Âé¶čAV

Âé¶čAV.CA / Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism

Federalism & the COVID-19 Pandemic - A compendium of (re)sources

Âé¶čAV

Sources collected by the MacKell Chair team from May 2020 to March 2022.

NEW! Comparative Federalism and Covid-19: Combating the Pandemic

The Chair is happy to announce the publication of Nico Steytler (ed), (London: Routledge, 2021): With case studies from 19 federal countries, this collection explores the core elements of federalism that came to the fore in combatting the pandemic: the division of responsibilities (disaster management, health care, social welfare, and education), the need for centralisation, and intergovernmental relations and cooperation. The authors adopt a multidisciplinary approach to question whether federalism has been a help or a hindrance in tackling the pandemic. Johanne Poirier and Jessica Michelin contributed the chapter on Canada, which is entitled “”.

On this page:
1. Blogs or websites dedicated to the pandemic and/or federalism
2. Podcasts / videos / conferences

3. Research projects and calls for papers
4. Specific federations

5. Comparing federations

New materials are added to top of each section/country. Please email relevant articles, links, etc. to federalism-covid19.law [at] mcgill.ca.

Last update: 17 March 2022.

This list was prepared by Mr. AtagĂŒn Kejanlioglu, DCL candidate, and Professor Johanne Poirier, Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism, Faculty of Law, Âé¶čAV. Our thanks to the Research Group on Plurinational Societies, the Law and You Seminars Fund and the Fasken Martineau Corporate and Social Responsibility Fund for their support.

1. Blogs or websites (partly) dedicated to the pandemic and/or federalism
Blogues et sites (partiellement) consacrés à la pandémie et/ou au fédéralisme

  • COVID-19 Provincial Politics: Since the beginning of the pandemic the Centre has developed and updates regularly an index to evaluate provincial responses. captures seventeen different measures enacted by Canadian provincial governments including gathering sizes, masks, school closures, and travel restrictions. 
  • Lex-Atlas: provides a scholarly report and analysis of national legal responses to Covid-19 around the world. There are nearly 200 jurists participating in the LAC19 network and who have contributed to writing national country reports. The project is motivated by the need for an integrated overview of national legal responses to Covid-19, focusing on the legal response to the pandemic with attention to its socio-political context.
  • Power and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Verfassungsblog is hosting a symposium on COVID-19 pandemic that brings together experts from over 70 countries to reflect on how legal and political systems have adapted to ongoing challenges presented by the pandemic to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, and to offer recommendations on the future of good governance. Please visit for posts.
  • Law School Policy Review: – organized by the student wing of the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, the Kautilya Society, in partnership with the Young Scholars Initiative – aims to analyse key policy decisions have already been made by the governments, over the past weeks as the country wrestled with the pandemic. is one of the three main themes.
  • The COVID Comparative Project: at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy features 16 country case studies conducted by University of Toronto undergraduate students, under the supervision of Professor Joseph Wong. It includes articles from federal systems such as, , , , , , Italy , , and .
  • The Canadian Constitution Foundation has created a where it regularly publishes articles on policy responses by provincial governments and the Canadian government.
  • The Centre for Constitutional Studies (University of Alberta) launched on Pandemic Powers and Constitution.
  • The PEX Network is publishing from political scientists analyzing the response of the executives from all over the world. The series includes articles on the analysis of multi-level governance in and the United States.
  • The Coronavirus Challenge to Governance in Canada: The School of Policy Studies of Queen’s University has established a Governance Working Group that publishes op-eds in the Ottawa Citizen. Please visit for more information on the working group and all the published articles.
  • The AUSPUBLAW Blog has a exploring the public law implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. These posts are written for the blog by a range of public law scholars and practitioners from across Australia.
  • IACL-AICC Blog: The IACL blog launched a called “Constitutional Reflections on the Pandemic.”
  • COVID Response – Birmingham University (SUNY): The lab’s offers a focus on the role of democratic institutions generally, and among democracies – of the institutions of federalism in particular, in effecting policy responses during crises.
  • The Regulatory Review: This publication’s website includes a dedicated to essays that discuss the administrative law and regulatory dimensions to the global response to COVID-19.
  • Canadian Journal of Political Science: The Journal regularly publishes accepted manuscripts and research notes on its .
  • Centre for Civil and Political Rights: The Centre created based on the data on measures taken by States in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic that may influence the state's ability to ensure the rights and obligations protected by the ICCPR.
  • Institute for Government: The Institute’s website includes on UK Devolution and COVID-19.
  • La Chaire de recherche en fiscalitĂ© et en finances publiques Ă  l’UniversitĂ© de Sherbrooke: Ce fait un suivi des mesures Ă©conomiques gouvernementales dĂ©coulant de la crise de la COVID-19 au QuĂ©bec, au Canada et ailleurs dans le monde.
  • Hunton Andrews Kurth Complaint Tracker: The firm is offering a that allows to see civil complaints in the US and its topic state by state.
  • Daniel Turp: Sur son , le prof. Turp publie rĂ©guliĂšrement un [.doc, version: 10 mai 2020] visant Ă  protĂ©ger la santĂ© de la population du QuĂ©bec dans la situation de pandĂ©mie de la COVID-19.
  • Forum of Federations : two collections of articles on Pandemic responses in different federations: , and .
  • Cambridge Core Blog: by Health Economics, Policy and Law on country responses to COVID-19. Includes blog posts on many countries including federal systems, but also about several constituent units within federal/quasi-federal systems, i.e. (Canada), (India), (Italy), , , (US).
  • Policy Options / Options politiques: publishes on COVID-19 crisis regularly.
  • La COVID dans les AmĂ©riques : dirigĂ©e par l’Institut des AmĂ©riques et « Interdisciplinary Global Environmental Studies » sur la COVID-19 aux AmĂ©riques.
  • Verfassungsblog: A special dedicated to blog posts regarding the states of emergency and democracy around the world with some discussions of federalism.
  • Covid-Dem: An maintained by Tom Gerald Daly on democracy and COVID-19 crisis.
  • (Re-)Imagining Territorial Politics in Times of Crisis: UACES-JMCT Research Network launched a exploring the drivers and consequences of territorial conflicts in multi-level and pluri-national societies during these turbulent times including COVID-19 crisis.
  • iPolitics: The website now has a for COVID-19 related articles.
  • CRIDAQ: Le centre a crĂ©Ă© pour accĂ©der plus facilement aux articles de ses membres sur la COVID-19.

2. Podcasts / videos / conferences
Balados / vidéos / conférences

Canada

  • In this , Gabriel Eidelman, the director of the Urban Policy Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy discusses new tools to help federal, provincial and municipal governments come together and make decisions about Canada’s urban centres after the COVID-19 crisis. (November 11, 2021)
  • In , Johanne Poirier and Jennifer Wallner join Piya Chattopadhyay to talk about how the pandemic has tested Canadian federalism, what it has revealed to us about how well we work together, how we stack up against other federations - and what we can improve, moving forward. (March 7, 2021)
  • Dans ce , Louis-Philippe Lampron explique pourquoi le couvre-feu du QuĂ©bec peut ĂȘtre considĂ©rĂ© compatible avec la Charte des droits et libertĂ©s de la personne. (7 janvier 2021)
  • IPAC- IAPC organised an online panel on COVID-19 and federalism featuring Charles Breton, Mireille Paquet, Robert Schertzeer, and Roxanna Benoit. is available on YouTube. (November 15, 2020)
  • Runnymede Society’s Âé¶čAV branch held an with Dr. Ryan Alford on government emergency powers in a pandemic on 14 October 2020.
  • Âé¶čAV Institute for the Study of Canada video titled , where Profs Daniel BĂ©land (Âé¶čAV U.), Mireille Paquet (Concordia U.), AndrĂ© Lecours (U. Ottawa), and Trevor Tombe (U. Calgary) present their Canadian Journal of Political Science research note, which combines insights from historical institutionalism with recent economic and fiscal projections to explore avenues for reform in response to the COVID-19 crisis. (May 8, 2020)
  • Alain-G. Gagnon parle du partage des risques entre les institutions rĂ©gissant la fĂ©dĂ©ration canadienne en temps de crise dans ce .

Argentina / Argentine

  • In this edition of the IACL-AIDC Vlog Series, Pablo Riberi (June 23, 2020).

Australia / Australie

  • The Australian Academy of Law and Australian Association of Constitutional Law is organizing an online event chaired by Professor Sarah Murray, entitled “Australian Federalism in the Time of COVID” on 31 March 2022. Please follow for more information.
  • On this , Mark Kenny speaks with federalism scholar Tracy Beck Fenwick and media expert Margaret Simons about how the federation is functioning following a week of finger pointing between the federal government and some of Australia’s states and territories over COVID-19 management and the vaccine rollout,
  • On this , Geraldine Doogue on Saturday Extra talks with Pru Goward, Professor of Social Interventions and Policy at Western Sydney University and former Liberal NSW government minister, and Greg Craven, constitutional lawyer and Emeritus Professor at Australian Catholic University to answer the questions that the pandemic raised about state-Commonwealth relations (July 3, 2021).
  • Julian Morrow hosts this on Australian federalism in which the guests, Geoff Gallop, Robert Carling, Karen Middleton, try to answer if the pandemic permanently changed Australians’ notion of federalism (March 14, 2021).
  • In this IACL-AICC episode, Cheryl Saunders talks about Australia’s response to COVID-19 (June 18, 2020).
  • Cheryl Saunders explains the “National Cabinet”, an ad hoc Australian intergovernmental institution set up for responding to COVID-19 in (April 14, 2020).

Austria / Autriche

  • In this , Mathias Eller from the Institute for Federalism in Innsbruck, Austria, discusses the role of federalism in coping with the COVID-19-crisis in Austria (March 30, 2021).

Belgium / Belgique

  • In this , Hindustan Times National Political Editor Sunetra Choudhury analyzes a massive faceoff between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in Parliament while explaining what their views mean for Indian Federalism.
  • Cet , intitulĂ© "Le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme et le Covid-19", Ă©tait l'Ă©dito de Fabrice Grosfilley dans Toujours + d'Actu. Il se penche sur la question du fĂ©dĂ©ralisme belge et la gestion de crise.
  • Le centre du droit public organise une conference virtuelle sur la COVID-19 et le droit public. L’inscription est ouverte au public. Pour plus d’information, visitez (18 mai 2020).

Ethiopia / Éthiopie

  • In this IACL-AICC episode, Berihun Adugna talks about Ethiopia’s response to COVID-19 ( June 9, 2020).

European Union / Union Europeénne

  • In Max Weber Programme’s Multidisciplinary Health Workshop, Scott Greer analyzes the EU's pandemic response from the perspective of comparative federalism. The author argues that the EU in COVID-19 faced the same pressures as other federations in history and responded in the same way as the successful federations: with greater assumption of collective risk. See this for the recording (May 25, 2021).
  • Dans , Laurent Warlouzet, historien spĂ©cialiste de l’Europe Ă  l’UniversitĂ© Paris Sorbonne, Alan HervĂ©, juriste et professeur Ă  Sciences Po Rennes et Jacques Le Cacheux, Ă©conomiste et professeur Ă  l’UniversitĂ© de Pau s’interrogent si la Covid accĂ©lĂšre le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme europĂ©en ( 8 mars 2021).

Germany / Allemagne

  • This webinar on focus on the Covid-19 crisis from the perspective of the German Land Bavaria (Bayern) (March 15, 2021).
  • Centre Interdisciplinaire d’Études et de Recherche sur l’Allemagne (CIERA, Paris) prĂ©sente des capsules vidĂ©os appelĂ©es sur la lutte contre la COVID. Dans , Karim Fertikh propose des pistes de rĂ©flexions sur le modĂšle allemand, y compris une rĂ©flexion sur les effets du fĂ©dĂ©ralisme allemand dans cette lutte. Dans , Christophe Duhamelle interroge le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme allemand Ă  la lumiĂšre d’autres Ă©pidĂ©mies de l’histoire allemande (23 avril 2020).

India / Inde

  • In August, the Institute of Law at Nirma University organized a webinar featuring Abhishek Singhvi as speaker. The webinar is entitled (August 25, 2020).
  • In this from the first episode of Political Pulse, Dinesh Trivedi, Neerja Chowdhury, Bhavna Vij-Aurora, Puneet Nicholas Yadav and moderator Mirza Arif Beg discuss if Indian federalism took a blow during the pandemic. (May 2, 2020).
  • Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT) shared (April 28, 2020).

Mexico / Mexique

  • In this edition to IACL-AIDC Vlog Series, Eugenio Velasco Ibarra explains how (June 23, 2020).

Nigeria / Niger

  • In this IACL-AICC episode, Fola Adeleke talks about Nigeria’s response to COVID-19 (June 9, 2020).

Switzerland / Suisse

  • Dans ce , Balthazar GlĂ€ttli, conseiller national vert zurichois et prĂ©sident des Verts, Marco Chiesa, prĂ©sident de l'UDC, et Delphine Bachmann, dĂ©putĂ©e PDC genevoise se discutent sur les effets de la pandĂ©mie sur le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme suisse. 
  • La sociĂ©tĂ© suisse pour la politique de la santĂ© a organisĂ© une sĂ©rie de sĂ©minaires sur le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme Ă  l’épreuve du stress par COVID-19 en mai. Voir pour plus d’information (1 juin 2021).
  • Le Canton de BĂąle-Ville, le Conseil fĂ©dĂ©ral, le Conseil des États et la ConfĂ©rence des gouvernements cantonaux en Suisse ont organisĂ© La ConfĂ©rence nationale sur le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme 2021 les 27-28 mai 2021. La confĂ©rence incluait des exposĂ©s sur le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme et COVID-19 parmi d’autres. Voir pour plus d’informations (27-28 mai 2021).

United Kingdom / Royaume Uni

  • Federal Trust is organized a webinar in which speakers will discuss how the UK’s various tiers of government coped, and co-ordinated, during the pandemic. Here is to watch the webinar (June 17, 2021).
  • The Institute for Government will publish a in which the First Minister of Wales, the Rt Hon Mark Drakeford MS will join Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government, to discuss the relationship between Westminster and Cardiff, how the Welsh government has forged its path and the rebuilding of the UK’s economy (June 23, 2020).
  • Ada Lovelace Institute organized a where panelists discuss the governance and implementation of emerging technologies and how joined-up approaches to COVID-19 across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales could help to contain the virus and encourage public trust. Speakers are Dr Angela Daly (Strathclyde U.), Professor Maurice Mulvenna (Ulster U.), and Professor Pete Burnap (Cardiff U.). You can also of the webinar (May 13, 2020).

United States / États-Unis

  • In this , Jonathan Rodder, Richard C: Shragger, and Miriam Seifter examine federalism in light of the ongoing government response to COVID-19. Panelists discuss how federal, state, and local officials reacted to the challenge and what their actions tell us about the future of the federal system, particularly in light of the rural/urban split in the United States (May 27, 2021).
  • The National Academy of Public Administration convened the Working Group on the Intergovernmental Dimensions of the COVID-19 Pandemic (Working Group or WG). The Working Group plans to describe the intergovernmental response for selected key response domains, or issues, and develop actionable recommendations that may facilitate the nation’s response to the next pandemic. At present, the Working Group is focusing on writing case reports about the four topical domains of: (1) COVID-19 Testing, (2) infection risk reduction Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs), (3) COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution, and (4) Cross-Cutting and Over-Arching Issues. See for more information (May 24, 2021).
  • The National Constitution Center and the National Association of Attorneys General hosted a of state attorneys general to discuss key issues regarding federalism and states’ rights, from the COVID-19 pandemic to law enforcement, elections, and more. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, will moderate (January 26, 2021).
  • National Assocation of Counties organized an online event on “” with County leaders and members of Congress, federal officials and thought leaders – including EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema, U.S. Rep Gerry Connolly, U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips and ​U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (October 21, 2020).
  • Federalism Index Project is organizing a two-day virtual event entitled “Federalism on Trial: Lessons from COVID-19”. For detailed information and recordings from the conference, please visit (October 21-22, 2020).
  • The Solomon Center for Health Law & Policy at Yale Law School is organizing on COVID, federalism, and localism. Recordings of the presentations by , , , and are available on Vimeo (October 14, 2020).
  • Hoover Institution organized on "Federalism and COVID-19" with Governor Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. and Lanhee J. Chen (August 12, 2020).
  • In this from Harvard Kennedy School, Matthew Baum, Erica Chenoweth, and Archon Fung discuss the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on democracies across the world. Fung’s talk particularly focuses on federalism (July 10, 2020).
  • In this , Donald Verilli, Elizabeth (Bessie) N. Dewar, and Michelle Mello discuss the opportunities and challenges of the US federalism during this pandemic (July 1, 2020).
  • In this , J. Wesley Leckrone explores how federalism has affected the United States' response to COVID-19 (June 23, 2020).
  • In this , former Florida Governor Jeb Bush talks about the US federalism and challenges that the States are facing during this crisis (June 22, 2020).
  • The Federalist Society published from their virtual conference on “COVID-19 & the Law”. You might also reach all recordings through (June 11, 2020).
  • In this , Professor Keith Whittington of Princeton University discusses how states have traditionally exerted their authority as they see fit, particularly in a time of a health crisis, and how federal courts can monitor whether a state has unduly violated individual rights or interstate commerce (June 3, 2020).
  • Aziz Huq, Miriam Seifter, and Debra Perlin discuss the division of decision-making authority in a public health crisis between the federal and state governments in the US Constitution. They try to determine if federal system an advantage or disadvantage in the fight against COVID-19 in this of their webinar entitled Federalism: Friend or Foe? Federal & State Authority to Fight COVID-19 (May 13, 2020).
  • In this , John Yoo discusses COVID-19 and US federalism (May 12, 2020).
  • At a organized by the Federalist Society, John Malcolm and John Yoo discuss the balance of powers in the US between the President, Congress, and state governors over lockdown and re-opening policy, testing, and medical expertise (April 29, 2020).
  • This Lawfare Blog includes a case study of how pandemic control measures intersect with federalism issues and supply chain continuity & security, focusing on what is happening in Illinois. Jen Patja Howell moderates this discussion with David Priess and Mark Denzler (April 25, 2020).
  • In this entitled “COVID-19 vs. the Constitution: How Far Can Governors Go to Fight the Virus?”, Meryl Chertoff (moderator), Esha Bhandari, Lawrence O. Gostin, Juliette Kayyem, and Jeffrey Locke review the scanty relevant case law in the US. They discuss the federal public health laws governing quarantine and travel limits; consider what powers governors have to limit individual rights and to keep nonresidents out; and explore how constitutional principles on the right to travel; privileges and immunities; and due process could be invoked (April 9, 2020).
  • In from Legal Talk Network, Professors Robert Tsai and Glenn Cohen discuss federalism in the US and states’ powers in the context of the COVID-19 crisis (April 3, 2020).

Comparing Federations / Fédérations comparées

  • Multiple Countries: In this , the winners of the Baxter Family Competition in Federalism present their papers, in which 1st prize winner, Josiah Wamwere-Njoroge (LLB candidate, Riara University, Nairobi, Kenya), present his paper entitled “The Utility of a Decentralized Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic” and honorable mention recipient, Philipp Renninger (PhD candidate in law, University of Lucerne and University of Freiburg, Switzerland and Germany), present his paper entitled “‘Federalism, Chinese Style’? or: How to Contain COVID-19 Through a Central-Local Chess Game.” (May 25, 2021).
  • AmĂ©rique du Nord (North America) : UniversitĂ© Grenoble-Alpes a organisĂ© un sĂ©minaire sur COVID-19 et fĂ©dĂ©ralisme en AmĂ©rique du Nord. Voir pour plus d’information (17 mai 2021).
  • Australia, Canada, the USA, Italy, Argentina, and Brazil: Australian Centre for Federalism and the Centre for International and Public Law organized a on the use (or, non-use) of subnational border restrictions and closures to control the spread of COVID-19 in federal systems. (March 5, 2021)
  • Multiple Countries: The GOVTRUST Centre of Excellence in Belgium organized a symposium. The theme of the symposium is “. During this symposium, members of the GOVTRUST consortium and guest speakers presented recent work on the topic of trust and the coronavirus crisis, identify key learning points, and raise some crucial questions and issues for discussion (January 29, 2021).
  • Latin America (AmĂ©rique Latine): The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University organized a webinar entitled “Federalism and COVID Responses”. Please visit for more information (November 17, 2020).
  • Belgique & Suisse (Belgium & Switzerland): , les chroniqueurs du programme « Les Beaux Parleurs » se demandent si le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme constitue un dĂ©fi dans la lutte contre la pandĂ©mie (1 novembre 2020).
  • Multiple Countries: International Association of Centres for Federal Studies (IACFS) is organizing a conference whose theme is “Combating the COVID-19 pandemic: Federalism a boon or bane?” The aim is to reflect on how, since the first outbreak of the virus in a country, the federal system functioned and responded over the crucial period ending in October 2020. To obtain the link and the program, please the association (October 15-16, 2020).
  • Germany & Australia (Allemagne & Australie): The of Forum of Federations’ examine the intergovernmental coordination practices used in Germany and Australia - two countries that received international attention for their success in controlling the first wave of Coronavirus - and assess what lessons might be learned from these experiences with Nathalie Behnke and Alan Fenna (September 30, 2020).
  • Latin America & Carribeans (AmĂ©rique Latine et les CaraĂŻbes): Forum of Federation’s , “Subnational Governments in the COVID-19 Scenario in the Americas”, explores the dynamics and practices of s ubnational and local governments in responding to the challenges facing Latin America and the Caribbean as a result of the COVID-19 crisis (September 21, 2020).
  • Asia & the Pacific (Asie et la Pacifique): The 5th Melbourne Forum on Constitution Building in Asia and the Pacific at Melbourne Law School was hosted by the Constitution Transformation Network and by International IDEA. The third webinar of the forum was dedicated to Multi-level governments and COVID-19. Participants were Anne Twomey (Australia), Budhi Karki (Nepal), Ramdas Menon (India), and Yasser KureshiIt (Pakistan). The panel was moderated by William Partlett. The recording of the webinar can be viewed (September 17, 2020).
  • Germany & United States (Allemagne et États-Unis): American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University is organizing a shaped the national response with a focus on US and Germany. The webinar will feature leaders of two of the largest and most densely populated states in Germany and the US, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and North-Rhine Westphalia Minister-President Armin Laschet (June 30, 2020).
  • Multiple Countries: The Institute of Federalism organized a on effective crisis management (June 29, 2020).
  • Canada, United States & Mexico (Canada, États-Unis, Mexique): The of Forum of Federations’ explore how the Coronavirus pandemic has impacted federal governance dynamics in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and assess the implications of the crisis on the federations in North America with Bob Rae, John Kincaid, and Laura Flamand (June 12, 2020).
  • Canada & Hungary (Canada & Hongrie): This on COVID-19: Emergency Powers and Legal Principle: addresses and explains the concept of a ‘state of emergency’ in both the Canadian and Hungarian contexts. Professors David Dyzenhaus and Paul Daly explore what a state of emergency means, examine Canada’s federal and provincial responses to the current public health crisis, and suggest strategies on how to ensure that government power is not abused (May 20, 2020).
  • Multiple Countries: EURAC’s Institute for Minority Rights organized on Minority Rights and COVID-19 (May 14- August 5, 2020).
  • Germany, EU & international (Allemagne, UE et international): Verfassungsblog organized three online discussions on COVID-19 crisis regarding with , and perspectives (May 12-26, 2020).
  • Mexico, USA & Brazil (Mexique, Etats-Unis, BrĂ©sil): In this , Alberto Diyaz-Cayeros discusses how federalism impacted the Mexican response to the pandemic. He also comments on US and Brazilian federalism (May 8, 2020).

