This comprehensive research companion examines the theory, practice and historical development of the principle of federalism from the ancient period to the contemporary world. It provides a range of interpretations and integrates theoretical and practical aspects of federalism studies more fully than is usually the case. The volume identifies and examines nascent conceptions of the federal idea in ancient and medieval history and political thought before considering the roots of modern federalism in the ideas of a number of important European political theorists of the sixteenth through...

Spain, one of Europe's oldest nation-states, is in serious difficulty with Catalan secession becoming the most important issue as economic recovery is gradually achieved. During the 20th Century Catalonia was frequently cited as a model for the successful devolution of power from central government to the regions and seemed to embody the successful construction of a political community based on autonomy within a state but the new century has been marked by an ever-growing independence movement. Pro-independence mobilization has produced a rupture in political relations with the rest of Spain...