Asymmetric federalism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Asymmetric federalism is found in a federation in which different constituent states possess different powers. This is in contrast to a symmetric federation, where no distinction is made between constituent states.
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[edit] Russia
The Russian Federation consists of 88 federal subjects, all equal in federal matters but enjoying six more or less different levels of autonomy.
[edit] United States
As far as the fifty proper states are concerned, the United States is a symmetric federation, where every state has the same powers. However, the U.S. has a number of insular areas directly under the control of the U. S. federal government, with various degrees of autonomy. The District of Columbia is not an insular area, but it is also directly controlled by the federal government with limited autonomy.
[edit] Canada
The Constitution of Canada is broadly symmetric but contains certain specific sections that apply only to certain provinces. In practice, a degree of asymmetry is created as a result of the evolution of the Canadian federal experiment, individual federal-provincial agreements, and judicial interpretation. For example, tax collection is often a federal responsibility but in Québec both the federal and Québec governments retain the ability to collect both corporate, personal and sales taxes. In some other provinces, provincial governments collect only sales or corporate taxes.
A recent example of asymmetry in the Canadian federation can be found in the terms of the September 2004 federal-provincial-territorial agreement on health care and the financing thereof [1]. The Government of Quebec supported the broader agreement but insisted on a separate communique [2] in which it was specified, among other things, that Quebec will apply its own wait time reduction plan, in accordance with the objectives, standards and criteria established by the relevant Quebec authorities; that the Government of Quebec will report to Quebecers on progress in achieving its objectives, and will use comparable indicators, mutually agreed to with other governments; and that funding made available by the Government of Canada will be used by the Government of Quebec to implement its own plan for renewing Quebec's health system.
[edit] Kurdistan and Iraq
The relationship between Kurdistan and other states of the Iraq federation can be characterized as asymetric federalism. The political and cultural distinctiveness of Kurdistan is lawfully recognized in Article 5 of the Iraqi Constitution. Iraqi Kurdistan is the sole federative region in Iraq, which enjoyed its separative political entity as de facto state from 1991 to 2003, and voluntarily rejoined a federal democratic Iraq. Kurdistan is the sole region in Iraq that enjoys security and political and economic development as of 2007.
[edit] Unitary states
Although they are not properly federations, many unitary states with devolved self-governing regions have a structure of government that resembles that found in an asymmetric federation.
- In the United Kingdom England has no self-government and is ruled directly by the British Parliament but Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have varying degrees of autonomy.
- In Spain, the autonomous communities of Navarre, Catalonia and the Basque Country enjoy more independence than the other communities, out of respect for nationalist sentiment and rights these regions have enjoyed historically.
- A federacy, is a unitary state in which one region has the autonomy of a state in a federation is similar to asymmetric federalism.