3. Existing research projects and calls for papers
Projets de recherche en cours et appels Ă  contribution

  • Hosted by the Verfassungsblog and supported by Democracy Reporting International, RECONNECT, and the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, Power and the COVID-19 Pandemic Symposium beginning on 22 February 2021 brings together experts from over 70 countries to reflect on how legal and political systems have adapted to ongoing challenges presented by the pandemic to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, and to offer recommendations on the future of good governance. Please visit for more information.
  • The UACES-JMCT Research Network ‘Territorial Politics in Times of Crisis’: The research network invites submissions for its first workshop under the theme ‘Conceptualizing Crises in Territorial Politics’, to be held online 29-30 April 2021. The goal is to explore how crises of territorial orders (that is, the institutional organization of territorial diversity, ranging from federations to federacies, devolved states to regionalized unitary states) can be conceptualized. .
  • Canada: In , Charles Breton moderates a discussion between Mireille Paquet, Robert Schertzer, and Roxanna Benoit. Mireille and Robert, who are associate professors of political science at Concordia University and the University of Toronto respectively, share findings from their recently released study with the Centre of Excellence, Irregular Border Crossings and Asylum Seekers in Canada: A Complex Intergovernmental Problem. Meanwhile, Roxanna brings insights on intergovernmental collaboration, drawing on her experience in the public service, including as Alberta’s former deputy minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations.
  • Covid-19, internal boundaries and regional governance: The Foreign Languages Department at UniversitĂ© Grenoble Alpes is organizing a series of seminars that aims to take stock of the short- and medium-term impact of the crisis on relations between central and regional governments. Submissions will consist in a 300-word summary and a short bibliography, and should be sent in English or in French before 27 November 2020. For more information, see the .
  • Canadian Journal of Political Science: The Canadian Journal of Political Science is now accepting short research notes (2,000 words or less) devoted to the coronavirus pandemic for rapid peer review and publication. They will accept submissions for the COVID-19 rapid review series until 31 May 2020. After that date, they will continue to accept submissions related to COVID-19 as part of their regular research note and article manuscript submissions. Please see the for more details.
  • The Review of Constitutional Studies: The Journal is now accepting submissions of manuscripts in English or French for its next two issues. For Issue 25.2, papers focusing on the constitutional implications of emergency powers in response to the recent health and environmental crises are particularly welcome. The deadline for submitting a manuscript for this issue is 30 September 2020. Please see the more information.
  • Colloque Ă©tudiant virtuel sur le rĂŽle des sciences sociales et humaines dans la redĂ©finition du vivre-ensemble : regards transdisciplinaires sur les sorties de crise: L’UOF et l’Acfas invitent les Ă©tudiantes et les Ă©tudiants au 2e et au 3e cycles ainsi que les jeunes chercheurs de toutes les disciplines à soumettre des projets de communication qui portent sur les diffĂ©rentes dimensions du vivre-ensemble impliquĂ©es par la crise de COVID-19. Les propositions doivent contenir un maximum de 500 mots incluant le titre, la question de recherche, les principales conclusions ainsi qu’un lien avec le thĂšme du colloque. Elles doivent ĂȘtre rĂ©digĂ©es en format Times New Roman avec une police de taille 12 et une interligne de 1,5. Le nom du fichier de la proposition doit suivre la forme suivante : prénom_nom_titre de la proposition. Elles doivent ĂȘtre soumises par courriel avant le 15 juin 2020. Toutes les propositions doivent ĂȘtre envoyĂ©es à l’adresse suivante : jade.boivin [at] uontario.ca
  • CRIDAQ : Le Centre de recherche fait un pour ses membres.
  • Public Law: The Public Law journal welcomes submissions to journal’s analysis section dealing with issues relating to the public law dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Editors would keen to receive pieces with varied perspectives including (but not limited to) territorial relations and policy variation between the UK’s governments and comparative reflections on “emergency” responses in other jurisdictions. for more information.
  • Centre for Constitutional Studies at University of Alberta welcomes posts for their ‘Pandemic Powers and the Constitution Blog’. Please see the .
  • The National Journal of Constitutional Law is calling for submissions of papers for possible publication in late 2020 and 2021 on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the federalism/ human rights and civil liberties in Canada, and the constitutional and administrative law aspects of the use of emergency legislation and the role of judicial review of emergency measures in Canada. The Journal welcomes comparative analysis of these issues in other liberal democratic or federal countries. The suggested deadline is September 30, 2020. Usual paper length is between 8,000 to 10,000 words. Due to the short time frame, shorter papers will also be considered. Papers can be submitted to Professor Errol Mendes at emendes [at] uottawa.ca (.)
  • Writing Competition on Federalism: The theme for the third edition of the Baxter Family Competition on Federalism is 'Federalism, Identity and Public Policy in Challenging Times', which allows for, without being limited to, reflections on the impact of federalism on the coronavirus pandemic and vice versa. Restricted to students in law or in political science, and to jurists and political scientists having graduated less than five years before the Competition's deadline of February 1, 2021. Maximum word count is 8,000 words in English and 8,800 in French. Prizes ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 CAD$ will be awarded to winners, who will have the chance to present their work at a symposium in Montreal, if circumstances permit. See this edition's winners and their texts.

4. Articles on specific federations
Articles portant sur des fédérations spécifiques

Canada

Academic Journal Articles / Articles de revues académiques

  • John Kennedy, Anthony Sayers, Christopher Alcantara, “”, Political Studies Review, Vol. 20, No. 1, 2022: Drawing on original data from the May 2020 Democratic Checkup Survey and public data from the Canadian National Microbiology Laboratory, this study suggests that interprovincial policy variation with respect to coronavirus testing is not correlated with public assessments of the adequacy of provincial testing, and so it seems that Canadians are not able to assign responsibility to the correct level of government despite ideal conditions for doing so. 
  • Cherie Metcalf, Meghan Huskisson-Snider. Queen's Law Journal, Vol. 46, No. 2, Spring 2021: The authors assess ways in which the division of power between the federal and provincial governments has been both a potential benefit and hinderance to successfully confronting the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Dave GuĂ©nette, FĂ©lix Mathieu, « », Les Cahiers de droit, Vol. 62, No. 2, Juin 2021 : Dans cet article, Ă  travers le prisme d’analyse du Renvoi relatif Ă  la sĂ©cession du QuĂ©bec, les auteurs montrent que la gouvernance au Canada, au cours de la premiĂšre vague de la pandĂ©mie de COVID-19, a eu des rĂ©percussions diffĂ©renciĂ©es sur les principes constitutionnels sous-jacents du fĂ©dĂ©ralisme, de la dĂ©mocratie, du constitutionnalisme et de la primautĂ© du droit, ainsi que de la protection des minoritĂ©s.
  • John Kennedy, Anthony Seyers, Christopher Alcantara, “”, Political Studies Review, 5 April 2021: Drawing on original data from the May 2020 Democratic Checkup Survey and public data from the Canadian National Microbiology Laboratory, authors determine whether federalism prevents citizen from correctly assigning responsibility.
  • Gregory P. Marchildon, Carolyn H Tuohy, “”, Health Economics, Policy, and Law, 8 February 2021: The article warns against reforming the health care system relying on shared-cost federalism and suggests two alternatives, one for LTC and one for pharmaceuticals, that are more likely to succeed given the state of the Canadian federation in the early 21st century.
  • Michael Da Silva, “”, Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, Vol. 30 No. 1, 2021: This work explains why resolving health-related authority allocation puzzles should be part of long-term responses to COVID-19, and outlines some initial COVID-19-related findings that shed light on justifiable authority allocation, emergencies, emergency powers, and the relationships between them.
  • Gregory P. Marchildon, “”, Israel Journal of Health Policy Research, Vol. 10, No. 12, 2021: This commentary compares Israel’s COVID-10 vaccination response to the much slower and less successful vaccination campaign in Canada.
  • Nicholas Spence et al, “”, International Indigenous Policy Journal, Vol. 11, No. 3, 2020: This article examines the pronounced vulnerability of Indigenous Peoples in Canada to the pandemic by highlighting the importance of moving beyond individual-level risk factors associated with COVID-19 by identifying and classifying Indigenous communities most vulnerable to the pandemic.
  • Adil Sayeed, “”, Canadian Public Policy, Vol. 46, No. S3, October 2020: Sayeed argues that COVID-19 crisis had an effect on Alberta’s stance on federal-provincial income tax.
  • Iwona A. Bielska, Mark Embrett, Lauren Jewett et al.,””, Zdrowie Publiczne i Zarzadzanie, Vol. 18. No. 1, 2020: This paper examines Canada’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic during the first four months (January to May 2020) by overviewing the actions undertaken by the federal (national) and regional (provincial/territorial) governments.
  • David Robitaille, « », The Canadian Bar Review, Vol. 98, No. 1, 2020: L’auteur explore les arguments qui pourraient ĂȘtre soutenus au soutien des compĂ©tences fĂ©dĂ©rales et provinciales sur certaines questions soulevĂ©es pendant la pandĂ©mie telles que la quarantaine et les frontiĂšres interprovinciales. Il discute ensuite du pouvoir fĂ©dĂ©ral d’adopter des lois en temps de crise qui pourrait Ă©carter temporairement ce partage des compĂ©tences.
  • Andrea Riccardo Migone, “”, Policy and Society, Vol. 39, No. 3, 2020: This article explores how Canadian federalism, with its complex mix of competencies, and the country’s punctuated gradualism policy style interface with urgent, complex decision-making like the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Kyle Hanniman, “”, Canadian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 53, No. 2, Special Edition: This article assesses the claim that surging provincial debts have brought Canadian federalism to a critical juncture and that they have significantly increased the odds of federal measures to stabilize provincial finances.
  • Erica Rayment, Jason VandenBeukel, “”, Canadian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 53, No. 2, Special Edition: Authors present the collected data on the activities of Canadian legislatures at the federal and provincial levels during the COVID-19 pandemic to see how their reaction has impacted their work and functions.
  • Mirelle Paquet, Robert Schertzer, “” Canadian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 53, No. 2, Special Edition: COVID-19 Short Research Papers, June 2020: Paquet and Schertzer introduce the concept of “Complex Intergovernmental Problem” and propose it as a framework to treat intergovernmental issues in federal systems related to COVID-19 crisis by giving examples form Canadian context.
  • StĂ©phanie Chouinard, Martin Normand, “”, Canadian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 53, No. 2, Special Edition: COVID-19 Short Research Papers, June 2020: Authors argue that in addition to legal requirements to provide minority language services, it is not justifiable for governments to suspend or curtail such services in an emergency situation, for reasons pertaining to public safety and public health and explain how governments could better uphold their language obligations in times of emergency.
  • Daniel BĂ©land, AndrĂ© Lecours, Mireille Paquet, and Trevor Tombe, “”, Canadian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 53, No. 2, Special Edition: COVID-19 Short Research Papers, June 2020: Authors discuss how Canada’s response to COVID-19 crisis may transform fiscal federalism in the light of provincial autonomy and already existing intergovernmental tensions.

Books & Book Chapters / Livres & chapitres d’ouvrages collectifs

  • Johanne Poirier, Jessica Michelin, “”, in Nico Steytler (ed), Comparative Federalism and Covid-19: Combating the Pandemic (London: Routledge, 2021): This chapter examines federal dynamics in the first six months of the Covid-19 pandemic in Canada, from the initial outbreak in March 2020 to the start of the second wave. Focusing on health and disaster/emergency management, it describes the relevant constitutional and legislative frameworks, surveys federal and provincial response measures, and analyses intergovernmental preparedness and subsequent interaction. 
  • Christine Van Geyn, , Canadian Constitution Foundation, 2020: The Foundation published an e-book on how the pandemic has affected constitutional rights and it includes our expert analysis of issues including mandatory masks, lock downs, border closures and business restriction.
  • Colleen M. Flood, Vanessa MacDonnell, Jane Philpott, Sophie ThĂ©riault, Sridhar Venkatapuram (eds), “”, University of Ottawa Press, 2020: This book features articles that confront the vulnerabilities and interconnectedness made visible by the pandemic and its consequences, along with the legal, ethical and policy responses. These include vulnerabilities for people who have been harmed or will be harmed by the virus directly and those harmed by measures taken to slow its relentless march; vulnerabilities exposed in our institutions, governance and legal structures; and vulnerabilities in other countries and at the global level where persistent injustices harm us all. Download the .
  • Catherine Girard, Guy Laforest, Isabelle Laforest-Lapointe, FĂ©lix Mathieu, Jean-Phillippe Warren (dir.), , July 2020: Ce dossier thĂ©matique du Magazine de l’Acfas contient des articles dĂ©jĂ  publiĂ©es dans La Presse sur les enjeux de l’heure.

Research Papers & Reports / Documents de recherche & Rapports

  • Daniel BĂ©land, Trevor Tombe, , University of Calgary - The School of Public Policy Publications, Vol. 14, No. 36, December 2021: In this paper, after briefly reviewing the evolution of federal health care funding in Canada since the 1950s, authors formulate three potential policy pathways federal policymakers might consider in order to improve health care funding in the country.
  • Paisley Sim, “COVID-19 Policy Stringency across Provinces”, MAX Policy Articles, 6 May 2021: The author summarizes the work done by at the Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation at the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) on the variation of policies across provinces.
  • “”, Environics Institute for Survey Research, the Canada West Foundation, the Centre D’Analyse Politique – Constitution et FĂ©dĂ©ralisme, the Institute for Research on Public Policyand the Brian Mulroney Institute of Government and the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, 19 April 2021: The report presents the results of several surveys conducted with Canadians regarding the performances of federal and provincial governments as well as the division of powers during the pandemic.
  • Carolyn Hughes Tuohy, “”, Centre of Excellence on Canadian Federation – IRPP, 10 March 2021: This paper suggests that Canadian governments should exploit the strengths of Canadian federalism to improve long-term care.
  • Fred McMahon, “”, Fraser Institute, 28 January 2021: The report explains the major challenges that fiscal federalism will face after COVID-19 crisis.
  • Tomas Hachard, “”, IMFG Perspectives, No. 31, 2020: Author argues that the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted pre-existing cracks in Canada’s federal structure, particularly in relation to Canada’s cities. He highlights four challenges cities face in this context and offers solutions.
  • Neil Bradford, “”, IMFG Papers on Municipal Finance and Governance, No. 50, 2020: This paper underlines the importance of cities in Canadian policy-making and identifies specific policy fields where new tri-level agreements could have a positive impact and closes with six principles to inform their design and implementation.
  • Gabriel Eidelman, “”, Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation, October 2020: Eidelman discusses necessary steps to take for urban recovery in the aftermath of the pandemic.
  • AndrĂ© Lecours, Daniel BĂ©land, Nikola Brassard-Dion, Trevor Tombe, Jennifer Wallner, “”, Forum of Federations Occasional Paper Series No. 48, 2020: This paper examines the potential impact of the COVID-19 crisis on six key dimensions of Canadian federalism: social protection; intergovernmental relations; fiscal federalism; emergency powers; QuĂ©bec nationalism and politics; and regional alienation in Alberta.
  • Jörg Broschek, “”, Institute for Research on Public Policy, No. 1, September 2020: Broschek explains how the pandemic created a critical juncture in Canadian politics and how to use this moment to transform Canadian federalism.
  • Trevor Tombe, “”, Canada West Foundation Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations Commission Policy Brief, August 2020: This brief analysis attempts to quantify the potential scale of the revenue challenge facing Canada’s provincial governments and some policy options available to help. It also clarifies what factors we should anticipate will dominate the federal-provincial relationship in the months to come.
  • Ligue des droit et les libertĂ©s, “”, 11 aoĂ»t 2020: Le mĂ©moire de l’organisme explique pourquoi le traçage numĂ©rique n’est pas une bonne stratĂ©gie contre la pandĂ©mie au QuĂ©bec.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Julien Doris, , Forum of Federations Blog, 17December 2021: Julien Doris considers the fiscal federalism challenges that Canada will face as the coronavirus pandemic continues. ·
  • Éric Desrochers,, Forum of Federations, November 2021: Desrochers offers an overview of the panels at the April 2021 Fiscal Federalism in Canada Conference, organized the University of Ottawa Centre on Governance in partnership with the Forum of Federations. ·
  • Trevor Tombe, , Finances of the Nation, 26 November 2021: The article analyzes the latest data from Statistics Canada that reveals the scale of the shock caused by the pandemic — with important implications for not only provinces, but also the federal government.
  • Debra Parkes, Carissima Mathen, “”, Centre for Constitutional Studies Blog, 17 September 2021: Authors challenges the view the assumption that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects the rights of unvaccinated individuals to participate without restriction in the public realm.
  • AndrĂ© Juneau, “”, Forum of Federations, April 2021: In this scoping paper, Juneau draws on his experience as a public servant to explain the lessons learned over a year into the pandemic.
  • Joel Reardon, Emily Laidlaw, and Greg Hagen, “”, Centre for Constitutional Studies Blog, 3 February 2021: Authors examine the technical aspects of smartphone surveillance, and the regulatory principles that should govern its use in a preliminary way to provide a legal framework to begin to think about these issues.
  • Paul Daly, “”, Verfassungsblog, 8 March 2021: In this blog post, Daly, through the lens of pandemic-related public law litigation, explains how Canada has responded to COVID-19 and concentrates on the forms of power the federal and provincial governments have employed in response to the pandemic amongst other issues.
  • Livio Di Matteo, “”, Fraser Forum, 8 January 2021: Di Matteo asks if federalism is responsible for the failures of Canada’s pandemic response despite the amount of money it spent.
  • Edward Conway, “”, CanLII Connects, 24 September 2020: Conway provides a critique of errors that he suggests are made by Burrage J. in his pith and substance determination in the travel ban decision.
  • Marie-Claude PrĂ©mont, Marie-Eve Couture-MĂ©nard, « », Centre For Constitutional Studies Blog, 22 October 2020 : Les auteures se penchent sur le concept d’urgence sanitaire et dĂ©montrent les limites du concept, de mĂȘme que ses dĂ©fis.
  • Josh Dehaas, “”, CCF Blog, 22 July 2020: Dehaas argues that Trudeau government’s near-total closure of the U.S. land border and 14-day self-quarantine requirements no longer meet the limits imposed by the Quarantine Act.
  • Jocelyn Stacey, “”, Centre for Constitutional Studies Blog, 20 July 2020: Stacey highlights how the rule of law can and ought to contribute to learning during emergencies.
  • Herman Bakvis, Grace Skogstad, “”, UTP Blog, 6 July 2020: Authors take stock of how well the Canadian federation has fared so far in handling the pandemic.
  • Kristopher Kissinger, Brian Bird, “”, Centre for Constitutional Studies Blog, 29 June 2020: Authors discuss the importance of section 2(c) (guaranteeing the freedom of assembly) during the pandemic.
  • Shaun Fluker, “”, Centre for Constitutional Studies Blog, 22 June 2020: Fluker examines how Alberta ministers and the Chief Medical Officer of Health have been exercising emergency powers so far during the pandemic, and makes some observations on the hallmarks of legitimate governance and the role of the Regulations Act, RSA 2000, c R-14, in this regard.
  • Maxime St-Hilaire, “”, Advocates for the Rule of Law, 16 June 2020: Author explains how the proposed Bill 61 overrides Public Health Act’s more general and older provisions and derogates from its already limited strictures imposed upon government
  • FĂ©lix Mathieu, Dave GuĂ©nette, “” UACES Territorial Politics Blog, 16 June 2020: Dave GuĂ©nette and FĂ©lix Mathieu explain how the pandemic has shown in Canada that non-centralization may be an effective way to cope with the crisis.
  • Michael Da Silva, Maxime St-Hilaire, “”, Centre for Constitutional Studies Blog, 15 June 2020: Authors argue that formal intergovernmental agreement could be a promising tool for ensuring cooperation and addressing the problems posed by genuine public health emergencies like COVID-19.
  • Sarah Burningham, “”, Centre for Constitutional Studies Blog, 4 June 2020: Burningham suggests that exceptional measures should be taken through usual constitutional and legal frameworks by drawing examples from the scholarship on security and anti-terrorism.
  • Patricia Hughes, “”, Slaw, 2 June 2020: In this final entry of the three-part blog post, Hughes looks at the enforcement provisions relating both to the closure of borders to out of province visitors and provisions that are imposed on people travelling across provincial/territorial borders.
  • Serges Jaumin, «», COVIDAM : la Covid-19 dans les AmĂ©riques, 14 Mai 2020 : L’auteur prĂ©sente les Ă©preuves que le QuĂ©bec endure pendant cette crise et s’interroge sur les effets de la crise entre le QuĂ©bec et le gouvernement fĂ©dĂ©ral. (For English version, click .)
  • Teresa Scassa, “”, Heinrich Böll Stiftung, 13 May 2020: Scassa explains why Canada’s federal structure could lead to a multiplicity of apps across the country, complicating digital contact tracing.
  • Maxime St. Hilaire, “”, ICONNECT Blog, 6 May 2020: Maxime St. Hilaire questions Quebec government’s choice of not invoking Section 33 of the Constitution Act (1982) and discusses possible theoretical frameworks for state of emergencies.
  • François Laroque, Linda Cardinal, « », The Conversation, 5 Mai 2020 : Les auteur.e.s parlent des dangers que la crise cause pour la langue française en raison du manque d’un cadre au niveau fĂ©dĂ©ral.
  • Monica Heller, “” Voices of the RSC, 1 June 2020: Geller focuses on the problems about access to information due to language during the pandemic.
  • Patricia Hughes, “”, Slaw, 26 May 2020: Hughes considers the constitutionality of the interprovincial and territorial border closures with respect to Section 1, 6 and 7 of the Charter
  • Patricia Hughes, “”, Slaw, 19 May 2020: Hughes discusses the legal background to the interprovincial/territorial boundary closures.
  • Bob Rae, “”, Forum of Federations Blog, April 2020: Former Ontario premier looks at Canada’s response.
  • David Dyzenhaus, “”, University of Alberta Center for Constitutional Studies Blog, 27 April 2020: Dyzenhaus writes about emergency powers of federal government and the lack of checks on these powers.
  • Marc Lee, Arman Hamidian, “”, Policy Note, 23 April 2020: Lee and Hamidian compares economic responses of Canadian provinces and points out to the need for a comprehensive federal response.
  • Sujit Choudhry, “”, Medium, 16 April 2020.
  • GĂ©rard Boismenu, « », COVIDAM : la Covid-19 dans les AmĂ©riques, 9 Avril 2020 : Boismenu compare les rĂ©ponses des provinces et la rĂ©ponse fĂ©dĂ©rale pour la crise.
  • Amy Swiffen, “”, The Conversation, 1 April 2020: Swiffen concentrates on limitations of Canadian federalism and asks if Federal Emergencies Act gives enough power to federal government to deal with COVID-19 considering that federal government can intervene only if the spread exceeds capacities of the provinces according to the Act.

Working Papers / Documents de travail

  • Emily Cameron-Blake, Helen Tatlow, Thomas Hale, Andrew Wood, Jonathan Smith, Julia Sawatsky, Zachary Parsons, Katherine Tyson, Charles Breton, Paisley Sim, “”, Blavatnik School Working Paper, 15 March 2021: The authors find that the benefits of federalism have been unevenly leveraged, a lack of coordination in planning and communication between the provinces and territories is an area of opportunity for improved future pandemic planning.
  • David Robitaille, “”, SSRN, 4 August 2020: The author argues that, according to the principles of federalism, powers over quarantine and borders must be shared between the federal and the provinces based on their international, interprovincial and local impacts.

