Emerging Federal Structures in the Post-Cold War Era

"This is a much-needed book on the dynamics of federalism. It puts the spotlight on countries that, on the fringe of traditional federal theory, are too often ignored. But if we want to understand how federalism works, then this is where the action is."

- Patricia Popelier, Professor of Law at the University of Antwerp, the Belgium, and Co-Promoter of the Centre of Excellence GOVTRUST


"Soeren Keil and Sabine Kropp have put together a collection of case studies on federal structures and practices that is both intelligent and insightful. It is intelligent because the wide selection of cases nevertheless is tightly organized around principles that distinguish federalism from the ubiquitous phenomenon of multilevel governance. It is insightful because the focus on federalism in the making helps putting to rest the idea of federalism as a static model of rigid constitutionalism."


-Thomas O. Hueglin, Professor of Political Science at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada

This book conceives federalism not as a static institutional architecture, but as a dynamic formation always in flux. This may entail processes of federalization, but in some cases also lead to de-federalization. It looks at emerging federal structures worldwide and analyses federal structures: their emergence, operation and categorization. The contributors highlight that the “emergence” of these federal structures has multiple facets, from the recognition of ethnic diversity to the use of federalism as a tool of conflict resolution. Identifying and categorizing processes of federalization and defederalization in a variety of cases, the book provides much needed empirical and theoretical discussion on emerging federal structures and the changing nature of federalism in the post-Cold War era.

Soeren Keil is Academic Head of the International Research and Consulting Center of the Institute of Federalism at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

Sabine Kropp is Professor and Chair-Holder in German Politics at the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.