This is the first comprehensive book that explores the subject of federalism from the perspective of comparative constitutional studies and at the same time places a strong emphasis on how federal systems work in practice. This focus is reflected in the book's two most innovative elements: First, it analyses, from a comparative point of view, how government levels exercise their powers and interact in several highly topical policy areas like social welfare, environmental protection or migrant integration. Second, the book incorporates text case law boxes discussing seminal judgments from...

This edited volume examines the form and operation of intergovernmental relations in divided societies. Using eight country case studies, it explores the interplay between politicised ethno-cultural diversity and intergovernmental relations (IGR) in countries where the distinctive identity of at least one subnational unit is acknowledged in a form of territorial autonomy. The book examines whether and how the distinctive identity of particular subnational units and the attending competing constitutional visions shape the dynamics of IGR. The goal here is not simply to determine whether...