state interacts with international law, as well as the political and historical contexts that inform how that framework actually operates, allows for greater insight into how that state relates to the international legal system.

Rulemaking Speed in the US States

Abstract This paper explores the speed of rulemaking in American state governments. Drawing on a unique data set of over 250,000 individual rules issued by states from 1993 through 2009, we introduce new measures of the speed and breadth of rulemaking in American state bureaucracies, providing a new way of evaluating the incidence of rulemaking delay within and across governments. We focus specifically on how professionalism and oversight powers of state legislative and executive branches affect rulemaking speed and find that states with more professionalized legislatures and governments with extensive legislative/executive oversight powers experience greater delays in rule adoption. These findings provide important new insights into the politics of regulatory delay and suggest disparate ways in which sub-national governments approach regulatory policymaking in a federal system.

How effectively are social accountability mechanisms being applied in mental health services within the newly federalized health system of Nepal? A multi-stakeholder qualitative study

BackgroundThe burden of mental health problems and inequalities in healthcare has emerged as critical issues, in Nepal. Strengthened citizen-driven social accountability (SA) is an effective strategy for building equitable health systems and providing quality healthcare services to all, yet SA in mental health is an under-researched area in Nepal.ObjectiveThis study explores changes in mental health service delivery in the re-configured federal health system and discusses the functioning and effectiveness of SA in the federalized context of Nepal.MethodThis case study research used a qualitative approach to data collection. We conducted Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with local stakeholders including people with experience of mental health problems. The audio-recorded interviews and discussions were transcribed and analyzed using a thematic content method.ResultsA total of 49 participants were recruited, and 17 participated in interviews and 32 participated in six focus group discussions. From the data, eight themes emerged: Policy challenges in mental health, Governance and service delivery, Tokenism in the application of social accountability processes, Weak role of key actors in promoting accountability, Complaints and response, Discriminatory health and welfare system, Public attitudes and commitment towards mental health, and No differences experienced by the change to a federal system. It was found that existing health policies in Nepal inadequately cover mental health issues and needs. The prevailing laws and policies related to mental health were poorly implemented. There is a lack of clarity at different levels of government about the roles and responsibilities in the delivery of mental health services. Poor intra- and inter-governmental coordination, and delays in law-making processes negatively impacted on mental health service delivery. SA mechanisms such as social audits and public hearings exist within government health systems, however, application of these in mental health services was found poor. Rights-holders with mental health problems had not experienced any change in the provision of healthcare services for them even after the federalization.ConclusionMental health is insufficiently addressed by the health policies in Nepal, and SA mechanisms appeared to be rarely institutionalized to promote good governance and provide effective healthcare services to vulnerable populations. The provision of more equitable services and honest implementation of SA tools may foster greater accountability and thereby better service delivery for people with mental health problems.