Opinions

  • Jörg Broschek, “”, The Standard, 11 January 2022: The author criticizes premiers Ford and Kenney, in particular, for playing the politics of blame avoidance to distract from their crisis mismanagement. 
  • Charles Breton, Andrew Parkin, “”, Policy Options, 28 September 2021: Authors discuss the latest Confederation of Tomorrow survey finds Canadians like strong provincial governments.
  • Susan Cui, “”, Toronto Star, 20 July 2021: Cui explains how Canada’s problems within federal system affects the progress on vaccine passport.
  • Chris Hall, “”, CBC, 3 July 2021: The pandemic and climate change are crises the Constitution's drafters never saw coming and Chris Hall interviews different experts on how federalism might adapt to his new reality.
  • Stephen Van Dine, “”, Policy Options, 7 May 2021: The author argues that Canada’s first ministers should adopt a co-operative approach to overseeing both a pandemic response and an economic recovery plan.
  • Trevor W. Harrison, “”, Edmonton Journal, 28 January 2021: Picking up data from the new report of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, this op-ed argues that at least in dealing with the pandemic, the federal government has had Alberta’s back; that federalism, for all its real and imagined sins, has worked well.
  • Jean-Thomas Bernard, « », Le Devoir, 25 janvier 2021 : L’article explique les complications qui peuvent suivre la demande unanime des provinces pour des transferts accrus en santĂ©.
  • Jörg Broschek, “”, Policy Options, 22 January 2021: Broschek argues that the key to a better federal control of the pandemic is accountability and conditions on transfer payments, and more intergovernmental co-operation.
  • Eric Montigny, « », La Presse, 20 janvier 2021 : L’article explique comment le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme exĂ©cutif canadien est rudement mis Ă  l’épreuve par la pandĂ©mie.
  • Michael Wolfson, « », Options Politiques, 11 janvier 2021 : Wolfson soutient que le Canada doit adopter une approche nationale de surveillance de la vaccination pour recueillir des informations essentielles sur chaque personne qui reçoit le vaccin.
  • John Ibbitson, “”, The Globe and The Mail, 29 December 2020: Ibbitson provides a summary of how Canada fared in this crisis during 2020 and what this performance says about Canadian federalism.
  • Brian Pfefferle, “”, CBC News, 6 December 2020: The op-ed calls for stricter enforcement of pandemic measures.
  • Amir Attaran, “”, ČŃČ賊±ô±đČčČÔ’s, 27 November 2020: Attaran argues that Trudeau should make use of Emergencies Act.
  • Mike Medeiros, Daniel BĂ©land, AndrĂ© Lecours, “”, The Globe and Mail, 26 November 2020: Authors argue that “calls to have the federal government impose uniform national measures at this point, which implicitly depict the federal government as being above the provinces, pervert Canadians’ perceptions of their country and they ultimately weaken our federal culture.”
  • Ian Waddell, “”, The Tyee, 18 November 2020: Waddell makes a case for co-operative federalism to tackle the crisis.
  • John Michael McGrath, “”, TVO, 13 November 2020: McGrath’s opinion piece focuses on Ontario Premier Ford’s comments regarding his willingness to defend provincial jurisdiction against Trudeau.
  • Konrad Yakabuski, “”, Le Devoir, 17 octobre 2020: Yakabuski essaie de dĂ©montrer que les problĂšmes survenus pendant la pandĂ©mie a force Trudeau de faire une dĂ©claration sur une possible rĂ©gulation pour les rĂ©sidences pour aĂźnĂ©s.
  • François Cardinal, “”, La Presse, 17 octobre 2020: L’auteur critique la proposition de Trudeau concernant de crĂ©er une rĂ©gulation fĂ©dĂ©rale pour les rĂ©sidences pour aĂźnĂ©s.
  • Ken Coates, “”, The Epoch Times, 27 September 2020: Author explains how the throne speech and the federal and provincial responses to the speeches highlight the re-emergence of Canadian federalism.
  • John Michael McGrath, “”, TVO, 25 September 2020: The author explains how rapid COVID-19 testing has increased the tensions between Ontarian and the federal government.
  • Michael Wolfson, « » Options Politiques, 11 septembre 2020 : L’auteur soutient qu’au lieu d’offrir un financement sans condition aux provinces, le gouvernent fĂ©dĂ©ral devrait accorder la prioritĂ© aux donnĂ©es sur les cas de COVID-19 et les lier au financement en santĂ©.
  • Patricia Treble, “”, ČŃČ賊łą±đČčČÔ’s, 31 August 2020: This article includes charts that show the overall and province numbers related to the pandemic.
  • Carolyn Hughes Tuohy, “”, Policy Options, 20 August 2020: The author advocates for a federal-provincial collaboration to fix the long-term care system in Canada.
  • Michael Bryant, “”,The Globe and The Mail, 13 August 2020: Bryant takes aim at Newfoundland’s travel ban and claims that it erodes the foundations of Canadian Confederation.
  • Gregory P. Marchildon, Peter Bleyer, “”, Policy Options, 4 August 2020: Authors argue that the COVID-19 crisis is a chance to rethink Canadian federalism to better respond to the healthcare and climate change challenges.
  • John Delacourt, “”, Policy Magazine, June 17, 2020: Delacourt argues that the lessons from a more co-operative federalism will resonate beyond the COVID-19 crisis.
  • Kyle Hanniman, “”, Ottawa Citizen, 6 July 2020: Hanniman discusses how Canadian federalism might tackle the provincial debts in the post-covid world.
  • Joanna Baron, “”, National Post, 9 June 2020: Baron warns against the dangers of limiting right to free movements unconstitutionally.
  • Chistopher Nardi, “”, National Post, 5 June 2020: Journalist Christopher Nardi reports Premiers’ reaction to Trudeau’s conditions for aid package to provinces.
  • Patricia Treble, “”, ČŃČ賊łą±đČčČÔ’s, 4 June 2020: Treble compiles a list of the reopening plans of federal and provincial governments. (The list is updated as new stages of plans are unveiled.)
  • Andrew Potter, “”, Max Bell School of Public Policy, 30 May 2020: Andrew Potter discusses the impact of pandemic on federalism, on fiscal policy, division of powers, internal borders, and the proper scrutinizing role of Parliament in Canada.
  • Amir Attaran, “”, ČŃČ賊łą±đČčČÔ’s, 31 May 2020: Attaran argues that Canada has failed in its management of COVID-19 crisis and criticizes federal government for deferring the management of this public health crisis to provinces.
  • Rafael MirĂł, Marco-Antonio Hauwert Rueda, «» Le DĂ©lit, 31 mai 2020 : Le DĂ©lit s’entretient avec le prof. Daniel BĂ©land sur l'impact de la COVID-19 sur le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme canadien.
  • Chantal Bernier, “”, Canadian Lawyer, 19 May 2020: Bernier argues that there already is a framework to provide privacy protection while also collecting data and that Canadian governments should rely on that.
  • Alain Noel, “”, Options Politiques, 4 Mai 2020: L’auteur prĂ©sente les dĂ©fis que la crise pose pour le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme canadien et attire l’attention du lecteur au problĂšme du dĂ©sĂ©quilibre fiscal.
  • Alain-G. Gagnon, « », La Presse, 28 avril 2020 : L’auteur offre des pistes de rĂ©flexion sur l’importance de l’autonomie provinciale mais aussi de la coordination et la concertation au sein du fĂ©dĂ©ralisme canadien pour mieux rĂ©pondre Ă  la crise.
  • Alex Usher, “”, Higher Education Strategy Associates, April 28, 2020: Usher is asking if Canadian federal government providing direct help to individuals is going to become a long-term fixture of Canadian federalism and how Quebec is not currently challenging this policy.
  • Catherine Xhardez, Mireille Paquet, « », La Presse, 23 Avril 2020 : Les chercheuses prĂ©vient contre le danger de mettre en question les pouvoirs que le QuĂ©bec dĂ©tient en matiĂšre d’immigration pendant la pandĂ©mie.
  • Maxime St. Hilaire, « », ABC National, 21 Avril 2020 : L’auteur explique les thĂ©ories gĂ©nĂ©rales sur l’état d’urgence et fait un Ă©tat de lieu de l’utilisation des pouvoirs exceptionnelles au niveau des gouvernements fĂ©dĂ©ral et quĂ©bĂ©cois.
  • Charles Breton, Mohy-Dean Tabbara, “”, Policy Options, 22 April 2020 : The authors compare provincical responses by presenting data on measures taken and their timing.
  • StĂ©phanie Chouinard, “”, iPolitics, 9 April 2020: Chouinard focuses on horizontal collaboration during this crisis and calls for better collaboration.
  • Robert Schetzer, Mirelle Paquet, “”, Policy Options, 8 April 2020: Authors assess how well provincial governments and the federal government are handling the crisis and how the lessons from previous crises helped.

News Articles / Article de presse

  • Rachel Emmanuel, “”, iPolitics, 21 October 2021: Emmanuel reports on some details of the agreement between governments for the vaccine passport.
  • Justin Ling, “”, Politico, 10 July 2021: The journalist reports on the efforts to create a Canada-wide vaccine passport and underlines the difficulty of coordination.
  • “”, CBC, 5 June 2021: Trudeau criticizes Ford claiming that he’s deflecting the blame to find an easy way out.
  • Charlie Pinkerton, “”, iPolitics, 3 June 2021: The article explains how provinces are divided over the border decision.
  • Charlie Pinkerton, “”, iPolitics, 28 May 2021: Pinkerton reports that there will be dialogue between federal and provincial governments to figure out the details of the end of border restrictions.
  • “”, CBC, 30 April 2021: Premier Ford blames the federal government’s border policy for the rise in cases.
  • Steven Fletcher, “”, iPolitics, 9 April 2021: Fletcher provides his perspective on the blame shifting game about the vaccinations between governments in Canada.
  • Nebal Snan, “”, The Guardian, 24 March 2021: The article provides a report of the news conference of Canadian Health Coalition on long-term care standards.
  • Charlie Pinkerton, “”, iPolitics, 22 March 2021: Pinkerton explains the lack of provincial participation in vaccine passport planning.
  • Althia Raj, “”, HuffPost Canada, 4 March 2021: Raj reports In Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s remarks on post-pandemic health care transfers.
  • Kevin Dougherty, “”, iPolitics, 28 January 2021: The article explains Quebec’s now-dropped plan to enforce in-hotel quarantine in case federal government refused to do so.
  • Kevin Dougherty, “”, iPolitics, 18 January 2021: The article reports Quebec Premier’s message to federal government.
  • Charlie Pinkerton, “”, iPolitics, 15 January 2021: The article includes federal authorities’ projections of cases in different provinces for the following months of the pandemic/
  • “”, CBC, 10 December 2020: CBC explains the vaccine rollout plans in each province.
  • JoĂ«l-Denis Bellavance, MĂ©lanie Marquis, « », La Presse, 10 dĂ©cembre 2020 : Les journalistes Ă©crivent les remarques de Trudeau sur son refus d’augmenter les transferts en santĂ© malgrĂ© la demande des premier ministres des provinces.
  • Philip Autier, “”, Montreal Gazette, 2 December 2020: Authier reports Legault’s statement on Premier’s agreement to request federal government to increase the funding to cover the ballooning costs of the pandemic.
  • Rachel Aiello, “”, CTV News, 1 December 2020: Aiello reports PM Trudeau’s statement on provinces’ stance about the vaccine prioritization policy.
  • Charlie Pinkerton, “”, iPolitics, 30 November 2020: Pinkerton reports the federal plan to help provinces regarding long-term care after the pandemic exposed their vulnerability.
  • Fanny LĂ©vesque, « », La Presse, 16 novembre 2020 : L’article explique comment plus d’une centaine d’élĂšves de Listuguj, en GaspĂ©sie, ne sont plus autorisĂ©s Ă  frĂ©quenter leur Ă©cole secondaire de Campbellton depuis que le gouvernement du Nouveau-Brunswick a dĂ©cidĂ© de les exclure de la « bulle atlantique ».
  • Adam Miller, “”, CBC News, 14 November 2020: The article discusses the options for a nationwide response to the pandemic.
  • Jolson Lim, “”, iPolitics, 13 November 2020: The articles reports Trudeau’s warning to Canadian premiers about the pandemic restrictions.
  • Lia LĂ©vesque, « », La Presse, 29 octobre 2020 : L’article explique les propos du commissaire aux langues officielles du Canada sur le non-respect des obligations linguistiques des institutions fĂ©dĂ©rales.
  • Jolson Lim, “”, iPolitics, 5 October 2020: Lim explains how federal government is helping provincial governments for contact tracing.
  • Alexandra Mae Jones, “”, CTV News, 22 September 2020: The article explains the map released by the federal government showing that the rise in cases has been far from even across the country, with several hotspots bumping up numbers nationwide.
  • Kevin Dougherty, “”, iPolitics, 25 August 2020: Dougherty reports Quebec Premier Legault’s announcement about Quebec’s decision not to deploy the federal COVID alert application in Quebec.
  • Charlie Pinkerton, “”, iPolitics, 31 July 2020: The federal governments’ tracking app, which was built in collaboration with Ontario, launches in the province.
  • Marco Vigliotti, “”, iPolitics, 24 June 2020: Vigliotti reports the creation of “Atlantic bubble”.
  • « », Le Devoir, 24 juin 2020 : Les quatre provinces de l’Atlantique annoncent la crĂ©ation d’une « bulle » entre elles afin de permettre Ă  leurs citoyens de circuler librement d’une province Ă  l’autre alors que le nombre de cas d’infection au SARS-CoV-2 continue de flĂ©chir.
  • HĂ©lĂšne Buzetti, Marie Vastel, « », Le Devoir, 11 juin 2020 : Les journalistes rĂ©sument la rĂ©action de Trudeau face aux inquiĂ©tudes des provinces sur les conditions d’aide financiĂšre.
  • HĂ©lĂšne Buzetti, « », Le Devoir, 10 juin 2020 : La journaliste compile les inquiĂ©tudes des provinces sur les conditions imposĂ©es par le gouvernement fĂ©dĂ©ral pour l’aide financiĂšre.
  • “”, CBC, 20 May 2020: CBC reports the legal challenge to the Newfoundland and Labrador government’s interprovincial travel restrictions.

Other Sources / Autres sources

  • « », Le Conseil de la FĂ©dĂ©ration, 10 dĂ©cembre 2020 : Ce communiquĂ© de presse fournit les dĂ©tails de la rencontre du premier ministre fĂ©dĂ©ral avec les premiers ministres des provinces et territoires.
  • L’Observatoire international sur les impacts sociĂ©taux de l’IA et du numĂ©rique a preparĂ© .

Argentina / Argentine

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • MatĂ­as Bianchi, “”, Forum of Federations Blog: Bianchi explains how federalism is rising to the challenge in Argentina during this crisis.

Australia / Australie

Academic Journal Articles / Articles de revues académiques

  • Julian R. Murphy, Erika Arban, “”, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Vol. 51, No. 4, Fall 2021: This article provides a comprehensive evaluation of the federalism-implicated aspects of Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The article’s research question is: to what extent was Australia’s federal structure responsible for the relative successes and failures of the national pandemic response? The method chosen to answer this question is largely theoretical, supplemented by aspects of institutional and policy analysis.
  • Kate Doust, Sam Hastings, ”, European Journal of Law Reform, No. 4, 2020: This article examines the scrutiny of primary legislation by the parliaments of Western Australia the Commonwealth of Australia during the initial stages of the pandemic, through the application of principles from the House of Lords Select Committee inquiry into fast-track legislation.

Books & Book Chapters / Livres & chapitres d’ouvrages collectifs

  • Emrys Nekvapil, Maya Narayan, Stephanie Brenker, “”: Authors created an online textbook for guidance on the laws made by the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary (and administrative tribunals) of the Commonwealth and each State and Territory in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also includes a chapter on constitutional division of powers on this matter.

Research Papers & Reports / Documents de recherche & Rapports

  • Bill Browne, “”, The Australia Institute, July 2021: The paper presents an overview of the pandemic’s effects on state-federal government balance.
  • Cheryl Saunders, “”, GDC Policy Brief, No. 2, 1 July 2021: This brief examines how Australia's federal system was able to mount an effective and coordinated response to the pandemic through establishment of new intergovernmental arrangements - in stark contrast to other federal states such as the USA - and identifies key issues to be addressed as the new intergovernmental system is developed.
  • Jenny Child, Roland Dillon, Eija Erasmus, and Jacob Johnson, “”, McKinsey& Company, 15 December 2020: The article offers a valuable insight into Australia’s COVID-19 response as it features results distilled from interviews with dozens of public- and private-sector leaders responsible for shaping Australia’s COVID-19 response as well as quantitative data. It also shines a light on these collaborative actions and the lessons they might hold for other countries.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Judith Brett, “”, The Conversation, 19 October 2021: Butler argues that the pandemic contributed to the already existing trend of the strengthening of state-based identities in Australia.
  • Liz Hicks, “”, Verfassungsblog, 12 April 2021: Hicks treats the problem of stranded Australian nationals abroad due to restrictions, and argues that the experience of citizens and residents stranded abroad once more highlights the limitations of Australia’s reliance on political, rather than rights-based, mechanisms to ensure government action is proportionate. She also raises the lack of clarity regarding the division of competences on this issue.
  • Marco Rizzi, Tamara Tulich, “”, Verfassungsblog, 22 February 2021: Authors explain Australia’s legal and political response to the outbreak of COVID-19 that has been marked by the formation of a new intergovernmental forum, the National Cabinet.
  • Tamara Tulich, Ben Reilly, Sarah Murray, “”, AUSPUBLAW Blog, 23 October 2020: Authors argues that the alleged effectiveness of Australia’s National Cabinet bears many resemblances to the effectiveness of presidential form of government and that this effectiveness comes at a cost.
  • Narelle Miragliotta, Nicholas Barry, Zim Nwokora, “”, The Conversation, 3 September 2020: Authors discuss how National Cabinet, introduced to coordinate COVID response, will alter the Australian federalism.
  • Peta Stephenson, Jonathan Crowe, “”, AUSPUBLAW Blog, 21 August 2020: Stephenson and Crowe examine the mechanisms used in Queensland to issue public health directions aimed at curbing the spread of the pandemic and focus particularly on the extraordinary use of delegated legislation.
  • Henry Cooney, Harry Sanderson, “”, AUSPUBLAW Blog, 4 August 2020: The article examines the legal challenge to a border closure which was made by a Mr. Palmer who wanted to travel into Western Australia.
  • Shreeya Smith, “”, AUSPUBLAW Blog, 13 June 2020: Smith discusses the legal basis for a coordinated Commonwealth response to COVID-19.
  • Stephanie Branker, “”, AUSPUBLAW Blog, 13 June 2020: Branker specifically looks at the power conferred on the federal executive by the Biosecurity Act and argues that to validly act during this crisis, the federal executive may need to rely on other sources of power than the quarantine power under Section 51 of the Australian Constitution. The article also explains how the Biosecurity Act pushes the division of power between the Commonwealth and the state to its limits.
  • Shipra Chordia, “”, AUSPUBLAW Blog, 5 June 2020: Chordia argues that structured proportionality should not be adopted as a methodological tool in the context of Section 92 (Trade within the Commonwealth to be free) of the Australian Constitution.
  • Alan Fenna, “”, UACES Territorial Politics Blog, 12 June 2020: Fenna argues that the COVID-19 response in Australia showcased both the continuing importance of the States and the potential for genuinely collaborative intergovernmentalism despite the frictions.
  • Narelle Miragliotta, “”, The Conversation, 14 April 2020: Miragliotta argues that despite the friction between NSW government and Australian Border Force over Ruby Princess debacle, Australia’s response to COVID-19 is a testament to the benefits of the federation.
  • Chris Wallace, “”, The Conversation, 3 May 2020: Wallace explains the tension between federal and Victorian government about closure and re-opening of schools and highlights problems of Australian federalism on matters related to education policies.
  • Roger Wilkins, “”, Forum of Federations Blog: Author explains how different levels of government are coordinating the response to the pandemic.
  • Tamara Tulich, Marco Rizzi, Fiona McGaughey, “”, Verfassungsblog, 10 April 2020: Authors discuss Australian response to the crisis with a section focused on the National Cabinet “comprised of the Prime Minister of Australia, the Premiers of the six Australian states and the Chief Ministers of the two Australian territories.

Working Papers / Documents de travail

  • Marco Rizzi, Tamara Tulich, “”, SSRN, 1 October 2021: To be published in the forthcoming Routledge Handbook of Law and the COVID-19 Pandemic, this chapter examines the response of the Australian Federal and State governments to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Nicolas Aroney, Michael Boyce, “”, SSRN, 13 November 2020: The paper describes and evaluates the response of the Australian federal system to the COVID-19 crisis. It argues that despite serious administrative failures, especially in the State of Victoria, the measures implemented by Australian governments at a Commonwealth, State, Territory and local level have been remarkably successful in containing the virus and providing quality health care to those infected.
  • Anne Twomey, “”, Melbourne Forum 2020 Discussion Papers, September 2020: This paper highlights how the multi-level government of Australia responded to the COVID-19 crisis.

Opinions

  • Shahar Hameiri, “” Unherd, 26 January 2022: The author explains the shortcomings of Australian response to the Omicron wave and analyzes how federalism contributed the problems. 
  • Aaron Patrick, “”, Financial Review, 17 August 2021: Patrick explains the tension between the state government of NSW and the Commonwealth.
  • Jacqueline Maley, “”, The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 July 2021: The author quotes Anne Twomey’s views that is in defense of federalism in pandemic.
  • Shaun Carney, “”, The Age, 1 June 2021: The piece criticizes the federal government for not assigning extra expenditure on Victoria’s recent surge of cases.
  • Greg Craven, “”, The Australian, 12 April 2021: Craven explains how COVID crises changed the dynamics of Australian federalism.
  • Robert Carling, “” Spectator Australia, 30 September 2020: Carling argues that state premiers failed to come up with adequate and coordinated response to the pandemic.
  • Kalinga Seneviratne, “”, IDN - In Depth News, 29 August 2020: Seneviratne reports the tensions that arose in the Australian federal system hit by the second wave of the pandemic.
  • Anne Twomey, “”, The Australian, 6 July 2020: Twomey explains how the lessons from the pandemic can be used to improve the federal system, specifically by reforming the “National Cabinet”.
  • Mark Nolan, “”, CSU News, 21 May 2020: Nolan highlights how recent crises underlined important issues about Australian federalism.
  • Allan Patience, ””, John Menadue – Pearls and Irritations, 25 March 2020: Patience explains how the early days of the COVID-19 crisis underlined the failure of Australian federalism.
  • Stephen Duckett, Anika Stobart, “”, Croakey, 25 May 2020: Authors ask if Australia’s new intergovernmental cooperation institution, National Cabinet, will survive the pandemic and become permanent.
  • John Warhurst, “”, Canberra Times, 26 March 2020: Warhurst questions, with a special focus on accountability, the benefits of “National Cabinet”, an intergovernmental cabinet formed to coordinate responses to COVID-19 in Australia.

News Articles / Article de presse

  • James Matthey, , News.com.au, 5 January 2022: The row over Djokovic vaccine exemption for Australian visa triggers a blame-shifting game between the Commonwealth and Victoria.
  • Sarah Martin, “”, The Guardian, 18 July 2021: Martin reports on the Australia Institute’s on the perception of federalism.
  • Paul Carp, “”, The Guardian, 29 April 2020: Paul Karp reports on how independent schools are caught up in the tension between federal and Victorian government.

Other Sources / Autre sources

  • The Parliament of Victoria launched an inquiry into the pandemic response of the Victorian government. Related documents can be accessed through its . Amongst the submissions made to the committee, Evgenia Lega’s particularly addresses the federalist nature of Australia and how federalism failed in this crisis.

Austria / Autriche

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Karl Stöger, “”, Lex-Atlas: COVID-19, 31 May 2021: Stöger provides an overview of discrepancies amongst different constituent units in Austria vis-Ă -vis vaccination campaign.
  • Konrad Lachmayer, “”, Verfassungsblog, 8 May 2021: Lachmayer gives o overview of Austria’s legal response to the pandemic, and explains including its repercussions on federalism.
  • Anna Gamper, “”, Institut fĂŒr Federalismus Blog, 5 June 2020: Gamper explains the challenges that Austrian federalism faced during the pandemic, especially the centralizing effect and Tyrol’s unique situation during the crisis.
  • Peter BußjĂ€ger, “”, Institut fĂŒr Föderalismus Blog, 28 April 2020: The author focuses on some of the mistakes made in handling of the crisis and underlines the importance of intergovernmental cooperation.

Belgium / Belgique

Academic Journal Articles / Articles de revues académiques

  • Patricia Popelier, “”, The Theory and Practice of Legislation, Vol. 8, No. 1-2, 2020: This paper discusses the corona virus crisis legislation in Belgium, against the background of a political crisis intertwined with the problems of Belgian federalism.
  • FrĂ©dĂ©ric Bouhon, Andy Jousten, Xavier Miny et Emmanuel Slautsky, “”, (2020) 2446 Courrier hebdomadaire du CRISP: Les auteur.e.s expliquent comment la gestion de la crise Ă©branle les dynamiques du fĂ©dĂ©ralisme belge, la sĂ©paration du pouvoir au sein des gouvernements fĂ©dĂ©rĂ©s et fĂ©dĂ©ral, et le rĂ©gime des droits fondamentaux. (English version: on I-CONNECT Blog.)

