1. Introduction: Puzzles of Multinational Federalism
Alain-G. Gagnon and Arjun Tremblay
Part I: Multinational Federations at Risk and in Retreat
2. Diverse Democracies and the Practice of Federalism
James Kennedy
3. When Have Dyadic Federations Succeeded and When Have They Failed? A Comparative Analysis of Bipolar Federalism around the World
Christoph Niessen, Min Reuchamps, Dejan Stjepanović and Augustin Habra
4. Assessing the Spanish State’s Response to Catalan Independence: The Application of Federal Coercion
Lucía Payero-López
Part II: The Stalled Emergence of Multinational Federalism
5. Origins and Consequences of American Multicultural Federalism: Constitutional Patriotism, Territorial Neutrality, and National Polarisation
John Kincaid
6. ‘Nested Newness’ and the Quality of Self-Government: The Case of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Susan J. Henders
7. Federalism, Democracy and National Diversity in 21st Century China: Reinterpreting Hong Kong’s Autonomy, Subverting its Democracy
Jean-François Dupré
Part III: Recognizing and Accommodating National and Other Diversities: Success or Failure?
8. Internal Migration in Asian Multinational Countries: Attitudes, Challenges and Institutions
Isabelle Côté and Mira Raatikainen
9. Immigration Federalism, Multinational States, and Subnational Communities: Comparing Flanders and Quebec
Catherine Xhardez
10. Relative Deprivation and Perceived Discrimination among Quebec’s English-Speaking Minority Communities: ‘Second-Class Citizens’ in a Multi-National Context?
Pierre-Olivier Bonin
11. Internal Migration, Ethnic Federalism, and Differentiated Citizenship in an African Federation: the Case of Ethiopia
Yonatan T. Fessha and Beza Dessalegn
12. Ensuring a Future for Indigenous Languages in Canada: Can ‘Consequentialist’ Multinational Federalism Provide an Answer?
Emmanuelle Richez and Tejas Pandya
Part IV. Conclusion
13. Roadblocks and Roadmaps to Multinational Federalism
Alain-G. Gagnon and Arjun Tremblay
Alain-G. Gagnon is Professor in the Department of Political Science at the Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada, and Founding Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Diversity and Democracy. He has authored more than 500 works in political sociology, federal studies and Canadian politics. His research has been translated into twenty languages.
Arjun Tremblay is Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Regina, Canada, and author of Diversity in Decline? The Rise of the Political Right and the Fate of Multiculturalism (2019). His research focuses on the near and longer-term prospects of multiculturalism, multinational federalism, and other diversity-oriented projects.
This edited volume explores the obstacles to and opportunities for the development and entrenchment of a sustainable and representative multinational federalism. In doing so, it tackles a striking puzzle: on the one hand, scholars agree that deeply diverse multinational and multiethnic democracies should adopt federal structures that reflect and empower territorially concentrated diversity. On the other hand, there are very few, if any, real examples of enshrined and fully operative substantive multinational federalism. What are the main roadblocks to the adoption of multinational federalism? Can they be overcome? Is there a roadmap to realizing multinational federalism in the twenty-first century? In addressing these questions, this book brings together scholars from across the globe who explore a diverse range of cases from different and innovative analytical approaches. The chapters contribute to answering the above questions, each in their own way, while also addressing other important aspects of multinational federalism. The book concludes that the way forward likely depends on the emergence of a specific set of norms and a receptiveness to the complex institutional design.
Alain-G. Gagnon is Professor in the Department of Political Science at the Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada, and Founding Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Diversity and Democracy. He has authored more than 500 works in political sociology, federal studies and Canadian politics. His research has been translated into twenty languages.
Arjun Tremblay is Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Regina, Canada, and author of Diversity in Decline? The Rise of the Political Right and the Fate of Multiculturalism (2019). His research focuses on the near and longer-term prospects of multiculturalism, multinational federalism, and other diversity-oriented projects.