Federalism Matters

Real federalism is a federalism that promotes citizen choice and competition among the states

This is Canada's only up-to-date collection of essays on issues in Canadian federalism, covering the Harper and Trudeau eras, as well as federal-provincial debates over healthcare, climate change, trade, and more.

Challenging the myth that the federal government exercises exclusive control over U.S. foreign-policymaking, Michael J. Glennon and Robert D. Sloane propose that we recognize the prominent role that states and cities now play in that realm. Foreign Affairs Federalism provides the first comprehensive study of the constitutional law and practice of federalism in the conduct of U.S. foreign relations. It could hardly be timelier. States and cities recently have limited greenhouse gas emissions, declared nuclear free zones and sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants, established thousands of sister-city relationships, set up informal diplomatic offices abroad, and sanctioned oppressive foreign governments. Exploring the implications of these and other initiatives, this book argues that the national interest cannot be advanced internationally by Washington alone. Glennon and Sloane examine in detail the considerable foreign affairs powers retained by the states under the Constitution and question the need for Congress or the president to step in to provide "one voice" in foreign affairs. They present concrete, realistic ways that the courts can update antiquated federalism precepts and untangle interwoven strands of international law, federal law, and state law. The result is a lucid, incisive, and up-to-date analysis of the rules that empower-and limit-states and cities abroad.

The balance between state and federal health care financing for low-income people has been a matter of considerable debate for the last 40 years. Some argue for a greater federal role, others for more devolution of responsibility to the states. Medicaid, the backbone of the system, has been plagued by an array of problems that have made it unpopular and difficult to use to extend health care coverage. In recent years, waivers have given the states the flexibility to change many features of their Medicaid programs; moreover, the states have considerable flexibility to in establishing State Children's Health Insurance Programs. This book examines the record on the changing health safety net. How well have states done in providing acute and long-term care services to low-income populations? How have they responded to financial incentives and federal regulatory requirements? How innovative have they been? Contributing authors include Donald J. Boyd, Randall R. Bovbjerg, Teresa A. Coughlin, Ian Hill, Michael Housman, Robert E. Hurley, Marilyn Moon, Mary Beth Pohl, Jane Tilly, and Stephen Zuckerman.

The Canadian system of federalism divides the power to govern between the central federal parliament and the provincial and territorial legislative assemblies. In what can be seen as a double federation, power is also divided culturally, between English and French Canada. The divisions of power and responsibility, however, have not remained static since 1867. The federal language regime (1969), for example, reconfigured cultural federalism, generating constitutional tension as governments sought to make institutions more representative of the country's diversity. In Federalism and the Constitution of Canada, award-winning author David E. Smith examines a series of royal commission and task force inquiries, a succession of federal-provincial conferences, and the competing and controversial terms of the Constitution Act of 1982 in order to evaluate both the popular and governmental understanding of federalism. In the process, Smith uncovers the reasons constitutional agreement has historically proved difficult to reach and argues that Canadian federalism 'in practice' has been more successful at accommodating foundational change than may be immediately apparent.