Books & Book Chapters / Livres & EntrĂ©es d’ouvrages collectifs

  • FrĂ©dĂ©ric Bouhon, Emmanuel Slautsky, StĂ©phanie Wattier, «  », Larcier, 2022 : Le prĂ©sent ouvrage contient 26 contributions thĂ©matiques rĂ©parties en trois parties. La premiĂšre porte sur l’organisation des pouvoirs telle qu’elle a Ă©tĂ© bousculĂ©e par la crise. La deuxiĂšme concerne les instruments et les ressources de l’action publique et les adaptations que celle-ci a dĂ» subir du fait de la pandĂ©mie. La troisiĂšme se focalise sur les droits fondamentaux. 
  • Saba Parsa, Marc Uyttendaele, « », ŽĄČÔłÙłóĂ©łŸŸ±Čő, 2021 : Cet ouvrage est une collection des articles qui illustrent les dĂ©fis posĂ©s par la pandĂ©mie contre le droit en ayant l’objectif d'envisager l'avenir et d'imaginer des balises pour que la crise inĂ©dite de Covid-19 soit un tremplin vers une sociĂ©tĂ© meilleure plutĂŽt que l'esquisse d'un rĂ©trĂ©cissement de nos espaces de libertĂ©.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Karel Reybrouck, “”, Lex-Atlas: COVID-19, 13 May 2021: This post argues that Belgium’s adherence to the principles of dual federalism, which hold that the federal government and the states function in isolation from each other and reject mechanisms of cooperative and interdependent federalism, impeded a coordinated and effective Covid-19 response.
  • Maaike De Ridder, “”, Verfassungsblog, 10 March 2021: The post provides an overview of the measures taken in Belgium since March 2020 and explains how the coordination between different levels of government worked.
  • Centre de droit public de l’UniversitĂ© Libre de Bruxelles publie des sur les effets de la crise avec un appui sur le droit public belge.
  • Toon Moonen, Jonas Riemslagh, “”, Verfassungsblog, 25 March 2020: Authors focus on three types of early measures taken during the crisis: containment measures, the granting of ‘special powers’ to the executive and measures aimed at socio-economic survival and recovery. They also provide details on how Belgium’s federated entities use their powers to respond to the crisis.
  • Patricia Popeliers, “”, UACES Territorial Politics Blog, 5 May 2020: Popeliers highlights the centralizing effect of this crisis and the need for an institutionalized framework for health-related crisis management.
  • Peter Bursens, “”, Forum of Federations Blog, May 2020: Bursens examines how different federal level of governance in Belgium are operating during the crisis.
  • Sarah Ganty, “”, Verfassungsblog, 21 April 2020: Ganty shows how this crisis underlined the fragility of federalism in Belgium.

Opinions

  • CĂ©line Romainville, Karel Reybrouck, « », Le Soir, 3 juin 2021 : Les auteurs expliquent que la pandĂ©mie relance le dĂ©bat sur la gestion des situations d’urgence en Belgique.
  • Steven Arrazola de Oñate, Bruno Yammine, « », La Libre, 4 mars 2021 : Les auteurs plaident pour remplacer les entitĂ©s fĂ©dĂ©rales actuelles avec les provinces en raison de la complexitĂ© du systĂšme dĂ©montrĂ©e par la pandĂ©mie.
  • « », RTBF, 11 janvier 2020 : L’article explique les grandes axes de l’accord sur le plan de relance belge.
  • Xavier Counasse, Martine Dubuisson, « », Le Soir, 25 octobre 2020 : Les journalistes expliquent les tensions du fĂ©dĂ©ralisme belge en deuxiĂšme vague de la pandĂ©mie.
  • Courtney Withrow, “”, World Politics Review, 6 August 2020: Withrow argues that Belgium’s divisions are as deep as ever and that COVID-19 may have only exacerbated them through its federal system.
  • Bernard Demonty, « », Le Soir, 10 juillet 2020 : Le journaliste explique l’absence de coordination entre les entitĂ©s fĂ©dĂ©rales.
  • Eric Burgraff, « », Le Soir, 22 juin 2020 : Le journaliste explique pourquoi les Belges souhaitent que le gouvernement fĂ©dĂ©ral ait plus de pouvoir en matiĂšre de santĂ©.
  • BĂ©atrice Delvaux, « », Tribune de GenĂšve, 7 juin 2020: L’éditorialiste du « Soir » de Bruxelles soutient que la pandĂ©mie a dĂ©montrĂ© la nĂ©cessitĂ© pour une urgente amĂ©lioration de la structure belge explosĂ©e en multiples couches institutionnelles, rĂ©gionales, communautaires et fĂ©dĂ©rale.
  • Ivan de Vadder, « », Le Soir, 6 Mai 2020 : Le chroniqueur s’interrogent sur les changements qui attendent l’État belge aprĂšs cette crise en attirant l’attention des lecteurs aux demandes des rĂ©formes diffĂ©rentes des francophones (transfert des pouvoirs relatif Ă  la santĂ© publique au niveau fĂ©dĂ©ral) et des flamands (transfert des pouvoirs aux unitĂ©s constituantes).

News Articles / Article de presse

  • Kevin Dupont, « », Moustique, DĂ©cembre 2020 : L’auteur fait un bilan des opinions sur la façon dont le systĂšme fĂ©dĂ©ral belge a gĂ©rĂ© la crise sanitaire.
  • Eric Deffet, « », Le Soir, 18 juin 2020: Le journaliste annonce l’accord interfĂ©dĂ©ral finalisĂ© sur le traçage numĂ©rique.

Other Sources / Autres sources

  • « », AFMPS, 16 novembre 2020 : La ConfĂ©rence InterministĂ©rielle SantĂ© publique et du Commissaire Corona du Gouvernement fournit plus de dĂ©tails sur la stratĂ©gie de vaccination et la collaboration intergouvernementale.

Bosnia and Herzegovina / Bosnie-Herzégovine

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Nina Sajic, “”, Forum of Federations Blog: Sajic delves into the practical application of the governance structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina and how it operated throughout the COVID pandemic and points the resurfacing divide within the federation out.
  • Soeren Keil, “”, UACES Territorial Politics, 12 May 2020: Keil explains how Bosnia and Herzegovina became a “role model” on how to handle the crisis.

Brazil / Brésil

Academic Journal Articles / Articles de revues académiques

  • Catarina Ianni Segatto, Fernando Burgos Pimentel dos Santos, Renata Mirandola Bichir, Eliana Lins Morandi, “”, Policy and Society, 11 February 2022: This paper contributes to discussions about subnational responses to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in federal countries. In the scholarship on federalism and public policy, few studies seek to understand the factors that shape subnational differences in welfare levels. This article seeks to better understand this issue in Brazil by exploring how, in a context with little national-level coordination, subnational governments tackle the inequalities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. 
  • Victor Marcel Pinheiro, Marcelo Ilarraz, Melissa Terni Mestriner, “”, The Theory and Practice of Legislation, Vol. 8, No. 1-2, 2020: The article explains that state-level officials took most public health actions in Brazil, what gave rise to a clash between the President and Governors about who has authority to decide about public health measures.
  • Fernando Luiz Abrucio, Eduardo JosĂ© Grin, Cibele Franzese, Catarina Ä°anni Segatto & Claudio Gonçalves Couto, “”, Revista de Administracao Publica Vol. 54, No. 4, August 2020: Through historical-institutional analysis, the study examines how the model of federalism adopted by President Bolsonaro's government influenced policy responses to the pandemic in the country.
  • Eduardo JosĂ© Grin, “”, Middle Atlantic Review of Latin American Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2020: Author argues that the actions of the current government to deal with Covid-19 are detrimental to the cooperative type of federalism that is in place in Brazil in the last thirty years.
  • SthĂ©fano Bruno Santos Divino, “” [.pdf], Biodritto, 16 March 2020: Author explains early measures of Brazilian federal government to fight COVID-19.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer, Thomas Bustamante, “”, Verfassungsblog, 22 February 2021: The post explains how different institutions including subnational reacted to President Bolsonaro’s irresponsible approach to COVID-19.
  • Thomas Bustamante, Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer, Felipe Tirado, “”, Verfassungsblog, 23 December 2020: The article analyzes Brazilian Federal Supreme Court’s judgments on vaccination policies and argues that the court strengthened Brazilian federalism in the face of a federal government that remains largely inactive in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Carolina Gabas Stuchi, Vanessa Elias de Oliveira, Gilberto M. A. Rodrigues, “”, UACES Territorial Politics Blog, 24 September 2020: Authors explain how President Bolsonaro tries to limit to autonomy of subnational governments during the pandemic in order to make way for his populist policies.
  • HervĂ© Thery, « », Diploweb.com, 5 juillet 2020: L’auteur cherche Ă  identifier quels sont les facteurs associĂ©s Ă  l’épidĂ©mie de Covid-19 au BrĂ©sil, au moins dans les modalitĂ©s de sa distribution spatiale jusqu’au 14 juin 2020.
  • Juliano Zaiden Benvindo, “”, I-CONnect Blog, 1 July 2020: Benvindo explains how Bolsonaro’s election affected Brazilian democracy and why things are getting complicated for Bolsonaro, citing the tension between governors and Bolsonaro as a reason.
  • Mariana Urban, Eduardo Saad-Diniz, “”, The Regulatory Review, 22 June 2020: Authors explain Brazil’s failure to respond effectively to COVID-19 through the lens of the political crisis raging between federal and state governments.
  • Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer, Thomas Bustamante, “”, Verfassungsblog, 16 June 2020: In a general recollection of the most important rulings and procedures that take part in Federal Supreme Court’s backlash at Bolsanaro, authors also reveal the tension that surfaced between the Court and Bolsanaro on state powers.
  • Julie VanDusky-Allen, Olga Shetsova, Andrei Zhirnov, “”, The Blue Review, 10 June 2020: Authors explain how federal structure allowed subnational units to compensate the lack of action against COVID-19 on federal level.
  • Gilberto M. A. Rodrigues, Vanessa Elias de Oliveira, “”, UACES Territorial Politics, 5 June 2020: Authors argue that the conflict between the federal union and the subnational entities has challenged cooperative federalism in Brazil and has opened room for redesigning the country’s intergovernmental relations.
  • JoĂŁo Victor Archegas, LetĂ­cia Kreuz, “” Verfassungsblog, 4 June 2020: Authors explain how President Bolsanaro’s actions, including his feud with state governors, challenge Brazil’s constitutional order and why some of President’s supporters are calling for the military to play the role of “constitutional moderator”.
  • Marcelo Figureiedo, “” IACL-AIDC Blog, 2 June 2020: Figureiedo provides examples of the steps taken by the federal government in Brazil and explains the tensions between subnational units and the federal government.
  • Bruno Queiroz Cunha, “”, The Regulatory Review, 1 June 2020: Author explains the failure of Bolsanaro’s policies during the pandemic and underlines the lack of cooperation between subnational units and the federal government.
  • Ana Carolina Lorena, Eduardo Henrique Correa da Silva Paranhos Neris, “”, Forum of Federations Blog: Authors discusses Brazil’s response to the COVID crisis and how the lack of a stable intergovernmental coordination affects this response.
  • Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer, Thomas Bustamante, “”, Verfassungsblog, 2 April 2020: Authors discuss Brazil’s response to crisis while addressing the power struggle between state governors and the President.

Working Papers / Documents de travail

  • Lorena G. Barberia, Luiz Cantarelli, Maria Leticia Claro, Isabel Seelaender Costa Rosa, Fabiana da Silva Pereira, Marcela Zamudio,””, OSF, 15 April 2020: After developing a refined version of the stringency index introduced by the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker to examine federal and state policies in the Brazilian federation, the study reports on the social distancing policies adopted by the 26 states and the federal district of the Brazilian federation.

News Articles / Article de presse

  • Different media outlets (, , , ) and NGOs () report on the power struggle between state governors and President Bolsonaro and how the federal courts are revoking or suspending Bolsonaro’s decrees that limit the powers of state governors.

China / Chine

Academic Journal Articles / Articles de revues académiques

  • Jacques DeLisle, Shen Kui, “”, Administrative Law Review, Vol 73, No.1, 2021: The article offers an overview of the legal framework that helped China tackle the crisis.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Jacques DeLisle, “”, The Regulatory Review, 30 June 2020: Author evaluates China’s response to the pandemic while providing insight to the role of local-level authorities.
  • Yuxue Fang, “”, Verfassungsblog, 22 March 2020: Fang explains the legal basis and scope of restrictive measures, and supportive measures for financially affected employees and enterprises while offering a brief overview of subnational measures.

Opinions

  • Philipp Renninger, “”, The Diplomat, 20 June 2020: Renninger explains the role of local authorities in the management of this crisis and how the central government positions itself vis-Ă -vis this role.

Working Papers / Documents de travail

  • Phillipp Renninger, “”, SSRN, 14 May 2021: Renninger explains the way China responded to COVID-19 through the lens of federalism and the metaphor of the chess game.

Colombia / Colombie

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Juan Carlos Covilla MartĂ­nez, “”, The Regulatory Review, 3 June 2020: In this article, MartĂ­nez argues that Colombia lacks procedures for ensuring coordination among different levels of government.

European Union / Union européenne

Academic Journal Articles / Articles de revues académiques

  • Martin Rhodes, “‘”, Journal of European Public Policy, Vol. 28, No. 10, 2021: This article examines the policy responses of the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) to the Covid-19 pandemic during its first twelve months. The intensity of the policy challenge, and the ways in which both political systems have been forced to respond, create a ‘moment rĂ©vĂ©lateur’ – a revealing inflection point – that casts light on their relative institutional strengths and weaknesses.
  • Federico Maria Ferrera, Hanspeter Kriesi, “”, Journal of European Public Policy, September 2021: Authors theorize that diverse combinations of crisis pressures generate four decision-making scenarios in the EU, each of which can be ascribed to different combinations of analytical insights from neofunctionalism, intergovernmentalism, postfunctionalism, and federalism. They illustrate the value of their framework in relation to four EU crises concerning the euro area, refugees, Brexit and Covid-19.
  • Juan Carlos MartĂ­n, ConcepciĂłn RomĂĄn, “”, Eastern Journal of European Studies, Vol. 12, Special Issue, August 2021: This article analyses how COVID-19 is affecting the EU federalism position in 21 Member States. The analysis is based on an ordered probit econometric model that explains the citizens’ support to a major involvement of the EU institutions to control the corona virus pandemic.
  • NazarĂ© da Costa Cabral, “”, Journal of European Integration, 2021: In this article, the author presents the evolution in the European Union of different borrowing models going through a path which starts out with a purely national model, passes through stages of hybrid (national and European) models, to reach the final stage, a purely European model after the Sovereign Debt and the COVID-19 crises.
  • Geert Bouckaert, Davide Galli, Sabine Kuhlmann, Renate Reiter, Steven Van Hecke, “”, Public Administration Review, Vol. 80, No. 4, 2020: The authors point to the lack of European response within the Union by focusing on Belgium, France, Germany, and Italy.
  • Alession M. Pacces, Maria Weimer, “”, European Journal of Risk Regulation, Vol 11, Special Issue 2 June 2020: Authors argue that a coordinated response as an exit strategy is more desirable for the future of the EU.
  • Iñigo de Miguel, Elena Atienza-MacĂ­as, “ [.pdf], Biodritto, 14 March 2020: Researchers explain how the EU could help the Member States to cope with COVID-19 and focus on the so-called, “Solidarity Clause” as well as the Integrated Political Crisis Response arrangements.

Research Papers & Reports / Documents de recherche et rapports

  • Laure Prevignano, « », Cahiers fribourgeois de droit europĂ©en, No. 29, aoĂ»t 2021 : Dans cette analyse dĂ©taillĂ©e, l’auteur soutient que Bien que le bilan de la rĂ©ponse europĂ©enne Ă  la crise ne puisse vraisemblablement ĂȘtre tirĂ© que dans plusieurs annĂ©es, il est nĂ©cessaire d’entamer cette analyse sans attendre ; une telle crise pourrait en effet constituer un rĂ©el Ă©crin de possibilitĂ©s nouvelles pour l’UE.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Laurie Buonanno, Neill Nugent, , 50 Shades of Federalism, November 2021: This paper suggests that this link between crises and federal integration is being replicated with respect to European governance of the Covid-19 pandemic in several areas, including agencification, fiscal policy, and health policy.
  • Peter van Elsuwege, “” Verfassungsblog, 5 June 2020: The author argues that travel restrictions imposed within the EU are increasingly untenable in the light of fundamental principles of EU law and that this chaotic response calls for a reflection on the division of competences.
  • Oresto Pollicino, “”, IACL-AIDC Blog, 21 May 2020: Pollicino explains the challenges on the way of developing a pan-European model of contact tracing.
  • Rory Montgomery, “”, TCD COVID-19 Crisis Blog, 6 April 2020: Montgomery outlines how European solidarity is being tested as a result of the pandemic and what role the EU can play and argues the EU has more powers to combat with the economic difficulties in the aftermath of the pandemic.
  • Alberto Alemenno, “”, Verfassungsblog, 18 April 2020: Author presents the challenges that the crisis created for EU and how it showed the limits of its powers.

Working Papers / Documents de travail

  • Hjalte Lokdam, Michael A. Wilkinson, “”, SSRN, 14 April 2021: The paper explains the neoliberal and undemocratic origins of the EU’s economic constitution and also looks at how COVID-19 crisis changed this constitution.
  • Hjalte Lokdam, “”, iCourts Working Paper Series, No. 231, 2021: This paper argues that the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) created at Maastricht conformed to the neoliberal theory of interstate federalism in seeking to constitute structural conditions that circumscribed the effective exercise of activist public authority at both the Member State and European level. However, different crises, including COVID-19 pandemic highlighted that the objectives pursued under the reformed EMU might depart from the set of policies traditionally associated with neoliberalism.
  • Mitja Kovac, Amira Elkanawati, Vita Gjikolli, and Ann-Sophie Vandenberghe, “”, Law & Economics of Covid-19 Working Paper Series, April 2020: Authors seek to address the role played by European public policy in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and argue that the current unprecedented outbreak of this superspreading virus calls for a more significant EU-wide coordinated response.

Opinions

  • Robert Boyer, « », Le Grand Continent, 22 fĂ©vrier 2022 : L’auteur fait un bilan des effets de la crise sur le projet europĂ©en. 
  • Samir Regad, « », Tourillon, 12 juin 2021 : L’auteur explique pourquoi l’existence d’une fenĂȘtre d’opportunitĂ© pour les fĂ©dĂ©ralistes europĂ©ens n’est pas si certaine.
  • BarthĂ©lĂ©my Gaillard, « », Toute l’Europe.eu, 27 avril 2021 : Gaillard explique en dĂ©tail comment la vaccination continue en Europe et la stratĂ©gie de la Commission EuropĂ©enne en matiĂšre de vaccination.
  • Jean Marsia, Domenico Rossetti di Valdalbero, « », La Libre, 31 janvier 2021 : Cet article est un plaidoyer pour le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme europĂ©en.
  • Bertille Bayart, « », Le Figaro, 8 janvier 2021 : Dans cet entretien, le secrĂ©taire d’État aux Affaires europĂ©ennes dĂ©fend les achats communautaires de vaccins et insiste sur la nĂ©cessitĂ© d’une autre politique commerciale.
  • Deborah S. Ianotti, “”, The New Federalist, 21 December 2020: Ianotti explains how the most ambitious economic plan of the EU finally came to fruition overcoming all obstacles.
  • “”, The International Economy, Summer 2020: Experts share their view over the “Hamiltonian Moment” debate for EU that erupted after the announcement of its COVID-19 package.
  • John Palmer, “”, The Federal Trust, 21 July 2020: Palmer discusses the effects of the deal reached in the last week’s European summit amongst country leaders.
  • Mathis Bittion, “”, National Review, 9 July 2020: Bittion argues that EU is at a critical juncture and will either become increasingly federal or shatter to pieces depending on the economic response that it will give to the pandemic related crisis.
  • Ivan Krastev, Mark Leonard, “”, European Council on Foreign Relations, 24 June 2020: Authors claim that this crisis represents a new opportunity for European integration but not as a “Hamiltonian” moment of proto-federalization.
  • Jacek Rostowski, Arnab Das, “”, Project Syndicate, 8 June 2020: Authors challenge the view that, like Alexander Hamilton’s 1790 agreement with Thomas Jefferson on transferring US states’ Revolutionary War debts to the new federal government, Franco-German proposal for a €500 billion European Union recovery fund to cope with the COVID-19 crisis would pave the way to a United States of Europe.
  • Bruno Maçães, Anu Bradford, “”, Prospect, 5 June 2020: Authors debate on the effects of COVID-19 on the integration of the EU.
  • Irene Queralt Santamatilde, “”, Tourillon, 4 June 2020: The author argues that feminism can inspire federalists to build a federal Europe based on interdependence, collaboration, and mutual care.
  • ThĂ©o Boucart, « », Le Taurilllon, 16 avril 2020 : À partir du discours de Ursula von der Leyen au Parlement europĂ©en, l’auteur s’interroge sur la possibilitĂ© d’une Europe solidaire pour sortir de cette crise.
  • Eric Maurice, Ramona Bloj, Stefanie Buzmaniuk CĂ©cile Antonnini, Catherine D’Angelo, “” [.pdf], Fondation Robert Schuman, 12 May 2020: Authors provide an overview of all the measures taken so far, at national and EU level explaining that the EU’s ability act depends largely on Member States.
  • Fondation Robert Schuman, “”, 6 April 2020: The article outlines the EU’s competences in health, argues even though the Union did not have extensive competence on this matter, the EU’s action created an unease. It also illustrates the crisis’s fragmenting effect on European integration.
  • John Bruton, “” [.pdf], Fondation Robert Schuman, 6 April 2020: Bruton criticizes the first reactions of Member States to the crisis and evaluates possible economic solutions to the economic problems.

Council of Europe/ Conseil d’Europe

Other Sources / Autres sources

  • Council of Europe, “”, 7 April 2020: The Council published an information document for its member states for dealing with the COVID-19 crisis in a way that respects the fundamental values of democracy, rule of law and human rights. The document acknowledges the need for central governments to bypass standard division of competences, but it also underlines that the rights of local and regional authorities should be re-established as soon as the situation allows it.

Ethiopia / Éthiopie

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Zemelak Ayele, Yonatan Fessha, “”, Verfassungsblog, 20 April 2021: The authors explain the responses to the pandemic while arguing how the federal government dominated the response.
  • Yonatan Fessha, “”, Verfassungsblog, 27 November 2020: Fessha explains the rising of tensions between the central government and state of Tigris after federal elections were postponed due to COVID-19.
  • Zemelak Ayitenew Ayele, “”, Forum of Federations Blog: Author explains how different levels of government responded to the crisis.

Germany / Allemagne

Academic Journal Articles / Articles de revues académiques

  • Patrick Hassenteufel, « », Les Tribunes de la SantĂ©, No. 68, 2021 : Cet article porte sur l’importance du fĂ©dĂ©ralisme dans la politique de lutte contre la Covid-19 en Allemagne. L’auteur soutient que mĂȘme si la gestion de la pandĂ©mie en Allemagne s’est fortement inscrite dans le cadre du « fĂ©dĂ©ralisme coopĂ©ratif », elle a aussi donnĂ© Ă  voir l’importance des concurrences entre łąĂ€ČÔ»ć±đ°ù et des tensions entre certains d’entre eux et le gouvernement fĂ©dĂ©ral.
  • Sabine Kuhlmann, Jochen Franzke, “”, Local Government Studies, Special Issue, 31 March 2021: This article is aimed at analysing local and intergovernmental responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany during the ‘first wave’ of the pandemic. It answers the question of how the intergovernmental system in Germany responded to the crisis and to what extent the pandemic has changed patterns of multi-level governance.
  • Johannes Saurer, “”, Administrative Law Review, Vol 73, No.1, 2021: This essay explores the role of cooperative administrative federalism in COVID-19 containment from March to August 2020.
  • Fabian Hattke, Helge Martin, “”, Administrative Theory & Praxis, Vol. 42, No. 4, September 2020: The authors show how fragmented authority can foster collective action to mount an effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic by taking Germany as an example.

