Federalism as Decision-Making : Changes in Structures, Procedures and Policies

Accounting for participation, separation of powers and democratic accountability, federalism gains momentum in times when traditional democratic legitimacy of institutional decision-making is challenged. Its ability to include multiple interests makes federalism a means to ensure good governance.
Based on a multidisciplinary analysis, the book tackles the question of whether federalism as a pragmatic governance tool provides answers to current challenges and what those answers are. Thirty-three leading experts critically examine to what extent federalism serves this purpose in compound states, looking at different countries and policies.
The volume revolves around five sub-themes: ‘federalism, democracy and governance’, ‘participation mechanisms and procedures’, ‘policy areas compared’, ‘institutional innovation and participatory democracy’ and ‘federalism: from theory to governance’.

Francesco Palermo, Ph.D (1998), University of Innsbruck, is the Head of the Institute for Studies on Federalism and Regionalism at the European Academy of Bolzano/Bozen (EURAC) and Professor of Comparative Public Law at University of Verona. He has over 200 publications in several languages, including 10 monographs, particularly in comparative, Italian and European constitutional law, minority rights, cross-border cooperation, federalism and regionalism.

Elisabeth Alber, is Senior Researcher and Program Officer (EURAC Federal Scholar in Residence Program) at the Institute for Studies on Federalism and Regionalism at the European Academy of Bolzano/Bozen (EURAC). Her research and publications mainly focus on comparative federalism and regionalism, participatory and deliberative democracy in compound states, autonomies and minority rights.