Search

What is the impact of democracy/authoritarianism regime change on de/centralization in federations? Based on annual coding of three politico-institutional aspects, 22 policy fields, and five fiscal categories, this article maps de/centralization in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan from the establishment of their respective federal orders to 2020. It shows that de/centralization varies greatly across its different dimensions as well as between systems, with centralization being the dominant long-term trend but with significant exceptions, notably Pakistan. Regime change plays a major role in de/centralization but not always in line with the usual expectation that authoritarian regimes centralize and democratic ones decentralize. Other factors that cut across the authoritarianism/democracy divide, notably ideological orientations, have substantial impacts on de/centralization. By investigating long-run patterns of de/centralization in federations that have experienced democracy/authoritarianism regime change, the article sheds light on how federalism operates beyond consolidated democracies.

In federations and other regionalised arrangements, the search for co-operation may lead to a hierarchical alignment where the centre concentrates policy decision-making power. The use of conditional grants to build this kind of co-ordination can disguise its rather coercive character when opt-out clauses are counteracted by fiscal constraints that virtually force subnational adherence. Previous accounts on recentralisation in Latin America have overlooked this feature, particularly by mistakenly identifying the transfer of fiscal resources and responsibilities with authority over policies. The article adopts a configurational approach, focused on mechanisms, to reassess two Brazilian programmes redesigned in the 1990s and 2000s – the Fundamental Education Fund (Fundef) and the Basic Health Care Programme (Programa de Atenção Básica, PAB). Our evidence shows that both reforms followed hierarchical paths and received massive adherence of municipalities. We discuss how this kind of coercion in disguise is especially concerning in settings where some retrenchment of social expenditure is expected.

Este trabalho explorara o papel dos estados na federação brasileira com base em duas dimensões distintas: a autoridade constitucional dos estados e a avaliação dos cidadãos sobre a importância dos diferentes níveis de governos na federação brasileira. Assim fazendo, os autores buscam explorar facetas diversas da autoridade política estadual, exercida a partir de regras explícitas estabelecida nas leis. Com relação à primeira dimensão, examinam a autoridade dos estados sobre suas próprias políticas (self-rule) bem como sua autoridade para afetar decisões tomadas nas arenas decisórias nacionais (shared-rule), com base nas regras constitucionais. Esta abordagem tem um propósito estritamente comparativo. São feitas comparações da posição dos estados brasileiros com a dos governos intermediários em outros países bem como os direitos dos estados brasileiros no regime democrático contemporâneo com seus direitos no regime democrático de 1946 e no regime militar. Para a comparação internacional, o Brasil foi comparado com estados unitários, diferentes tipos de federações, países latino-americanos e asiáticos.

What is the impact of democracy/authoritarianism regime change on de/centralization in federations? Based on the annual coding of three politico-institutional aspects, 22 policy fields, and five fiscal categories, this article maps de/centralization in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan from the establishment of their respective federal orders to 2020. It shows that de/centralization varies greatly across its different dimensions as well as between systems, with centralization being the dominant long-term trend but with significant exceptions, notably Pakistan. Regime change plays a major role in de/centralization but not always in line with the usual expectation that authoritarian regimes centralize and democratic ones decentralize. Other factors that cut across the authoritarianism/democracy divide, notably ideological orientations, have substantial impacts on de/centralization. By investigating long-run patterns of de/centralization in federations that have experienced democracy/authoritarianism regime change, the article sheds light on how federalism operates beyond consolidated democracies.