1.
Self-rule vs. Shared Rule: The Design and Evolution of Federal Institutions in Colombia
(Kent Eaton/Essay)
(Kent Eaton/Essay)
... two hybrid configurations generates two distinct but related theoretical puzzles. First, why did the 1991 constitution simultaneously empower Colombia’s constituent units with self-rule only to disempower ...
2.
Addressing the limits of autonomy: Origin, organization and purpose of horizontal intergovernmental forums in three federations
(Yonatan Tesfaye Fessha/Essay)
(Yonatan Tesfaye Fessha/Essay)
Horizontal intergovernmental forums that bring together the constituent units of a federation are increasingly common. This article examines the origin, organization and purpose of the premium horizontal ...
3.
Subnational Constitutions; The Belgian Case in the Light of the Swiss Experience
(Olivier Van der Noot/Essay)
(Olivier Van der Noot/Essay)
Although Belgian federated entities do not have constituent power, Flanders has recently envisaged the adoption of a “proto-subnational Bill of Rights”, called the Charter for Flanders. This study briefly ...
4.
The politics of sub-national constitutions and local government in Ethiopia
(Zemelak Ayitenew Ayele/Essay)
(Zemelak Ayitenew Ayele/Essay)
The federal Constitution of Ethiopia provides the regional states - the constituent unit of the federation –with the power to draft, adopt and amend their own constitutions, thereby allowing each of the ...
5.
Comparing the Subnational Constitutional Space of the European Sub-State Entities in the Area of Foreign Affairs
(Nikos Skoutaris/Essay)
(Nikos Skoutaris/Essay)
... European multilevel systems have allowed for the creation of such ‘sub-national constitutional space’ enabling their constituent units to be active in the international arena. It does so by examining the ...
6.
Subnational Constitutionalism in The Sars of the People’s Republic Of China. An Exceptional Tailored Suit Model?
(Paulo Cardinal - Yihe Zhang/Essay)
(Paulo Cardinal - Yihe Zhang/Essay)
Macau and Hong Kong Special Administrative Regions of the People’s Republic of China enjoy, via a complex web of constituent legal instruments (international treaties, norms of the PRC Constitution and, ...
7.
The need for sub-national constitutions in federal theory and practice. The Belgian case
(Patricia Popelier/Essay)
(Patricia Popelier/Essay)
Comparative constitutional scholarship identifies sub-national constituent power as one of the defining features of federal systems. Moreover, according to public choice theory, devolutionary federal systems ...
... by the Constitutional Court. Influenced by the reluctance with which constituents viewed the mechanisms of direct democracy, they still have a reductive view of the referendum. The State therefore reserves ...
9.
Identity vs. representation: what makes ‘the people’? Rethinking democratic citizenship through (and beyond) Carl Schmitt and Hans Kelsen
(David Ragazzoni/Essay)
(David Ragazzoni/Essay)
... within our ‘glocal’ democracies and the theoretical challenges posed by the EU (especially about pivotal notions such as sovereignty, constituent power and peoplehood) questioned the traditional account ...
10.
Speaking in Name of the Constituent Power: the Spanish Constitutional Court and the New Catalan Estatut
(Giacomo Delledonne/Note)
(Giacomo Delledonne/Note)
In June 2010 the Spanish Constitutional Court rendered a very important judgment on the constitutional legitimacy of the new fundamental charter (Estatut) of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. Faced ...
11.
Constitutional Interpretation in Federations and its Impact on the Federal Balance
(Arun Sagar/Essay)
(Arun Sagar/Essay)
... constituent units, while progressive or ‘living’ constitutionalism tends to have a centripetal effect. However, even the adoption of an originalist approach is not sufficient to fully counter the general ...