A Reassessment of Federalism as a Degree of Decentralization

Bibliographic Data

ID6375855
AuthorsEghosa E Osaghae (0000-0002-2634-2506)
Year1990
Volume20
Issue1
Pages83-98
Publication date1990-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePublius The Journal of Federalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0048-5950 • E-ISSN: 1747-7107
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubjof.a037864
OpenAlexW2330514682
LanguageEN
Citations received10

The central argument in this article is that it is wrong to conceive of federalism as simply a degree of decentralization. Decentralization can only be applied meaningfully to federalism in matters that belong to the central government. Even then, unlike unitary decentralization, which is entirely at the discretion of the central government, federal decentralization is both mandatory and guaranteed. Much more than this, however, the key to distinguishing federal systems from nonfederal systems, which also have "degrees of decentralization," lies in the concept of noncentralization by which is meant that matters belonging to the states cannot ordinarily be centralized unilaterally. It is this noncentralization, which opposes decentralization (because decentralization presupposes centralization), that makes federalism a highly distinct form of "decentralization

Argument (complex analysis · Central government · Decentralization · Discretion · Economic system · Economics · Federalism · fiscal federalism · Government (linguistics · Local government · Political science · Politics · Unitary state · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Chemistry · Law · Philosophy · Political Systems and Governance · Public Administration · Taxation and Legal Issues