Books & Book Chapters / Livres & EntrĂ©es d’ouvrages collectifs

  • Pierre Thielbörger, , in Matthias C Kettemann, Konrad Lachmayer (eds), Pandemocracy in Europe: Power, Parliaments and People in Times of COVID-19, Bloomsbury, 2021: After giving an overview over the course of the pandemic in Germany including the state’s response to it, the analysis proceeds with characterising the German model of federalism, the constitutional rules on state emergencies, democratic power-sharing and the special protection of fundamental rights as well as infectious disease law. It weighs the strengths and weaknesses of the German (highly federalist) approach.

Research Papers & Reports / Documents de recherche & Rapports

  • JĂŒrgen Stehn,, Kiel Policy Briefs, No. 160, November 2021: Against the backdrop of the economic theory of federalism, the author examines whether decentralized powers in infection control at the state level are less efficient than centralized powers at the federal level. He reveals that preferences varied relatively widely among the states with respect to the type and extent of pandemic response during the Corona crisis
  • Finn Malte Schmid, “” (Master's thesis), University of Agder, 2021: This thesis raises the question of what influence the federalism and the accompanying decentralized organization of the pandemic response has on the crisis management in Germany. Using expert interviews and qualitative methods, three states in Germany are being used as cases and compared according to their institutional design and their challenges in crisis management.
  • Lothar Wieler, Ute Rexroth, and RenĂ© Gottschalk, “”, Our World in Data, 30 June 2020: The article underlines the reasons behind Germany’s success to handle the pandemic. It also explains the effect of German federalism in this success.
  • GaĂ«lle Winter, « », Notes de la Fondation pour la Recherche StratĂ©gique, 20 Avril 2020 : Cette note dĂ©taillĂ©e sur la rĂ©ponse allemande met en lumiĂšre – parmi d’autres – les conditions peu favorables du fĂ©dĂ©ralisme allemand pour la gestion de la crise, surtout en matiĂšre de partage des compĂ©tences ; explique comment ces institutions se sont adaptĂ©es; et offre une rĂ©flexion sur l’impact de la crise aux relations europĂ©ennes.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Anna Katharina Mangold, “”, Verfassungsblog, 7 April 2021: This post provides an overview of the first year of the pandemic with a focus on the questions of vertical and horizontal separation of powers, the role of expertise in the Covid response, and restrictions of fundamental rights as adjudicated by courts.
  • Johanna Schnabel, Yvonne Hegele, “”, UACES Territorial Politics Blog, 9 June 2020: Authors argue that the management of the COVID-19 crisis has been consistent with Germany’s cooperative approach to federalism rather than creating a major change in federal dynamics.
  • Johannes Saurer, “”, The Regulatory Review, 13 May 2020: Saurer explains how Germany ‘s federal system shaped the country’s response to COVID-19.
  • Anika Anika Klafki, Andrea Kießling, “”, Verfassungsblog, 20 March 2020: Authors provide an overview of the relevant legal instruments in the fight against the virus as well as the tensions due to the federalism.
  • Constanze StelzenmĂŒller, Sam Denney, “”, Law Fare Blog, 16 April 2020: Authors discuss to what extent the German constitutional order is apt to counter the crisis and also addresses federalism in a specific section to explain how the revised Infection Protection Act gave new powers to the federal government and how this revision and other practices within the parliament have a centralizing effect on German federalism.
  • Georg Milbradt, “”, Forum of Federations Blog, April 2020: Milbradt examines Germany’s experience dealing with the COVID-19.
  • Holger Hestermeier, “”, IDEA - Voices from the Field, 30 April 2020: Hestermeier summarizes case-law of German Constitutional Court about lockdown-measures adopted by several states (łąĂ€ČÔ»ć±đ°ù).

Working Papers / Documents de travail

  • Sebastian Juhl, Roni Lehrer, Annelies G. Blom, Alexander Wenz, Tobias Rettig, Ulrich Krieger, Marina Fikel, Carina Cornesse, Elias Naumann, Katja Möhring, Maximiliane Reifenscheid. "", JHET, 4 May 2021: This study uses data from the Mannheim Corona Study to investigate factors that influence respondents’ propensity to grant additional discretionary powers to the German federal government. The results show that, while trust in government before the pandemic has a minor impact, state-level policy heterogeneity and individual threat perceptions strongly increase the likelihood to support the centralization of decision-making competencies.
  • Matthew Pelowski, “”, University of Birmingham Working Paper Series, March 2021: Pelowski compares the measures taken in different states and the measures taken on national level to see the role federalism played in Germany’s response to the pandemic.

Opinions

  • Matthias von Hellfeld,, DW, 13 December 2021: The author offers an overview of the German federalism and explains how the pandemic exposed its shortcomings.
  • Ian Bateson, “”, The Washington Post, 9 April 2021: The op-ed provides an overview of the turbulences that German federalism has gone through during the pandemic.
  • Zoran Arbutina, “”, DW, 6 April 2021: The author argues that German federal system did not fail in responding to the pandemic despite its problems.
  • Andreas Kluth, “”, Bloomberg, 1 April 2021: Kluth offers his take on the old question of federalism’s aptitude to manage crises through German example.
  • Sabine Kinkartz, “”, DW, 6 January 2021: The author argues that German federalism has also its limits and that the country might need tighter restrictions.
  • Hans Georg-Betz, “”, Fair Observer, 23 December 2020: The author explains how the pandemic has exposed the pitfalls of German federalism.
  • Sadiya Ansari, “”, Policy Options, 21 December 2020: The article explains the main reasons behind the successful coordination within German federal system during the pandemic.

News Articles / Article de presse

  • Pascale Hugues, « », Le Point, 23 avril 2021 : La correspondante Ă  Berlin explique comment la chanceliĂšre allemande a obtenu le pouvoir d’imposer un couvre-feu au niveau national.
  • Jean-Marc Four, « », France Info, 21 avril 2021 : Le journaliste explique les enjeux entourant l’adoption de la nouvelle loi sur le couvre-feu national.
  • German Lopez, “”, Vox, 21 April 2021: The article explains how German federalism slowed down the country’s response to the pandemic.
  • Esme Nicholson, “”, NPR, 12 April 2021: The journalist reports how federalism got in the way of an effective response.
  • Philip Oltermann, “”, The Guardian, 29 March 2021: The journalist reports Merkel’s comments on the lack of any legal mechanism to impose nationwide lockdown.
  • Alain Howiller, « », EuroJournalist, 18 novembre 2020 : Howiller explique les limites du systĂšme fĂ©dĂ©ral allemand qui, en temps normal, est un paradis pour la subsidiaritĂ©, mais qui risque de devenir un dĂ©fi en temps de crise.
  • Christophe Bourdoiseau, « », Le Soir, 14 octobre 2020: Bourdoiseau explique comment la deuxiĂšme vague de la pandĂ©mie oblige Berlin Ă  revoir une politique de restrictions rĂ©gionales qui est devenue incohĂ©rente.
  • Mark Hallam, “”, DW, 12 October 2020: Hallam explains briefly the pros and cons of federal governance under Germany’s response to COVID-19.
  • Christophe Bourdoiseau, « », Le Soir, 23 juin 2020 : Le journaliste explique la rĂ©apparition des frontiĂšres internes en Allemagne avec de nouveaux cas d’éclosion dans le Nord.
  • Philip Oltermann, “”, The Guardian, 5 April 2020: Oltermann explains how devolution helps administering tests more effectively.
  • StĂ©phane Roland, “”, łąŸ±ČúĂ©°ùČčłÙŸ±ŽÇČÔ, 16 Mars 2020 : Roland prĂ©sente les dĂ©fis que le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme allemand peut crĂ©er dans cette crise.

India / Inde

Academic Journal Articles / Articles de revues académiques

  • Prakash Chandra Jha, “”, Indian Journal of Public Administration, 6 February 2022: The article argues that the pandemic has also brought to the fore the importance of India’s grassroots level of government, though, unfortunately, their potential remains underutilised. 
  • Dhrvin N. Dosani, Tarkesh J. Molia, Vikash Kumar Upadhyay, , Law and World, No. 18, 2021: In this article, the focus is the constitutionality of the guidelines issued by Centre during the pandemic and the interpretation laid down by the Judiciary in regard to similar incidents.
  • Himangshu Kumar, Manikantha Nataraj & Srikanta Kundu, “”, The European Journal of Development Research, September 2021: This paper examines the relative impact of state- and central-level social-distancing policies on changes in mobility, comparing the periods before and after the national lockdown.
  • Abhijit Pathak and Apurba Kumar Chattopadhyay, “”, International Journal of Pluralism and Economic Education, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2021: In this paper, authors find that the national lockdown measures have weakened the states financially, making them financially more dependent on the centre.
  • Sumit Ganguly, “”, The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 43 No. 4, 2020: Author analyzes why India’s response to the pandemic has been problematic, and identifies the lack of state and central coordination as one of the reasons.

Books & Book Chapters / Livres & chapitres d’ouvrages collectifs

  • Pritam Singh, ‘’, in Sukhpal Singh, Lakhwinder Singh, and Kamal Vatta, eds, Covid-19 Pandemic and Economic Development: Emerging Public Policy Lessons for Indian Punjab, (Singapore: Springer Singapore, 2021): The author argues that new perspectives are necessary to overcome the limitations faced by state governments within India’s federal capitalist economy within the global scenario of climate crisis and post-Covid economic crisis in mind. These limitations can be overcome, partially by extending the policy discourse usually associated with state government power to include the power of other civil society institutions, and partially by using the full potential of what a state government can do within federal limits.

Research Papers & Reports / Documents de recherche & Rapports

  • Niranjan Sahoo, Ambar Kumar Ghosh, “”, Observer Research Foundation Occasional Paper No. 322, June 2021: This paper examines federal India’s own experience in the past 18 months. The aim is to uncover the nature and dimensions of India’s pandemic response, and the obstacles it has had to hurdle given the challenges posed by its federal design. The paper outlines lessons for future crises.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • D K Srivastava, Muralikrishna Bharadwaj, Tarrung Kapur, Ragini Trehan, “”, Economic & Political Weekly, Vol. 57, No. 6, 2022: This paper focuses on the identification of the key determinants of the interstate differences in the incidence of COVID-19. It finds that it is best to have a dynamic, transparent, and explicit formula for the interstate allocation of vaccines under conditions of deficient supply. This is ideally handled by an objective expert body
  • Ramanath Jha, , Observer Research Foundation, 27 November 2021: The author argues that the pandemic proved that the Centre and states have different roles but need to work closely during a crisis, instead of adopting a centralised approach.
  • Niranjan Sahoo, Ambar Kumar Ghosh, , East Asia Forum, 5 November 2021: Authors explain how Indian federalism collapsed at the second wave of the pandemic.
  • Aastha Rathi, Saumya Avasthi, R P Pradhan, “”, Centre for Public Policy Research, 19 October 2021: This short essay shows how Indian cooperative federalism was tested by case studies from 2020-2021, the nationwide lockdown and the vaccination drive.
  • Ushashi Datta, Adwiteya Grover, “”, Rule of Law Journal, Vol. 2, 2020 (published in July 2021): This paper seeks to evaluate the unitary actions taken by the Centre in a federal setup and to analyse the alternative steps it should have undertaken to protect and preserve the socio-political fabric during the initial days of the COVID-19 crisis in India. The objective of the paper is to gauge the impact of partisan politics on India’s federal structure and on the state machinery amidst the coronavirus crisis.
  • Deanna Senko, “”, Forum of Federations Blog, 11 June 2021: The author analyzes some developments in the governance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Thulasi K. Raj, “”, Verfassungsblog, 26 February 2021: The author underlines the three features that defined the Indian response to COVID-19: lack of transparency, executive monopoly (including the centralization trend), and suppression of dissent.
  • Varun Kannan, “”, Indian Constitutional Law and Philosophy Blog, 8 September 2020: Kannan examines the legal arguments of the central government that it has no legal obligation to compensate the State Governments for the shortfall in revenue that arose after the implementation of the GST based on the claim that the shortfall is the result of the pandemic.
  • Kevin James, “”, Indian Federalism Perspectives, September 2020: James argues that India’s COVID­19 response demonstrates that the potential of its multi-level polity remains under­utilised.
  • Ragini Agarwal, “”, Law School Policy Review, 8 August 2020: Agarwal explains how intergovernmental cooperation works and should work in Indian federalism.
  • Anubhav Khamroi, “”, Law School Policy Review, 8 August 2020: Khamroi explores how India’s Centre-State relationships have been working out, during this state of de-facto emergency and questions if the States have any power to lift the lockdown.
  • Tejas Popat, “”, Law School Policy Review, 8 August 2020: Popat argues that Union Territories’ rightful status is to be treated at par with States under the Constitution and that their exclusion from the Finance Commission puts this in danger.
  • Anirudh Burman, “”, East Asia Forum, 28 July 2020: The author explains how the pandemic has enabled the central government to implement far-reaching reforms in areas, such as agriculture, traditionally considered to be the domain of states.
  • Yashasvi Jain, Hetal Doshi, “”, IACL-AIDC Blog, 7 July 2020: This article uses the example of India’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic to discuss the role of courts when the executive falls short of its duty, specifically due to lack of coordination in multi-level governance.
  • Abhishek Manu Singhvi “”, The Times of India Blogs, 26 June 2020: Singhvi explains how federalism became gradually important in Indian constitutional order and how COVID-19 had a centralizing effect that needs to be strictly scrutinized by the Supreme Court.
  • Wilfried Swenden, ””, UACES Territorial Politics Blog, 19 June 2020: Swenden explains how the way Modi government handled the crisis appears to have intensified the already existing centralizing tendencies.
  • Anindita Mukherjee, “Symposium: COVID-19 in India: Examining the Structural Enablers of Over-Centralisation: & ”, IACL-AIDC Blog, 4 June 2020: In this two-part post, Mukherjee describes India’s response to COVID-19 by focusing on the dynamic between the Union and the States. She explains the constitutional and statutory structures that enable consolidation of power at the Union level as well as existing systems of accountability and their response to state action during this emergency.
  • Akshay Aurora, “”, IACL-AIDC Blog, 2 June 2020: Aurora searches to answer if the central government of India is usurping powers not vested in it.
  • Anmol Jain & Prannv Dhawan, “”, IACL-AIDC Blog, 21 May 2020: Authors explain how India’s response to COVID-19 shows the growth of centralising tendencies. They invite the Indian government to honor the constitutional requirements of co-operative governance, participatory governance and critical engagement.
  • Goutham Shivshankar, “”, Admin Law Blog, 19 May 2020: Shivshankar criticizes several authors who question the applicability of Disaster Management Act, which transfers significant powers to the central government, in the current pandemic.
  • Devansh Kaushnik, “”, Admin Law Blog, 5 May 2020: Kaushnik analyses the legality of the governmental response from an administrative law perspective while shedding light on measures taken by the State governments and their legality.
  • Gautam Bhatia, “”, Verfassungsblog, 13 April 2020: Bhatia explains the legal framework of India’s response to COVID-19, which involves multiple levels of government.
  • Kevin James, “”, VIDHI Centre for Legal Policy, 3 April 2020: Author is arguing for a clearer separation of vertical powers and criticizes the centralizing effects of COVID-19 measures taken by the central government.
  • Rekha Saxena, “”, Forum of Federations Blog, April 2020: Saxena details how the Indian federal system has worked closely together through a collaboration between the states and central government in a broad effort to flatten the curve and preserve healthcare in this populous country.

Working Papers / Documents de travail

  • Himangshu Kumar, Manikantha Nataraj, and Srikanta Kundu, “”, SSRN, 9 September 2020: This paper examines and compares the relative impact of state and central level lockdown policies on changes in mobility.
  • Ramdas Menon, “”, Melbourne Forum 2020 Discussion Papers, September 2020: Menon highlights how the multi-level government of India responded to the COVID-19 crisis.

Opinions

  • MG Devasahayam, “”, The News Minute, 8 September 2021: The author argues that the root cause of the mismanagement of the pandemic in India is practicing top-down and coercive, instead of bottom-up and cooperative, federalism.
  • Karla Jones, Varij Shah, “”, American Legislative Exchange Council, 6 August 2021: The article claims that the lack of cooperation in India’s tackling of the pandemic deteriorated the crisis.
  • “”, The Hindu, 18 June 2021: The article quotes different professionals and academics who claim that pandemic has exposed limitations of centralised decision-making.
  • “”, The Indian Express, 8 June 2021: The editorial gives an overview of the tensions between states and the centre and affirms the need for cooperative federalism.
  • Yamini Aiyar, “”, Bloomberg Quint, 2 June 2021: The author explains how the Goods and Services Tax regime, once praised as an example of cooperative federalism, is under increasing pressure, partially due to COVID-19 crisis.
  • Kalyani Shankar, “”, National Herald India, 1 June 2021: The author argues that all political parties that control different state governments need to rise above their electoral mindsets and work together.
  • Rajrishi Singhal, “”, Mint, 24 May 2021: The article explains how pandemic has made it urgent to review how the Centre and states share responsibilities of governance in India.
  • Shoaib Daniyal, “”, Scroll, 19 May 2021: The article explains how the Centre has retreated almost to the point where it has gone missing.
  • Arun Ram, “”, The Times of India, 15 May 2021: The author explains several different challenges that Indian federalism is facing during the last wave of the pandemic.
  • R Srinivasan, “”, The Hindu Business Line, 12 May 2021: The article documents the crisis of cooperative federalism in India.
  • Akhil V. Menon, Rassal Janardhanan A., “”, The Leaflet, 11 May 2021: Authors analyse the crisis from the distinct prisms of the constitutional guarantee of the right to healthcare, the financial imbalance in the relations between the centre and the states, and the Supreme Court’s role in supervising the management of this crisis, and offer suggestions for strengthening institutional resilience.
  • Radhika Ramaseshan, “”, The Tribune, 28 April 2021: The author explains the tensions between the centre and the states and shows how this tension has shaped the Indian response to the pandemic.
  • Thulasi K. Raj & Kaleeswaam Raj, “”, The Hindu, 26 April 2021: Authors argue that the need for a uniform judicial order across India is unwarranted in COVID-19-related cases.
  • Ash Narain Roy, “”, Modern Diplomacy, 24 April 2021: The author explains how federalism is in danger in India as COVID crisis worsens.
  • Kaunain Sheriff M, “”, The Indian Express, 28 October 2020: The author explains how the debates about the vaccine distribution already challenges the Indian cooperative federalism.
  • Rushali Saha, “”, South Asian Voices, 19 October 2020: Saha explains how India’s centralized and yet uncoordinated response to the pandemic became a failure.
  • Uday Shankar, “” Bar and Bench, 13 June 2020: The essay examines the relevance of intergovernmental relations (specifically amongst states) in the strengthening of the federal framework in India.
  • Ronojoy Sen, “”, The Wire, 11 May 2020: Sen argues that the pandemic’s impact might be felt most in the expansion and reach of the state and the centralization of power.
  • Ashit Kumar Srivastava, Deval Garg, “”, The Statesman, 18 June 2020: Authors argue that the use of tracing apps separately by the Union government and some states raises important questions on privacy.
  • Rahul Sonpimple, “”, Karvaan India, 17 June 2020: Sonpimple argues that the ruling party’s (BJP) idea of ‘powerful Centre’ is embedded into the age-old upper-caste supremacy and not into the constitutional principles of responsible and robust Centre.
  • “”, The Telegraph India, 2 June 2020: The Editorial Board of the newspaper outlines the significant issues about the tension that arose between the central government and the state of Maharashtra.
  • Marya Shakil, “”, News 18, 31 May 2020: Shakil provides several examples to explain the effects of COVID-19 crisis on cooperation amongst states and the central government.
  • Kabir S. Ghosh, “”, The Hindu Business Line, 25 May 2020: Author points out to the centralizing trend in federalism and explains how the fiscal demands the current pandemic have put extraordinary pressures on State finances.
  • Vignesh Karthik K.R. and Saumya Gupta, “”, The Wire, 05 May 2020: Authors claim that a shift from a centralized approach to the idea of federalism is necessary to fight the pandemic.
  • Niranjan Sahoo, “”, Observer Research Foundation, 30 April 2020: Sahoo claims that India’s cooperative federalism is being tested and praises federal system’s ability to tackle the crisis.
  • Parth Maniktala, “”, Outlook, 27 April 2020: Maniktala warns against the weakening of states’ power to cope with pandemic due to the effects of concentrating a majority of the resources in a Fund controlled by the central government.

News Articles / Article de presse

  • Shruti Menon, “”, BBC News, 22 June 2021: The article explains, amongst other points, how the vaccine procurement procedure changed and its implications on intergovernmental relations.
  • “”, ANI, 1 June 2021: The article reports Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s remarks on the procurement of COVID vaccines by States on their own during the ongoing pandemic and his demand from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide free vaccines to States for beneficiaries of all age groups.
  • “”, Business Standard, 1 June 2021: The news article report Kerala CM Vijayan’s letter to non-BJP PMs regarding the necessity of cooperative federalism for the vaccine procurement.
  • Moushumi Das Gupta, “”, The Print, 21 April 2021: The journalist reports how Indian federalism’s failure to cooperate effectively contributed to India’s deadly second wave.
  • “”, The Hindu, 6 March 2021: The article reports how central government intervened to alleviate the crisis in Punjab.
  • “”, The Quint, 11 January 2021: The article reports Modi’s remarks on vaccination policies and federalism’s impact on this policy.
  • “”, The Federal, 16 June 2020: PM Narendra Modi makes the headlines in India as he claims that India has served as an example of cooperative federalism in the fight against COVID-19.

Other Sources / Autres sources

  • N. K. Singh, “”, NCAER 18th India Policy Forum Lecture, 15 July 2021: The lecture gives an overview of the Indian federalism, explain the challenges that it faced with reference to the Constitution, and makes several recommendations for the future.

Italy / Italie

Academic Journal Articles / Articles de revues académiques

  • Fernanda Nicola, Gino Scaccia, “”, Administrative Law Review, Vol 73, No.1, 2021: The article focuses on the weaknesses and the strengths of Italian response with a section on the effects of regional cooperation.
  • Giliberto Capano, “” Policy and Society, Vol. 29, No. 3 (2020): This paper analyses the policy dynamics of the first four months of management of the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy and discusses the implications of Italian regionalism for health policy.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Cristina Fasone, “”, Verfassungsblog, 8 March 2021: Looking back at the first year of pandemic, Fasone identifies a crucial problem of the Italian management of the disease and the related economic and social crises: the lack of loyal cooperation with regard to the relationship amongst the different levels of government.
  • Elisabeth Alber, “”, UACES Territorial Politics Blog, 29 May 2020: Alber discusses how and by which instruments central and subnational authorities have (re)acted to the crisis. Through her reflections, she engages into the broader debate on what most recently has been labelled Italy’s “federal” regionalism by pointing out the lack of intergovernmental coordination.
  • Francesco Palermo, “”, Forum of Federations Blog, May 2020: Palermo explains the centralizing effects of the Italy’s response to COVID-19 and how the tensions between regions and central government might affect the governance even after the end of the crisis.

Kenya / Kenya

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Rosa B. Osoro, “”, Forum of Federations Blog, May 2020: Osoro explains how the national government has strictly centralized the overall response process. She argues that there is need for concerted and deliberate intergovernmental approaches.

Malaysia / Malaysie

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Ratna Rueban Balasubramaniam, “”, Verfassungsblog, 2 March 2021: The blog post gives an overview of the pandemic measures throughout the first year of the crisis by underlining how the state-federal coordination grew weaker.
  • Jay Jay Denis, “”, JDD Blog, 10 December 2020: Denis explains the crisis that Malaysian federalism has endured since March 2020.
  • Tricia Yeoh, “”, Forum of Federations Blog, May 2020: Yeoh lays out how Malaysia used the pandemic response to weigh a more centralized approach and how that played out.

Mexico / Mexique

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Eugenio Velasco, “”, Verfassungsblog, 25 February 2021: This blog post offers an overview of the measures taken in Mexico with a brief mention of sub-national authorities’ role.
  • Samuel Jouault, Gilles Polian, Bernard Tallet, « », COVIDAM : la Covid-10 aux AmĂ©riques, 24 septembre 2020 : Les auteurs dĂ©montrent la diversitĂ© des rĂ©alitĂ©s rĂ©gionales dans le contexte de la pandĂ©mie en Mexique Ă  partir des exemples des deux Ă©tats du Chiapas et du Yucatan.
  • Andrea Pozas-Loyo, “”, I-CONNECT Blog, 25 June 2020: Pozas-Loyo explains the important events of the crisis, including the ones that influence the separation of competences, and reflects on possible effects of the pandemic on Mexico.
  • Mauricio Guim, “”, The Regulatory Review, 27 May 2020: Guim explains that Mexico was late to take measures and that many states were forced to fill this void.
  • Laura Flamand, “”, Forum of Federations Blog: Flamand explains the various responses from all level of government in Mexico to the COVID pandemic.

News Articles / Article de presse

  • Benjamin Russell, “”, American Quarterly, 21 April 2020: Russell reports how governors became important actors in Mexico during this pandemic.

Nepal / NĂ©pal

Research Papers & Reports / Documents de recherche & Rapports

  • Aline Coudouel, Peter Darvas, Sangeeta Goyal, Ali Hamandi, Soyesh Lakhey, Faraz Salahuddin, Maya Sherpa, Jyoti Maya Pandey, “”, The World Bank, 2021: This public expenditure review (PER) provides a diagnostic of the challenges facing Nepal’s human development sectors as they strive to improve human capital in a federal context. It makes recommendations which will be critical for Nepal to address the structural issues in human development, which have recently been highlighted by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. 
  • Anurag Acharya, Ashlea Brewer, Swechchha Dahal, and Ashim Pandey, “”, Saferworld, July 2020: This learning paper explores the interrelated nature of governance and conflict resolution in Nepal based on a data of over ten years. It also discusses the risks posed by COVID-19.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Nasala Maharjan, “”, Nepal Economic Forum, 7 September 2020: The author looks at how the responses to the public health crisis were coordinated at different levels of government.
  • Michael Callen, Rohini Pande, Trilochan Pokharel, Deepak Singhania, “”, IGC Blog, 27 August 2020: This post focuses on local governments in Nepal and shows how mismatches between COVID-19 caseloads and funding can arise, and suggests an approach to close such gaps.
  • Iain Payne, “”, Asian Legal Conversations - COVID-19, 10 July 2020: Payne argues that the governmental response in Nepal has brought three observations on Nepali federalism: incomplete federalisation, weak intergovernmental relations, and emerging power centres rival to the capital.
  • Bijay Chhetri, “”, International Alert, 25 June 2020: Chhetri explains how this crisis will affect Nepal, including its federal order.
  • BK Dhrubaraj, “”, The Asia Foundation, 10 June 2020: Dhrubaraj explains how the pandemic tested Nepal’s federalism and how the country’s federal structure has risen to this challenge.
  • Prakriti Nepal, Amol Acharya, Nicola Nixon, “”, DevPolicyBlog, 9 July 2020: Authors explains how Nepal’s fragile federal system dealt with the pandemic and how Zoom was used for coordination and consultation with local governments.
  • Iain Payne, George Varughese, “” IACL-IADC Blog, 26 March 2020: Payne and Varughese raise their concerns about the probable centralizing effects of the response to this crisis.
  • Surendra Pandey, “”, Forum of Federations Blog, April 2020: Pandey describes Nepal has grappled with the COVID pandemic during their transition period to federalism.

Working Papers / Documents de travail

  • Tara Prasad Kharel, “”, Research Gate, September 2021: This paper aims to analyze the constitutional and legal provision of public health in Nepal. Furthermore, this paper tries to analyze the role of local governments on COVID-19 management and tries to compare its constitutional jurisdiction elaborating the importance of the local governments in federal structure.
  • Deepak Chaudhary, “”, Academia.edu, 2021: This PowerPoint presentation explores the role of local government in tackling Covid and discusses the challenges through analytical aspects and contents of review.
  • Budhi Karki, “”, Melbourne Forum 2020 Discussion Papers, September 2020: This paper highlights how the multi-level government of Nepal responded to the COVID-19 crisis.

Opinions

  • Kushal Pokharel, “”, The Kathmandu Post, 22 September 2021: The author points out to the success of local governments in the pandemic response.
  • Sajal Mani Dhital, “”, OnlineKhabar, 21 June 2021: Dhital claims that newly adopted federal system failed to contain the pandemic as well.

News Articles / Article de presse

  • Anil Giri, “”, The Kathmandu Post, 26 April 2021: The author explains how the powerlessness of sub-national authorities resulted in the failure of federalism’s response to the pandemic.

Other Sources / Autres sources

  • "”, Nepali Times, 6 October 2020: In this interview, Professor Rohini Pande explains how and why subnational units in Nepal were not prepared for the pandemic.

Nigeria / Nigéria

Academic Journal Articles / Articles de revues académiques

  • Ernest Toochi Aniche, Victor Chidubem Iwuoha ,Ikenna Mike Alumona, Felicia Osondu Okwueze, , Politikon, 16 December 2021: The objective of this study is to examine how the conflicting nature of intergovernmental relations is implicated in the level of implementation of containment policies/strategies towards the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria. Based on content analysis and the functional-process theory, the article argues that the cantankerous/imploding disconnects between the federal and state governments–obscuring the making and implementation of harmonised and coordinated pandemic containment policies–constitute key impediment to the fight against Covid-19 in Nigeria.
  • Ernest Toochi Aniche, Victor Chidubem Iwuoha & Kelechukwu Charles Obi, “”, Review of African Political Economy, 2021: This briefing explores how the administrative fight against Covid-19 in Nigeria, particularly the conflictual political economy of federalism in this mono-product/oil-dependent economy, has shaped the making and implementation of virus containment policies and strategies. The analysis shows that the disconnects between the federal and state governments have blocked a harmonised and coordinated containment response.
  • Ekoh Livinus Akajife, Dr Nnamani Desmond Okechukwu, Dr. O.A.U. Nnedum, “”, Nnadiebube Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2020: This paper examines the nexus between the global onslaught of the enraging pathogens and the leadership challenges still embedded in Nigeria’s federalism. Therefore, the general objective of the paper is to study Covid-19 pandemic, federalism and Nigeria’s leadership challenges.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Dele Babaloa, “”, UACES Territorial Politics, 22 May 2020: Author argues how Nigerian federalism mostly rose to the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis with cooperative federalism, but also explains minor conflicts between the two levels of government.
  • Lukman Abdulrauf, “”, Verfassungsblog, 18 May 2020: Abdulrauf discusses restrictions on human rights, including the suspension of inter and intra state movements, due to the state of emergency as well as the controversial the Control of Infectious Diseases Bill 2020.
  • Julius O. Ihonvbere, “”, Forum of Federations Blog: Ihonvbere discusses Nigeria’s response to COVID-19 and explains how it shows central government’s dependence on local authorities.

Working Papers / Documents de travail

  • Remi Okeke, “”, Advance, 20 April 2020: Okeke proposes to restructure Nigerian state by creating more states for post-COVID-19 period.

Pakistan

Academic Journal Articles / Articles de revues académiques

  • David A. Thirlby, “”, European Journal of Law Reform, No. 4, 2020: This article argues that despite the weakening of the devolution process in Pakistan due to the pandemic, the situation is more complex than it seems.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Shaheera Syed, Nadia Tariq-Ali, “”, Verfassungsblog, 9 April 2021: The authors assess the pandemic response in Pakistan through the lens of federalism and multi-level governance.
  • Hassan Javid, Sameen M. Ali, Umair Javed, “”, LSE South Asia Centre Blog, 3 April 2020: Authors explain how the country’s ability to effectively deal with the virus will be impeded by tensions between the central and provincial governments, a lack of state capacity, and fiscal constraints.
  • Saleem Mandviwalla, “”, Forum of Federations Blog: Mandviwalla documents how recent constitutional changes gave provinces the ability to react swiftly to the pandemic in the health sphere while the federal government flexed their muscle to aid the economy.

Working Papers / Documents de travail

  • Yasser Kureshi, “”, Melbourne Forum 2020 Discussion Papers, September 2020: This paper highlights how the multi-level government of Pakistan responded to the COVID-19 crisis.

News Articles / Article de presse

  • “”, Business Standard, 17 March 2021: The article reports the remarks of a Pakistani senator on the state of federalism and democracy in Pakistan.
  • Nasir Iqbal, “” Dawn, 5 May 2020: Supreme Court of Pakistan expressed dismay over shutting down of business activities by the provincial governments during ongoing proceedings.

The Philippines / Les Philippines

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Maria Ela L. Atienza, “”, Verfassungsblog, 26 April 2021: This post gives an overview of the legal response to the pandemic in Philippines and presents the regional and local governments’ role.

News Articles / Article de presse

  • Teresita Tanhueco-Tumapon, “”, The Manila Times, 8 April 2021: The author summarizes different works on federalism in Phillipines and COVID.
  • Azer Parrocha, “”, Philippine Canadian Inquirer, 29 November 2020: Journalist reports Former Chief Justice’s speech supporting a federal system in the Philippines.

Russia / Russie

Academic Journal Articles / Articles de revues académiques

  • Paul Chaisty, Christopher J. Gerry, Stephen Whitefield, , Post-Soviet Affairs, 7 December 2021: Authors analyze data from a national probability sample of Russians conducted following the first wave of the pandemic in July/August 2020 and find that Putin’s blame-deflecting strategy to subnational authorities appears to have been broadly but not entirely successful
  • A. Yushkov, M. Alexeev, “”, Journal of the New Economic Association, Vol. 51, No. 3, 2021 (Article in Russian, abstract in English): In this article, authors analyze the structure of federal fiscal support to the regions and compare the largest intergovernmental transfers in 2020 and 2019 by their type (unconditional transfers, subsidies, subventions, and other transfers) to understand how the federal government responded to the pandemic’s challenges.
  • Marat Salikov, “”, BRICS Law Journal, Vol. 7, No. 4, 2020: The article considers the phenomenon of federal relations in modern Russia from a theoretical and normative point of view. It also includes a subsection on the impact of COVID-19 on these relations.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Krill Koroteev, “”, Verfassungsblog, 1 March 2021: The author explains how the federal government used the pandemic to strengthen its authority while leaving the implementation of measures to sub-state authorities.
  • Elena A. Kremyanskaya, “”, UACES Territorial Blog, 6 July 2020: Author explains how COVID-19 changed the dynamics of federalism in Russia.
  • Paul Kalinichenko, Elizaveta Moskovkina, “”, Verfassungsblog, 23 May 2020: Kalinichenko and Moskovkina discuss Russia’s response to COVID-19 and explains the shift of responsibility for the consequences of the emergency from the President and his Administration, to the Federal Government and regional authorities.
  • Patrick Kennelly, “”, Lawfare Blog, 15 May 2020: Kennelly discusses Russia’s struggle with COVID-19 and focuses on the fact that Putin deferred to governors and mayors for a solution.
  • Galina Kurlyandskaya, “”, Forum of Federations Blog, May 2020: Kurlyandskaya explains the impact of the COVID crisis on the Russian federation and focuses on “top-down” approach of federal government.

Working Papers / Documents de travail

  • Dmitrii Kofanov, Vladimir Kozlov, Alexander Libman, Nikita Zakharov, “”, SSRN, 9 November 2020: This paper investigates the political determinants (such as approaching constitutional referenda or regional elections) of manipulating COVID-19 mortality in Russian Federation.

Opinions

  • Paul Goble, “”, Euraisa Review, 28 December 2020: Based on Pavel Luzin’s research, Goble explains that the pandemic will further increase the center’s power on regions because regions do not have enough resources to fulfill their responsibilities related to the pandemic.
  • Fred Weir, “”, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 June 2020: Special correspondent explains how Putin is deferring responsibility to local leaders in the management of reopening.

South Africa / Afrique du Sud

Academic Journal Articles / Articles de revues académiques

  • Geo Quinot, “”, Administrative Law Review, Vol 73, No. 1, 2021.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Nico Steytler, “”, Forum of Federations Blog: Author explains how this crisis illustrated the centralized nature of South African federalism and argues for a more differentiated response for the exit strategy and economic recovery.

Spain / Espagne

Academic Journal Articles / Articles de revues académiques

  • Mikel Erkoreka, “”, Ekonomiaz, No. 100, 2021: This article analyzes the fiscal and budgetary impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the public finances of the Basque Country during 2020 and evaluates the performance and sufficiency of the system of fiscal federalism regulated by the Basque Economic Agreement. 
  • Marc Sanjaume-Calvet, Mireia Grau Creus, “”, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, Vol. 27, No. 3, 2021: This paper analyses the relationship between the COVID-19 crisis and multinationalism in Spain from two complementary angles. First, it provides an overview on how the multinational and decentralized character of Spanish territorial politics shapes the response to the crisis. Second, it analyses the effects of the pandemic on Catalan self-determination demands through a brief description of parties, public opinion and governmental reactions.

Research Papers & Reports / Documents de recherche & Rapports

  • Fernando JimĂ©nez SĂĄnchez est, “” [.pdf], Fondation Robert Schuman, April 2020: Author provides a limited and provisional analysis of the impact of COVID-19 related measures on the system of government and highlights the lack of coordination between regions.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Alicia Cebada Romero, Elvira Dominguez Redondo, “”, Verfassungsblog, 26 February 2021: This post focuses on the two different approaches that the central Spanish government adopted in the two waves of the pandemic.
  • Patricia GarcĂ­a Majado, “”, Verfassungsblog, 11 October 2020: Majado explains the legal issues regarding the Court’s refusal to ratify a perimeter closure issued by the Community of Madrid.
  • Mireia Grau-Creus, Marc Sanjaume-Calvet,” ” UACES Territorial Politics Blog, 26 May 2020: Authors argue that this crisis has revealed the structurally centralized features of the Spanish intergovernmental system and, in extension, of the whole territorial institutional system.
  • Susana de la Sierra, “”, The Regulatory Review, 20 May 2020: Author explains the challenges surfaced due to COVID-19 and mentions the centralizing effect of the measures taken by the Spanish government.
  • Alba Nogueira LĂłpez, Gabriel DomĂ©nech Pascual, “”, Verfassungsblog, 30 March 2020: Authors look at major legal issues related to COVID-19, including the question of whether the central government should have powers devolved to better manage the crisis power grab of the central government.
  • Ayoze Corujo, Acaymo Viera, “”, UACES Territorial Politics, 19 May 2020: Authors focus specifically on the relationship between the Canary Islands and Spain while explaining how and why the central government is adopting territorially different responses for the exit strategy.
  • Miguel Ángel Presno Linera, “”, Verfassungsblog, 13 May 2020: Linera outlines the legal foundations of the State of Alarm declared by the Spanish government and explains how Spain’s decentralized structure fits into this frame.
  • Mario Kölling, “”, Forum of Federations Blog, April 2020: Kölling describes Spain’s healthcare system and the rapid federal response to the pandemic.

Working Papers / Documents de travail

  • Sandra LeĂłn, Amuitz Garmendia Madariaga, “”, SocArXiv Papers, 1 June 2020: Authors argue that in search of a more effective response against the threat, citizens coordinate their preferences around the centralization of authority boundaries in the federation. They test this argument using an on-line survey experiment in Spain, a country where the threat caused by COVID-19 has operated on top of non-negligible internal threats.

News Articles / Article de presse

  • Sandrine Model, « », Le Monde, 12 avril 2021 : Model explique comment le royaume s’est dirigĂ© vers un modĂšle de dĂ©centralisation encadrĂ©e pour faire face Ă  la pandĂ©mie.
  • Javier Galan, “”, El Pais, 31 March 2021: The article explains the new law adopted by the central government and the resistance by some of the regional governments.

Switzerland / Suisse

Academic Journal Articles / Articles de revues académiques

  • Markus Schwaninger, Lukas Schoenenberger,, Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Vol. 39, No. 1, December 2021: Authors studies crisis management based on the case of the Swiss Federation through four waves of the pandemic. The article concentrates on three research questions: (1) How is the management of the Covid-19-Crisis organized in Switzerland? (2) How effective is this organization in coping with the dynamics of emergency? (3) What lessons can be learned for the design of a crisis management in the future?
  • Yasmine Willi, Gero Nischik, Dominik Braunschweiger, Marco PĂŒtz, “”, Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, Vol. 111, No. 3, 2020: Discussing examples from Switzerland, the article illustrates how policy responses to COVID‐19 reflect the uncertain and experimental forms of governance that have emerged.
  • Felix Uhlmann, Eva Scheifele, “”, The Theory and Practice of Legislation, Vol. 8, No. 1-2, 2020: The paper focuses on the federal legislature while also addressing how federalism shaped the legislative response.

Research Papers & Reports / Documents de recherche & Rapports

  • Lukas Schmid, CĂ©line Neuenschwander, Nina Kalbermatter, , Avenir Suisse, 15 December 2021: Authors explain that to be better prepared for future crises there will have to be more thorough crisis preparedness, clearer responsibilities, and efforts to disentangle federalist structures in Switzerland.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Lukas Schmid,  «  », Avenir Suisse, 3 fĂ©vrier 2022 : La protection de la population en temps de crise dĂ©pend de la rĂ©partition claire des responsabilitĂ©s entre les Ă©tats-majors, les organisations d’intervention d’urgence, les acteurs de la santĂ© publique et la protection civile. Peu de lois cantonales sur la protection de la population sont structurĂ©es pour que les responsabilitĂ©s puissent ĂȘtre dĂ©finies selon la situation. Les lois devraient s’orienter sur le modĂšle d’escalade Ă  trois niveaux et distinguer diffĂ©rentes phases d’évĂ©nements.
  • Lukas Schmid, « », Avenir Suisse, 17 juin 2021 : L’auteur explique que malgrĂ© les dĂ©sordres apparus en lien avec le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme lors de la crise du Covid-19, L’espoir d’une rĂ©forme imminente s’estompe de plus en plus, ce qui risque d’amplifier les crispations au niveau fĂ©dĂ©ral.
  • Jan von Overbeck, « », Le Temps Blog, 11 mars 2021 : L’auteur explique en quoi le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme est limitĂ© pour rĂ©pondre Ă  cette crise en comparant la situation actuelle Ă  la pandĂ©mie de 1918.
  • Felix Uhlmann, Odile Ammann, “”, Verfassungsblog, 1 March 2021: Authors explains a year of COVID measures as they also underline the centralizing effect of the crisis.
  • Lukas Schmid, Pascal Lago, « », Avenir Suisse, 5 fĂ©vrier 2021 : Dans cette analyse, les auteurs formulent huit recommandations pour amĂ©liorer la gestion des crises par la ConfĂ©dĂ©ration.
  • Haig Simonian, “”, Avenir Suisse, 23 December 2020: Simonian argues that the country requires better co-operation and mutual information flows between different levels of government to develop a coherent pandemic policy.
  • Eva Maria Belser, Simon Mazidi, “”, UACES Territorial Politics, 2 June 2020: Belser and Mazidi explain how the crisis affected Swiss federalism by focusing on the three-stage model of the Federal Epidemics Act.
  • Odile Ammann,” ”, The Regulatory Review, 29 May 2020: Ammann explains how Swiss federalism faced regulatory uncertainties in dealing with COVID-19.
  • Felix Uhlmann, “”, Verfassungsblog, 23 March 2020: Uhlmann explains the legal background and early-stage problems regarding the response to COVID-19 as well as its impact on federalism.
  • Hans Altherr, “”, Forum of Federations Blog, April 2020: Altherr looks at what Switzerland has done to date.

Opinions

  • Vincent Bourquin, « », Le Temps, 17 fĂ©vrier 2022 : AprĂšs l’annonce du ConsĂ©il fĂ©dĂ©ral pour la levĂ©e des mesures, cet article analyse le rĂŽle du fĂ©dĂ©ralisme dans la gestion de la pandĂ©mie.
  • Antoine Menuisier, , Watson, 13 dĂ©cembre 2021: L’auteur commente sur la confĂ©rence de presse donnĂ©e conjointement le 13 dĂ©cembre Ă  Berne par le conseiller fĂ©dĂ©ral Alain Berset, en charge des questions sanitaires, et le prĂ©sident de la ConfĂ©rence des directeurs cantonaux de la santĂ©, Lukas Engelberger, Ă  propos du Covid.
  • Christoph A. Schaltegger, Mark Schelker, « », La Vie Ă©conomique, 26 avril 2021 : Les auteurs adoptent une approche mitigĂ©e contre les critiques qui blĂąment le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme.
  • Olivier DelacrĂ©taz, « », 24 Heures, 2 mars 2021 : L’auteur analyse le «Sonderbund des terrasses» voulu par quelques cantons.
  • Lise Bailat, « », 24 Heures, 19 fĂ©vrier 2021 : L’auteure soutient que le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme suisse n’est toujours pas prĂȘt pour une troisiĂšme vague.
  • Christoph A. Schaltegger, Mark Schelker et Yannick Schmutz, « », Le Temps, 25 janvier 2021 : Les auteurs soutiennent que la crise COVID-19 rĂ©vĂšle deux problĂšmes classiques du fĂ©dĂ©ralisme, et qu’il faut en revenir Ă  un fĂ©dĂ©ralisme responsabilisĂ©.
  • Philippe Bach, « », Le Courrier, 13 janvier 2021 : Bach fait une analyse des derniĂšres mesures annoncĂ©es par le Conseil fĂ©dĂ©ral.
  • Yvette Jaggi, « », Domaine Public, 22 dĂ©cembre 2020 : Jaggi soutient que le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme suisse rĂ©siste bien au stresstest de la pandĂ©mie.
  • Marc-Olivier Buffat, « », 24 Heures, 2 Novembre 2020 : L’auteur explique pourquoi l’abandon des pouvoirs cantonaux au profit du Conseil fĂ©dĂ©ral est regrettable.
  • Hans-Georg Betz, “”, Fair Observer, 27 October 2020: Betz argues that Swiss federalism has performed poorly during the pandemic, but there are alternative ways to handle this crisis even within federal systems.
  • Laetitia Desfontaine, « », Dossier publics, 8 septembre 2020 : L’auteure se concentre sur les frictions entre les autoritĂ©s cantonales et la ConfĂ©dĂ©ration mises en lumiĂšre par la crise sanitaire.
  • Pierre Yves-Bosshard, « », Domaine Public, 11 avril 2020 : Bosshard explique comment la rĂ©partition des compĂ©tences ont changĂ© au cours de l’histoire de la ConfĂ©dĂ©ration en matiĂšre de la lutte contre les Ă©pidĂ©mies.
  • FrĂ©dĂ©ric Ney, « », Heidi.News, 09 Avril 2020 : L’avocat s’interroge sur l’exĂ©cution des mesures prises au niveau fĂ©dĂ©ral par les cantons et demande si ce temps d’exception justifierait la mainmise de pouvoir par le gouvernement fĂ©dĂ©ral.

News Articles / Article de presse

  • , Le Matin, 26 dĂ©cembre 2021: L’article rĂ©sume un interview rĂ©cent de Guy Parmelin, le PrĂ©sident de la ConfĂ©dĂ©ration.
  • , Swiss Federalism, November 2021: The article reports on the results of the last referendum of 2021 on COVID measures.
  • « », Le Nouvelliste, 27 mai 2021 : L’article contient un rĂ©sumĂ© des propos d’Alain Berset, ministre de la santĂ©, dans la confĂ©rence sur le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme en Suisse.
  • « », RTS, 15 avril 2021 : En vue d’un rĂ©fĂ©rendum fĂ©dĂ©ral sur la loi COVID-19, les opposant dĂ©noncent la loi comme liberticide et dangereux pour le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme.
  • Bernard Wuthrich, « », Le Temps, 22 dĂ©cembre 2020 : L’article explique les diffĂ©rentes positions prises par le Chancellerie fĂ©dĂ©ral et la ConfĂ©rence des gouvernements cantonaux sur les dysfonctionnements survenus durant la deuxiĂšme phase.
  • NoĂ©mie Guignard, « », Le Temps, 9 dĂ©cembre 2020 : La piĂšce inclut les avis des experts soutenant qu’un systĂšme fĂ©dĂ©raliste concurrentiel empĂȘche de lutter efficacement contre le coronavirus.
  • Christophe Reymond, « », 24 Heures, 1 dĂ©cembre 2020 : Reymond soutient que la rĂ©partition des tĂąches entre ConfĂ©dĂ©ration et Cantons est une des bases du fonctionnement de la Suisse mĂȘme en pleine pandĂ©mie.
  • Alain Meyer, “”, Swiss Info, 16 November 2020: The article explains the sharp criticisms directed to the Swiss federal system due to its inconsistencies.
  • Bernard Wuthrich, « », Le Temps, 18 octobre 2020 : Le journaliste soutient que la crise a dĂ©montrĂ© la nĂ©cessitĂ© d’un minimum de rĂšgles unifiĂ©es en matiĂšre sanitaire.
  • Annick Chevillot, « », Heidi. News, 9 septembre 2020 : L’article explique les grands enjeux autour de la loi Covid-19 votĂ©e au Parlement.
  • « », Tribunal de GenĂšve, 28 aoĂ»t 2020 : Cet article annonce le rĂ©sultat La ConfĂ©rence des gouvernements cantonaux sur la nouvelle loi et Ă©numĂšre les inquiĂ©tudes soulevĂ©es par les cantons.
  • Bernard Wuthrich, « », Le Temps, 25 aoĂ»t 2020 : Le journaliste explique le projet de loi Covid-19, qui vise Ă  prolonger une partie de ces mesures extraordinaires en donnant pouvoir au Conseil fĂ©dĂ©ral.
  • Vincent Bourquin, « », Le Temps, 10 juin 2020 : Le journaliste synthĂ©tise les opinions de diffĂ©rents politologue concernant l’impact de la COVID-19 sur le systĂšme politique suisse, y compris son systĂšme fĂ©dĂ©ral.
  • Patrick Monay, « », 24 Heures, 27 mars 2020 : Le journaliste explique les tensions entre la confĂ©dĂ©ration suisse et les cantons en ce qui concerne les directives de protection contre la COVID-19.
  • Urs Geiser, “” SwissInfo, 27 Mars 2020: The journalist explains how Switzerland avoids sacrificing its federal system while responding to the COVID-19.

Other Sources / Autres sources

  • Daniele Mariani, « », SwissInfo, 24 janvier 2021 : Dans un interview avec Andrea Arcidiacono, consultant, Ă©conomiste et journaliste, Mariani offre un rĂ©cit comprĂ©hensif de la gestion de crise en Suisse pendant la premiĂšre et la deuxiĂšme vague.
  • Samuel Jaberg, « », Swiss Info, 27 dĂ©cembre 2020 : Dans cet interview, le PrĂ©sident de la ConfĂ©dĂ©ration explique sa vision pour lutter contre la pandĂ©mie en tout respectant les limites du fĂ©dĂ©ralisme.
  • L’Institut du FĂ©dĂ©ralisme a publiĂ© une spĂ©ciale sur COVID-19 et le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme suisse.

United Kingdom / Royaume-Uni

Research Papers & Reports / Documents de recherche & Rapports

  • Jess Sargeant, “” Institute for Government, 30 October 2020: As coronavirus cases rise across all four parts of the UK, Jess Sargeant calls for coordination of different approaches to lockdown rules amongst Westminster and the devolved governments.
  • Jess Sargeant, “”, Institute for Government, 29 October 2020: Author argues that the four governments of the UK must better co-ordinate their different approaches to lockdown restrictions to control the rising number of cases in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
  • Alex Thomas, “”, Institute for Government, 26 October 2020: Thomas argues that England’s ad hoc governance structures are too reliant on politicians muddling through. The coronavirus crisis has highlighted the need for a change in mindset from central government.
  • Elspeth Nicholson, Akash Paun, “”, Institute for Government, 28 May 2020: This explainer describes and compares how the three devolved legislatures (Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland) of the UK have responded to the challenge of operating during the lockdown.
  • Akash Paun, Jess Sargeant, Alex Nice, “”, Institute for Government, 06 May 2020: Authors explain why differentiated exit strategies are necessary and offer suggestions about how to avoid confusion.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Catriona Mullay, “”, Verfassungsblog, 26 June 2020: Mullay discusses the disunity in the British response to coronavirus, focusing on the Scottish and British governments. She argues that COVID-19 illustrates the political and legal instability of the British constitution as the country exits the European Union.
  • Coree Brown Swan, Daniel CetrĂ , “”, Centre on Constitutional Change, 8 June 2020: Authors explains how Unionist voices have made a case for state unity during the Covid19 pandemic.
  • Akash Paun, “”, The Constitution Unit Blog, 31 May 2020: Akash Paun argues that the COVID-19 crisis has raised five key questions about the politics of devolution at a time when efficient and effective intergovernmental relations are crucial.
  • Jim Gallagher, “”, Centre on Constitutional Change, 27 May 2020: In this blog post, Jim Gallagher provides an overview of the UK and devolved governments' approach to COVID-19 and discusses how the pandemic is likely to impact upon devolution in the UK.
  • Richard Parry, “”, Centre on Constitutional Change, 22 May 2020: Richard Parry discusses how the tide has turned throughout the UK in favour of relaxations as governments try to control future events while being forced to justify their earlier decisions.
  • James Mitchell, “”, Centre on Constitutional Change, 17 May 2020: Mitchell argues that rather than focusing on whether devolved policies are designed to undermine or sustain the Union, refocusing on some of the basic policy-making questions and issues are more necessary.
  • Richard Parry, “”, Centre on Constitutional Change, 12 May 2020: Author reviews the developments on devolved governments’ responses to the pandemic and Johnson’s reactions.
  • Jack Sheldon, Michael Kenny, “”, Centre on Constitutional Change, 11 May 2020: Authors explain why Boris Johnson’s televised address on a phased approach to easing lockdown has sparked public disagreements with the devolved governments, and the implications these differences might have for future relations between the governments of the UK.
  • Richard Parry, “”, Centre on Constitutional Change, 4 May 2020: Parry discusses the varied responses to the pandemic between the devolved nations in the UK and beyond, and what this tells about the relationship between the political system and expert advice.
  • Michael Kenny, Jack Sheldon, “”, Centre on Constitutional Change, 8 April 2020: Authors discuss the seemingly coordinated approach from governments throughout the UK in response to the coronavirus and argue that the response may not be as harmonious as it seems.
  • Paul Anderson, “”, UACES Territorial Politics, 8 May 2020: Anderson focuses on the divergence from UK-wide approaches, mainly the debate on exit strategy.
  • Clive Grace, “”, Forum of Federations Blog, April 2020: Author explores the unifying effect of the crisis as well the differences that arose within the UK.
  • Duncan Fairgrieve, “”, The Regulatory Review, 30 April 2020: Fairgrieve discusses the measures taken by the UK government and mentions the challenges that have arisen due to devolved powers.
  • Paul F. Scott, “, Verfassungsblog, 21 March 2020: Scott discusses the early responses to the pandemic in the UK and the challenges that the devolution may cause to this response.

Opinions

  • “”, The Week, 22 October 2020: The article argues that a more regional response to the pandemic could have been a more robust response to the pandemic.
  • “”, The Guardian, 17 May 2020: The Guardian’s editors advocate for coordination of devolved governments’ exit strategies.
  • Nick Timothy, “”, The Telegraph, 17 May 2020: Timothy argues that the pandemic exposed how and why the devolution is not functioning.
  • Darren McCaffrey, “”, Euronews, 14 May 2020: Author discusses the effect of devolution on the Union through devolved governments’ responses to the crisis and their exit strategies.

News Articles / Article de presse

  • Laura Webster, “”, The National, 12 May 2020: The journalist reports on differences between England and Scotland regarding the lifting of lockdown.
  • Kathleen Nutt, “”, The National, 11 May 2020: Kathleen Nutt reports on devolved governments’ resistance to Westminster’s exit strategy from the lockdown.
  • Kate Proctor, “”, The Guardian, 27 April 2020: Journalist presents the possibility of a different lockdown lifting plan for Wales and discusses how this can fit into a coordinated UK plan.

Other Sources / Autres sources

  • Dave Busfield-Birch (ed.), , Issue No. 75, July 2020: The latest Monitor focuses on the UK Constitution under COVID-19. It also addresses how the UK devolution is affected by the pandemic.

United States / États-Unis

Academic Journal Articles / Articles de revues académiques

  • Steven H. Woolf, “”, JAMA Network, March 2022: The article explains the influence of state governments on health through a comparison of death rates during the pandemic. 
  • Nancy J. Knauer, “”, Hastings Law Journal, Vol. 73, 2022: This article argues that the United States’ federal response was not so much a failure of policy per se, but rather a failure of political will. The federal government had a robust pandemic policy in place; it simply chose not to follow it. This failure of political will illustrates the dangers that arise when public health measures are politicized and weaponized for partisan advantage and demands strong interventions to ensure federal accountability and transparency. 
  • Jeffrey Clemens, Stan Veuger, , Journal of Public Economics, Vol. 204, December 2021: Through the study of the COVID-19 relief legislation, the article provides evidence of a substantial small-state bias: an additional Senator or Representative per million residents predicts an additional 670 dollars in aid per capita across the four relief packages. Alignment with the Democratic party predicts increases in states’ allocations through legislation designed after the January 2021 political transition. This benefit of alignment with a unified federal government operates through the American Rescue Plan Act’s size and through the formulas it used to distribute transportation and general relief funds. ·
  • Lawrence D. Brown, , International Review of Public Policy, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2021: The author argues that policyresponses to COVID-19 in the United States have been constrained by electoral calculi that run from the executive to the legislative branch of the central government and thence also to the federal bureaucracy and the states.
  • Tom Barth, Kevin Staley, Chris Gonyar, John Combs, Shawn Kiley, “”, Journal of Emergency Management, Vol. 19, No. 7, 2021: Drawing on the diverse perspectives of four emergency management professionals and a public administration academic, gaps revealed by the United States’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed. These gaps range from political theory regarding federalism to fundamental questions around the public communication of risk management and the provision of mass shelter and care.
  • Nathan Myers, Tonya E. Thornton, “”, Journal of Emergency Management, Vol. 19, No. 7, 2021: Focusing on the need for the documentation of lessons learned from the pandemic regarding the need for coordination at the national level, this commentary recommends a bipartisan, joint after-action report signed by state governors as a mechanism to preserve state experiences.
  • Thomas A. Birkland, Kristin Taylor, Deserai A Crow, Rob DeLeo, “”, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Vol. 51, No. 4, Fall 2021: This article argues that it is not the federalism to blame for the USA’s failures, but the political dynamics of “kaleidoscopic federalism,” under which there is no single prevailing principle of federalism.
  • Beverly A. Cigler, “”, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Vol. 51, No. 4, Fall 2021: In this article, the author argues that a president has significant constitutional and statutory authority for pandemic preparedness and, by law, is responsible for leading a coordinated national response necessary to a pandemic.
  • Nicholas Jacobs, “”, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Vol. 51, No. 4, Fall 2021: This article considers the ways in which partisanship structured public attitudes about the United States’ multiple governments as each tried to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 during the spring and summer of 2020.
  • Olga Shvetsova, Andrei Zhirnov, Frank R. Giannelli, Michael A. Catalano, Olivia Catalano, “”, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, October 2021: This study connects the aggregate strength of public health policies taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. states to the governors’ party affiliations and to state-level outcomes.
  • Carol S. Weissert, Matthew J Uttermark, Kenneth R Mackie, Alexandra Artiles, “”, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Volume 51, Issue 3, Summer 2021: Authors examine all governors’ executive orders affecting local governments in the first five months of the 2020 pandemic, and they find that preemption did occur, especially in the early months of the pandemic.
  • Mariely LĂłpez-Santana, Philip Rocco, “”, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Volume 51, Issue 3, Summer 2021: This article reviews the pandemic’s fiscal effects on subnational governments, as well as the federal government’s response.
  • James G. Hodge Jr., “”, Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Vol. 49, No. 2, Summer 2021: The article discusses the following question: the fight for public health primacy in U.S. emergency preparedness and response to COVID-19 centers on which level of government — federal or state — should “call the shots” to quell national emergencies?
  • Jeffrey Clemens, Benedic Ippolito, Stan Veuger, “”, Public Budgeting & Finance, 18 May 2021: The article analyzes the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on state and local government finances, with an emphasis on health spending needs and the role of the Medicaid program.
  • John Kincaid, J. Wesley Leckrone, “”, State and Local Government Review, Vol. 52, No. 4, 2020: The paper argues that the comparatively poor U.S. response to COVID-19 was not due to federal inaction or a flawed federal system per se but to party polarization and presidential and gubernatorial preferences that frustrated federalism’s capacity to respond more effectively.
  • Anne Daguerre, Tim Conlan, “Federalism in a Time of Coronavirus: The Trump Administration, Intergovernmental Relations, and the Fraying Social Compact” State and Local Government Review, Vol. 52, No. 4, 2020: This article examines Trump administration social welfare policies to better understand their implications for American federalism and the evolving welfare state.
  • John Agnew, “”, Geographical Review, Vol. 111, No. 4, 2021: The article explains that rather than command and coordination across tiers of government, the states have been left to cope as best they can without much of anything in terms of coherent and consistent national/federal leadership during the pandemic.
  • Paul C. Erwin, Kenneth W. Mucheck, and Ross C. Brownson, “”, American Journal of Public Health, 28 January 2021: The article explains how CDC played a major role in the pandemic response even though the public health–related powers granted to the federal government are substantially less.
  • Stephanie Cooper Blum, “”, Washburn Law Journal, Vol. 60 No.1, 2020: This article addresses the legal and policy questions of enacting a federal pandemic statute. It provides guidance to public health experts and lawmakers should they decide that a national and more coordinated response would be helpful as the United States confronts COVID-19 and other pandemics.
  • James G. Hodge, “”, Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Vol. 49, No. 2, 2021: The fight for public health primacy in U.S. emergency preparedness and response to COVID-19 centers on which level of government—federal or state—should “call the shots” to quell national emergencies? Competing and conflicting priorities have contributed to a year-long federalism firestorm. As the melee subsides, a more dominant federal role is a predictable, long-term consequence in the battle plan for the next major public health threat.
  • Ruthnande Kessa, Abdul-Akeem Sadiq, Jungwon Yeo, “”, Chinese Public Administration Review, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2021: In this commentary, drawing on the literature on collaboration, authors discuss the importance of vertical and horizontal collaboration by examining the U.S. response to COVID-19.
  • Ryan D. Williamson, John C. Morris, “”, Public Works Management & Policy, Vol. 26, No. 1, 2021: Authors argue that the Trump administration’s approach to federalism (“transactional federalism”) —highlighted by the pandemic—is incapable of efficiently and effectively addressing state needs and those needs are only going to grow as a result, further exacerbating the problem.
  • Michael A. Hansen, Isabelle Johansson, Kalie Sadowski, Joseph Blaszcynski, Sarah Meyer, “”, Canadian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 54, No. 1, 2021: This study explores the relationship between local government dissemination of COVID-19. information and partisanship through an analysis of official county government websites in the US.
  • Nancy J. Knauer, “”, NYU Journal of Legislation and Public Policy, Vol. 23, No. 1, 2020: This Article examines the role of federalism in the early days of the COVID19 pandemic in the United States. It explores the dangers that arise when disaster relief is politicized and proposes failsafe mechanisms to prevent key institutions from abdicating their responsibility to the American people.
  • Stephanie Cooper Blum, “”, Washburn Law Journal, Vol. 60, 2020: This article addresses the legal and policy questions of enacting a federal pandemic statute. It provides guidance to public health experts and lawmakers should they decide that a national and more coordinated response would be helpful as the United States confronts COVID-19 and other pandemics.
  • Nicole Huberfeld, Sarah H. Gordon, David K. Jones, “”, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, Vol. 45, No, 6, 2020: Authors argue that Federalism has complicated the US response to the novel coronavirus and explore near-, middle-, and long-term policy options to mitigate federalism's harmful side effects.
  • Luke Fowler, Jaclyn J. Kettler, Stephanie L. Witt, “”, American Politics Research, October 2020: The authors show that the timing of gubernatorial actions in response to COVID-19 is telling about how partisanship is shaping the way elected officials are reacting to this pandemic.
  • Cynthia J. Bowling, Jonathan M. Fisk, John C. Morris, “”, The American Review of Public Administration, Vol. 50, No. 6-7, 2020: Authors contend that the actions of the Trump administration, and its relationships with states and local governments, can best be understood through a lens of what they refer to as “transactional federalism,” in which federalism relationships are governed by a set of exchanges between the president and states, and between states.
  • J. Edwin Benton, “”, The American Review of Public Administration, Vol. 50, No. 6-7, 2020: Benton provides an early assessment of how national, state, and local governments have worked together since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently a “report card” of sorts on the functioning of intergovernmental relations in the US.
  • Daniel J. Mallinson, “”, The American Review of Public Administration, Vol. 50, No. 6-7, 2020: Mallinson discusses how scholarship on state politics and policy, intergovernmental relations, and federalism provides necessary context for understanding governmental responses to COVID-19.
  • J. Kevin Corder, Matthew S. Mingus, Daria Blinova, “”, Policy Design and Practice, Vol. 3, No. 3, 2020: This article attempts to isolate and estimate the impact of political party control of state government on the length of time it took U.S. states to issue shelter-in-place orders (SIPOs) in an effort to control the spread of COVID-19.
  • James R. Maxeiner, “”, The Theory and Practice of Legislation, Vol. 8, No. 1-2, 2020: This article summarises the legislative-like responses to covid-19 and identifies systemic failures, including the lack of cooperation amongst constituent units.
  • Barry Sullivan, “”, Il diritto dell’economia, Year 66, No. 102 (2/2020): The article examines the impact of the sanitary emergency caused by the diffusion of Covid-19 in the United States under a political, constitutional and administrative perspective. It also includes a section dedicated to the American federalism and presidential leadership.
  • Greg Goelzhauser, David M Konisky, “”, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Vol. 50, No. 3, Summer 2020: the authors introduce the concept of punitive federalism and discuss its application to contemporary public policy. They also highlight federalism implications surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Kirsten H. Engel, “”, Northern Kentucky Law Review, Vol. 47, No. 2, 2020: Author discusses the role that state and local authorities can play in the climate policy, and discusses the effect of the pandemic on this role.
  • Philip Rocco, Daniel BĂ©land, Alex Waddan, “”, Policy and Society, Vol. 29, No. 3, 2020: Authors discuss why it is necessary to change the intergovernmental fiscal policy to tackle the problems raised by the pandemic.
  • Donald F. Kettl, “”, Public Administration Review, Vol. 80, No. 4, 2020: Kettl discusses fundamental questions about the role of the federal government's leadership in an issue that was truly national in scope. He asks whether varied state reactions were in the public interest.
  • Rebecca L. Haffajee, Michelle M. Mello, “”, The New England Journal of Medicine, 2 April 2020: Authors discuss the weaknesses of federalist system of public health governance in the US as it surfaced during this pandemic.

Books & Book Chapters / Livres & chapitres d’ouvrages collectifs

  • Lindsay F. Wiley, “”, in S. Burris, S. de Guia, L. Gable, D.E. Levin, W.E. Parmet, N.P. Terry (eds), (Boston: Public Health Law Watch), August 2020: Wiley examines the tensions between federal and state responses to the pandemic and makes recommendations to each level of government to fix the problems.
  • Danielle Allen,, The University of Chicago Press, 2021: Danielle Allen untangles the US government’s COVID-19 victories and failures to offer a plan for creating a more resilient democratic polity—one that can better respond to both the present pandemic and future crises. In an analysis spanning from ancient Greece to the Reconstruction Amendments and the present day, Allen argues for the relative effectiveness of collaborative federalism over authoritarian compulsion and for the unifying power of a common cause.

Research Papers & Reports / Documents de recherche & Rapports

  • Doug Badger and Robert E. Moffit, “”, Backgrounder (The Heritage Foundation), No. 3638, 26 July 2021: Authors argue that federalism helps show the efficacy of various approaches in the pandemic. While the federal government rightly relaxed regulations and promoted rapid production of vaccines, too many bureaucratic barriers hindered an effective response.
  • Jeffrey Clemens, Benedic N. Ippolito & Stan Veuger, “”, National Bureau of Economic Research, April 2021: The article analyzes the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on state and local government finances, with an emphasis on health spending needs and the role of the Medicaid program.
  • Sevion DaCosta, Tara Mehra, Marshall Bessey, “”, Rose Institute, 19 March 2021: This paper explores, using a theoretical approach based on current circumstances, the questions regarding the constitutionality of a national mask and vaccinations mandate.
  • Trish Riley, “”, National Academy for State Health Policy, 26 January 2021: This article reflects state variations in priorities and capacities, with many developing comprehensive approaches while others resisted a more fulsome approach to COVID-19 prevention. It is written based on interviews of a diverse group of state officials from a cross section of states.
  • Jeffrey Clemens, Stan Veuger, “”, Vox Eu & CEPR, 28 September 2020: The article uses Congressional Budget Office projections of consumption and personal income to explain the shock and to forecast sales and income tax bases and revenue for all of the states.
  • Danielle Allen, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Josh Simons, and Carmel Shachar, “”, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics White Papers, 28 April 2020: Authors argue that a balanced federal system between a centralized and decentralized response is precisely what the US needs to tackle COVID-19 crisis.
  • William Arthur, “”, Oxford Analytica, 21 April 2020: Arthur points out the challenges that US federalism creates for a coordinated response.
  • Justin Ross, Victoria Perez, “ ”, Mercatus Center COVID-19 Policy Brief Series, 3 April 2020: Writers propose policy solutions for local governments on intergovernmental cooperation and local finances in the US context.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Judi Abbott Curry, “PREP Act Preemption: , JDSUPRA Blog, 20 December 2021: The post reviews a recent judgment of the Third Circuit Court regarding the applicant of PREP Act to nursing homes during the pandemic.
  • Emily Eslinger, Michel Paradis,, Lawfare Blog, 9 December 2021: This post explains how Oklahoma governor defied the federal vaccination mandate for military personnel by exempting Oklahoma National Guard and reviews its validity.
  • Bryan Caplan, EconLog, 7 December 2021: The writer shares and comments the results of an informal Twitter survey on people changing states due to pandemic restrictions.
  • John Kincaid, J. Wesley Leckrone, , LSE USAPP Blog, December 2021: Authors explain that write that while some commentators have lamented that there was not a more centralized response, cooperation between the federal and state and local governments was restricted by partisan polarization and a president ideologically opposed to many COVID-19 mitigation measures.
  • Darien Shanske,, The Yale Law Journal Forum, 28 November 2021: This essay argues that federal fiscal responses were successful, though imperfect, and should be built upon. In particular, the author argues that the federal government could accomplish more, and likely spend less, by establishing a default federal-credit facility to aid the states during crises.
  • Andrea Gustafson, , Items, 2021: The author finds that, in response to the Covid-19 crisis, governors and state legislatures are taking a more active role, often in opposition to leaders at the federal-level. Noting a trend toward the “nationalization” of United States politics prior to the pandemic, Gustafson argues that “strengthening” federalism may reinvigorate democratic participation at the state level and prevent federal overreach, which may in turn combat democratic erosion.
  • Ryan Bourne, “”, Cato Institute, 9 September 2021: Offering an overview of the US’ pandemic policy, the essay also briefly discusses the claims that puts the blame on federalism.
  • Scott Bomboy, “”, Constitution Daily, 13 August 2021: This post explains the issues related to the mask mandates such as the separation of powers within the federal government; the balance of power between the federal government and the states; and power sharing within a state, under its own constitution, between state legislatures, the chief executive, and local government agencies such as school boards.
  • Marshall Thompson, “”, The Prindle Post, 24 May 2021: This post examines how subsidiarity principle plays out amongst different levels of subnational government.
  • Julie VanDusky-Allen, Olga Shetsova, “”, The Conversation, 12 May 2021: The authors argue that, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, a partisan divide has existed over the appropriate government response to the public health crisis.
  • Mark A. Graber, “”, Verfassungsblog, 14 April 2021: Graber surveys the different crises that the US went through during the pandemic.
  • Lawrence O. Gostin, Meryl Justin Chertoff, “”, Health Affairs Blog, 24 March 2021: This article generally presents the international and inter-state travel restrictions in the US and their legal basis.
  • Blandine Chelini-Pont, », COVID-AM, 25 fĂ©vrier 2021 : L’auteure explique comment certaines organisations religieuses ont contestĂ© les restrictions sur les rassemblements dans les lieux de culte que les gouverneurs ont imposĂ© au prĂšs des tribunaux fĂ©dĂ©raux.
  • Amy Howe, “”, SCOTUSBlog, 6 February 2021: This blog post discusses Supreme Court’s order () to allow indoor worship places to resume in California.
  • Amy Howe, “”, SCOTUSBlog, 6 February 2021: This blog post discusses Supreme Court’s order () to allow indoor worship places to resume in California.
  • Claire Anchordoqui, « », COVIDAM Blog, 4 fĂ©vrier 2021 : L’article explique les mesures prises par les gouvernements tribaux des diffĂ©rentes rĂ©serves amĂ©rindiennes situĂ©es au sein du Dakota du Nord et du Sud face au refus des deux gouverneurs rĂ©publicains des deux Ă©tats de mettre des mesures en place.
  • Jamison Chung, “”, The Regulatory Review, 23 December 2020: Chung provides an overview of several articles arguing that federalism complicated the response to the pandemic.
  • Christopher F. Koller, “”, Milbank Memorial Fund President’s Blog, 21 December 2020: Koller calls for a reset of federalism around three principles: wise leadership at state and federal level, judicious use of federal authority, reliable intergovernmental communication.
  • Alan Tarr, “”, 50 Shades of Federalism: This article examines the scope of power granted to the federal government by the U.S. Constitution and the legislative power available to states under state constitutions, concluding that these powers are adequate to deal with the pandemic and other emergencies. It also considers whether having multiple governments confronting the crisis has precluded a coordinated response.
  • Jennifer Selin, “”, Brookings FixGov Blog, 8 June 2020: Selin explains four major developments in the US federal system of government illuminated by COVID-19.
  • Marion Marchet, « », COVIDAM : la Covid-19 dans les AmĂ©riques, 3 juin 2020 : Marchet explique comment la compĂ©tence des États en matiĂšre d’élection influence le dĂ©bat sur le vote par correspondance pour les Ă©lections prĂ©sidentielles.
  • Victoria Gonzales Maltes, « », COVIDAM : la Covid-19 dans les AmĂ©riques, 28 mai 2020 : L’auteur explique les conflits entre les gouverneurs et PrĂ©sident Trump et s’interroge sur les consĂ©quences de ces conflits.
  • Anand Devaiah, Michael Wijaranakula, Chinmay Kommuru, and Rena M. Conti, “”, Health Affairs, 18 May 2020: Authors review the current US medical product purchasing and distribution model and discuss the current federal response to challenges raised by the COVID-19 crisis.
  • Alexander W. Salter, “”, American Institute for Economic Research, 13 May 2020: Authors criticize the Federal Reserve’s interventions into state and local debt markets as they threaten the efficacy and independence of these lower, more local governments.
  • Sarah H. Gordon, Nicole Huberfeld, David K. Jones, “”, JAMA Health Forum, 8 May 2020: Authors explain why the public health federalism needs to be adjusted.
  • Emmanuelle Perez Tisserand, « », COVIDAM : la Covid-19 dans les AmĂ©riques, 15 Mai 2020 : L’auteure explique comment la COVID-19 a accentuĂ© les tensions entre la Californie et le gouvernement fĂ©dĂ©ral. (For the English version, click .)
  • John Kincaid, “”, UACES Territorial Politics, 15 May 2020: Kincaid explains how the US response “has been hampered by partisan polarization and misunderstood federalism”.
  • Stephen M. Griffin, “”, IDEA - Voices From the Field, 22 April 2020: Griffin questions if a national emergency regime with a more centralized governance is a better response to this type of emergency situations.
  • Maryam Jamshidi, “”, The University of Chicago Law Review Online, 20 April 2020: The article explains the limits on federal authority over mandatory, statewide quarantines.
  • Jennifer Selin, “”, The Conversation, 17 April 2020: Selin discusses how division of powers within US federalism affects the response to COVID-19 crisis.
  • Mathilde Laporte et Maud Michaut, « », Jus Politicum Blog, 14 avril 2020 : Les doctorantes expliquent les effets des mesures sur la libre circulation au sein de l’Union et s’interrogent sur leur conformitĂ© Ă  la constitution fĂ©dĂ©rale en se concentrant sur les relations intergouvernementales.
  • Alexandra Cockerham, Robert E. Crew Jr, “” LSE US Centre Blog, 3 April 2020: Authors explain how the crisis shed light on American federalism.
  • Ben Berwick, John Langford, Erica Newland, Kristy Parker, “”, Lawfare Blog, 27 March 2020: Authors argue that the US President does not have authority to reopen the country if states resist.
  • Robert Chesney, “”, Lawfare Blog, 24 March 2020: Chesney discusses if the President has the power to force the state and local officials’ to change their decisions.
  • Leila Barraza, Sarah A. Wetter, “”, Verfassungsblog, 22 March 2020: Authors discuss economic measures that the federal government can take to fight this crisis while underlining the fracture between states and the federal government.
  • Kyle J. Connors, “”, ConLawNOW, No. 12, 18 March 2020: Connors argues for greater federal leadership and involvement to mount the most effective response to a pandemic in the United States.
  • J. Wesley Leckrone, John Kincaid, “”, Forum of Federations Blog, 2020: Professors explain how state governments and the US federal government use distinct constitutional powers to manage this crisis.

Working Papers / Documents de travail

  • Willian R. Bowen, “”, A Conference on Culture & Crisis Conference Papers, 12 May 2021: This paper explores the apparent retreat of progressives from their commitments to cooperative federalism, specifically, whether these references signal a tactical shift for short-term political gains or a more fundamental shift in progressive ideology.
  • Aaron Chan, “”, The Open Depository @ Birmingham University Working Paper Series, May 2021: The article compares New York and Ohio in the earliest pandemic phase of March-April 2020 and then extend this comparison through July 2020, because of their governors’ opposite party affiliation and similarity in the time frame in which the pandemic impacted the states the worst.
  • Sharon Elhadad, “”, ECPR General Conference Paper, 2021: The article develops an original unified model of policy diffusion to analyse the speed of adoption of state-wide lockdown policies within a federal system during the COVID-19 pandemic and examines three channels of policy diffusion: vertical, internal, and regional.
  • James G. Hodge, “”, SSRN, 19 April 2021: The article explains the significant weaknesses of the U.S. federalist system in controlling major infectious disease threats exposed by COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Nancy J. Knauer, “”, SSRN, 16 March 2021: This article argues that the US federal response was not so much a failure of policy per se, but rather a failure of political will.
  • Jacek Rothert, “”, SSRN, 2 March 2021: This article proposes a strategic system of taxes and transfers that rewards states which depress their economies more than average to impose effective restrictions.
  • Alejandro E. Camacho, Robert L. Glicksman, “”, SSRN, 22 January 2021: The article identifies numerous valuable lessons about government organization from the COVID-19 experience that should guide policymakers’ deliberations in the likely event that they embark upon an effort to address the mistakes plaguing the Trump Administration’s dismal response.
  • Jeffrey Clemens, Benedic. N. Ippolito, Stan Veuger, “”, AEI Economic Policy Working Paper Series, No. 2020-16 December 2020: The likely impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on state and local government revenues is increasingly well understood. The condition of state and local government finances depends further, however, on the pandemic’s effects on expenditure needs, which have received less attention. Confusion also remains regarding both the quantity and purpose of federal support that has been and ought to be directed to state and local governments. In this paper, we attempt to have a unified discussion of these issues, with an emphasis on health spending needs and the role of the Medicaid program.
  • Jean-Paul Renne, Guillaume Roussellet, Gustavo Schwenkler, “”, SSRN, 27 October 2020: Based on their SIRD epidemiological model and data from the United States, authors demonstrate the benefits of a stronger federal response.
  • Tara Riggs, Michael Catalano, “", Binghampton University-SUNY Working Paper Series, September 2020: Authors examine how responses of female governors to COVID-19 differ from their male counterparts.
  • David Schleicher, “”, SSRN, 28 July 2020: This article argues that U.S. federal government does not have a history of “hands off” approaches to state and local defaults even though bailouts have been rare.
  • Klaus Desmet, Romain Wacziarg, “”, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No 27329, June 2020: Authors analyze the correlates of COVID-19 cases and deaths across US counties and they consider a wide range of correlates - population density, public transportation, age structure, nursing home residents, connectedness to source countries, etc. - finding that these variables are important predictors of variation in disease severity.
  • Bruce McDonald, Christopher Goodman, Megan Hatch, “”, OSF Preprints, 8 June 2020: Authors examine how the US intergovernmental system of emergency response is designed, how state and local governments have responded to the COVID-19 crisis thus far, and how this crisis has further exposed tensions in the state-local intergovernmental system.
  • Emily Berman, “”, SSRN, 2 June 2020: This essay briefly outlines the respective roles of the state and federal governments and lays out the powers and authorities they each bring to bear in a pandemic situation. It then considers whether the federal response reflected these previously understood roles.
  • Nancy J. Knauer, “”, SSRN, 13 May 2020: Knauer’s essay thoroughly examines the role of federalism in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
  • Leonardo Baccini, Abel Brodeur, “”, IZA Discussion Paper Series, April 2020: Authors present their findings regarding the determinants of governors’ responses to the pandemic.

Opinions

  • Nathan Newman, , The Nation, 19 November 2021: The author argues for a different approach to multi-level governance, one that favors local governments.
  • Mauricio Covarrubias, “”, PA Times, 24 October 2021: The author pleads for a more centralized approach to tackle the pandemic.
  • Donald F: Kettl, “”, Governing, 17 September 2021: Kettl analyzes the divisive politics against pandemic related measures that some state governors are pursuing.
  • Richard L. Revesz, “”, The Hill, 27 August 2021: The author claims that actions of governors who embraced policies that would increase the spread of COVID not only in their states but in other states as well betray a fundamental misunderstanding of what federalism means.
  • Donald F. Kettl, “”, Governing, 26 May 2021: The article argues that federalism as practiced in the United States has been the reason why American suffered more during the crisis.
  • Donald F. Kettl, “”, Government Executive, 12 May 2021: Kettl explains why federalism in the United States had a mixed record in pandemic response.
  • Frank Pignanelli & LaVarr Webb, “”, Deseret News, 11 April 2021: The contributors share their insights into the effects of federal spending during crises.
  • John Tammy, “”, RealClear Markets, 6 April 2021: The writer claims that the pandemic actually showed how powerful federal government was.
  • Chandra Bozelko, “”, Empire Tribune, 19 March 2021: The author argues that the federal division of powers disempowers science.
  • Colin Gordon, “”, Dissent, 15 March 2021: Gordon argues that the US federalism is inherently insufficient to effectively respond to a public health crisis.
  • Alan H. Kennedy, “”, PA Times, 28 February 2021: In this article, the author presents the evidence of failures of federalism not only in the context of COVID-19, but also in how federal inaction on guns caused jurisdictional externalities and how Electoral College flaws underpinned the insurrection of January 6.
  • Noah Feldman, “”, The Virginian Pilot, 26 February 2021: In this op-ed, Feldman argues that the pandemic demonstrated the US federalism is outdated.
  • Susan Estrich, “”, Lowell Sun, 1 February 2021: The article argues that federalism adds up to the confusion caused by COVID-19 measures.
  • William A. Galston, “”, Brookings, 25 January 2021: Through a comparison of West Virginia and Maryland, Galston explains the reason for different success rates of vaccination amongst states.
  • Gerald Benjamin, Scott Minkoff, “”, Governing, 21 January 2021: Authors argue that distributed power remains critical in the face of governance crises and federal assaults on liberal democracy.
  • William A. Galston, “”, Wall Street Journal, 5 January 2021: Galston explains how federalism might slow down the vaccine rollout.
  • Ashish K. Jha, “”, The Washington Post, 31 December 2020: Jha argues that the lack of intergovernmental coordination is the reason for the slow vaccine rollout.
  • Jacob Sullum, “”, Reason, 28 December 2020: Sullum argues that centralization is not the right response to the pandemic and that many errors in the US pandemic response occurred on the federal level.
  • Zack Budryk, “”, The Hill, 28 December 2020: The article reports Fauci’s remarks on the lack of a federal standardized coronavirus response across states.
  • Donald F. Kettl, “”, Governing, 9 December 2020: Kettl lists seven steps to create an effective intergovernmental cooperation to a shattered crisis.
  • Donald F. Kettl, “”, Governing, 9 November 2020: Kettl explains five key issues that will determine Biden’s approach to federalism.
  • Donald F. Kettl, “”, Governing, 15 October 2020: Kettl argues that the current pandemic showed why the US needs to revive its ability to sort out the roles of the federal government and the states and shows how to achieve that goal.
  • Ashish Jha, “”, Foreign Affairs, 22 September 2020: Jha explains how the divergence of state responses reveals the strengths as well as the weaknesses of the U.S. federal system in the midst of the pandemic.
  • Donald F. Kettl, “”, Governing, 15 September 2020: Kettl argues that the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations should be brought back to life.
  • Gregg Girvan, “”, Fulcrum, 10 September 2020: The author claims that centralization of power to fight a pandemic may seem appealing but must be resisted.
  • Donald F. Kettl, “”, Governing, 18 August 2020: Kettl sheds light on the disconnect between the federal government and the states.
  • Michael Ollove, “”, PEW Stateline, 18 August 2020: Ollove blames the lack of coordinated response for the USA’s failure to handle the pandemic.
  • Alan Greenblatt, “”, Governing, 24 July 2020: Greenblatt explains how the pandemic has stressed the federalist system to the point of open conflict between different levels of government.
  • Ross R. Baker, “”, USA Today, 14 July 2020: Baker criticizes Trump’s understanding of federalism because the lack of any coordination for States’ responses.
  • Maresa Strano, “”, Democracy Journal, 10 July 2020: Strano explains three major steps (including strengthening cities within the federal structure) to be taken so that the US survives the crisis.
  • Kent Syler and John Vile, “”, Tennessean, 18 June 2020: Authors explain how COVID-19 highlighted the importance of US federalism and showed the need for cooperation.
  • Sara Alajbegovic, Maya Bordwell, Madison Frazee, Jonisha Nolan, and Nadia Ozone, “”, A Journal of The Plague Year, 15 May 2020: The essay argues that the federalism is constantly evolving in the United States and that the way the pandemic is handled is the proof of this constant evolution.
  • Caroline Chang, Scott Moore, and Ali Wyne, “”, The Diplomat, 29 May 2020: Authors explain how the US compensated its weak national response with decisive action on state and local level thanks to federalism.
  • David Marion, “”, The Washington Times, 11 May 2020: Author explains why federalism remains relevant and necessary to tackle the threats posed by this crisis.
  • Gary Gerstle, “”, The Atlantic, 6 May 2020: Gerstle discusses the US response to the crisis with a historical approach to US federalism.
  • Zhu Zhang, “”, CGTN, 4 May 2020: Zhang explains why federalism should not be blamed for the USA’s failure to respond to COVID-19 crisis.
  • Laurence H. Tribe, “”, Boston Globe, 29 April 2020: Professor Tribe explains why federalism should not be blamed for the ineffectiveness against COVID-19 in the US by giving examples of effective policies of several states.
  • James G. Hodge, Jr, “”, Just Security, 27 April 2020: Author discusses the tension between states and the federal government and calls for cooperative, collaborative federalism.
  • Richard Kreitner, “”, The New York Times, 23 April 2020: Kreitner offers regional alliances developed by several states in the US for responding to COVID-19 crisis as an alternative to an outdated US federalism.
  • Charles C. W. Cooke, “”, National Review, 16 April 2020: Charles C. W. Cooke praises federalism as a system for a better response to the pandemic in the US.
  • Jay Cost, “”, Washington Examiner, 2 April 2020: Cost argues that federalism has been one of the strengths of the government’s response to the coronavirus, not one of its weaknesses.
  • Walter Olson, “”, Wall Street Journal, 30 March 2020: Author argues that the relaxation of the lockdown will depend on state governments.
  • Noah Feldman, “”, Bloomberg, 19 March 2020: Author argues that a stronger federal government would be preferable to the current division of powers.

News Articles / Article de presse

  • David A. Lieb, , AP News, 29 November 2021: The article reports that a district court judge blocked President Joe Biden’s administration from enforcing a coronavirus vaccine mandate on thousands of health care workers in 10 states that had brought the first legal challenge against the requirement.
  • Shawna Chen, “”, Axios, 30 October 2021: The filed lawsuit claims that the executive order is "a dramatic infringement upon individual liberties, principles of federalism and separation of powers, and the rule of law.”
  • Ellen Gerst, “”, Casper Star Tribune, 29 October 2021: Gerst reports that Wyoming attorney general Hill joins attorneys general from Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota and South Dakota in the suit, which was originally filed in Missouri.
  • Darryl Coote, “”, UPI, 15 September 2021: The reporter explains that Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for companies with more than 100 people, calling it unconstitutional and an attack against federalism.
  • Bob Christie, “”, AP News, 17 August 2021: Christie reports Arizona governor’s order that bans schools from following CDC recommendations.
  • Ellen Barry, “‘”, The New York Times, 15 March 2020.

Other Sources / Autres sources

  • Supreme Court of United States, 595 U. S. ____ (2022): SCOTUS delivered its ruling on the vaccine mandate imposed by the Department of Labor. 
  • “”, Idaho: Office of the Governor, 17 September 2021: Governor Brad Little, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Winder, and House Speaker Scott Bedke sent this letter to President Joe Biden detailing the flaws with the President’s federal vaccine mandate on private business and threatened legal action if he does not rescind the directive.
  • “”, White House, 21 January 2021: The report outlines an actionable plan across the federal government to address the COVID-19 pandemic, including twelve initial executive actions issued by President Biden on his first two days in office
  • Meilee Bridges, “”, Southwestern University Series, 29 September 2020: In this interview with Emily Syndor, Professor Syndor explains how this pandemic changed citizen’s perspective on politics, including their understanding of local governments.

5. Comparing federations
Les fédérations comparées

Academic Journal Articles / Articles de revues académiques

  • Canada & United States / Canada & Etats-Unis: Joseph Immormino, Nicholas Stowell, “”, Canadian Foreign Policy Journal: 13 February 2022: This research adapts a Generalized Additive Model (GAM) to the unique case of North American neighbors and illustrates the role that timely policy adoption and the state’s capacity to administer policy programs play in effective pandemic containment. By applying their empirical design sub-nationally, authors demonstrate that their findings are robust to comparisons made within individual nations, as well as across an aggregation of the two countries’ subnational units.
  • Multiple countries: Santiago Lago-Peñas, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Agnese Sacchi,, Economics of Governance, 10 December 2021: Authors focus on the role played by institutions at the country level in fighting the spread of Covid-19 by making policy coordination more difficult or, on the contrary, more effective. They observe that although federal countries do appear to have had consistently greater difficulties than unitary countries and overall, the role played by fiscal and administrative decentralization is not robust, but this latter is a result conditioned by the lack of data availability.
  • United States & Brazil/ États-Unis & BrĂ©sil: Daniel BĂ©land, Philip Rocco, Catarina Ianni Segatto, Alex Waddan, , World Affairs, 19 November 2021: In this article, authors examine the extent to which two institutions in each country––federalism and the party system––impacted the ways in which they framed the COVID-19 crisis and policy responses to it in 2020, especially during the first months of the pandemic.
  • Belgique et Pays-Bas / Belgium and the Netherlands: ValĂ©rie Pattyn, Joery Matthys, Steven Van Hecke, « Gestion de crise Ă  enjeux Ă©levĂ©s dans les « Pays-Bas » : Comparaison des rĂ©ponses gouvernementales au COVID-19 », Revue Internationale des Sciences Administratives, Vol. 87, No. 3, 2021 : L’article dĂ©montre que la diffĂ©rence dans la gestion de la crise fait Ă©cho aux diffĂ©rents types de consociativisme des pays, mais aussi que le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme belge et la dĂ©centralisation nĂ©erlandaise ont empĂȘchĂ© une rĂ©ponse vĂ©ritablement cohĂ©rente.
  • United States, Canada & Australia / États-Unis, Canada et Australie: Andre Lecours, Daniel BĂ©land, Alan Fenna, Tracy Beck Fenwick, Mireille Paquet, Philip Rocco, Alex Waddan, “”, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Vol. 51, No. 4, Fall 2021: The Covid-19 pandemic produced more significant immediate intergovernmental conflict in the U.S. than in Australia and Canada. This article considers three variables for this cross-national divergence: presidentialism versus parliamentarism; vertical party integration; and strength of intergovernmental arrangements.
  • Australia, Canada, Germany & Switzerland / Australie, Canada, Allemange et Suisse: Johanna Schnabel, Yvonne Hegele, “”, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Vol. 51, No. 4, Fall 2021: By examining the introduction and the subsequent easing of containment measures and the procurement of medical supplies in Australia, Canada, Germany, and Switzerland, this article identifies the circumstances under which intergovernmental coordination occurs.
  • Brazil, Mexico & United States / BrĂ©sil, Mexique et États-Unis: Cyril Bennouna, Agustina Giraudy, Eduardo Moncada, Eva Rios, Richard Snyder, Paul Testa, “”, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Vol. 51, No. 4, Fall 2021: Introducing a novel framework for explaining pandemic policymaking, the study shows the central importance of political parties, presidential power, and governors’ coalitions in determining state-level policy stringency.
  • France, Spain, Italy, Germany & United Kingdom / France, Espagne, Italie, Allemagne et Royaume-Uni: Davide Vampa, “”, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Vol. 51, No. 4, Fall 2021: This article seeks to assess and explain territorial policy dynamics in five European countries—Italy, Spain, Germany, France and the United Kingdom—from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic up to early 2021.
  • Germany & Italy / Allemagne et Italie: Katharina Kuhn, Irene Morlino, “”, Swiss Political Science Review, October 2021: Situated within this theoretical debate and based on the analysis of legal acts, political decisions, and relevant national news media articles between March and August 2020 in Germany and Italy, this research note shows that, counterintuitively, more decentralisation does not necessarily translate into more legal and political stress during pandemic management.
  • Brazil and Mexico / BrĂ©sil et Mexique: Felicia Marie Knaul, Michael Touchton, HĂ©ctor Arreola-Ornelas, Rifat Atun, Renzo JC Calderon Anyosa, Julio Frenk et al., “”, The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, Vol. 4, 2021: Authors present a new concept, Punt Politics, and apply it to the COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) in two epicenters of the pandemic: Mexico and Brazil. Punt Politics refers to national leaders in federal systems deferring or deflecting responsibility for health systems decision-making to sub-national entities without evidence or coordination.
  • United States and South Korea / États-Unis et CorĂ©e du Sud: Sanghee Park, Luke Fowler, “”, International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, September 2021: This study explains the variation of government responses to the pandemic by focusing on how centralization/decentralization in politics and administration creates conflicts and coordination problems. Specifically, the authors make comparisons between the U.S. and South Korea to reveal differences in macro-level structures and associated responses.
  • Italy & Spain & Italie et Espagne: Mattia Casula & SerafĂ­n Pazos-Vidal, “”, International Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 44, No. 11-12, 2021: This article compares the functioning of the intergovernmental systems in Italy and Spain facing the COVID-19 crisis. Combining the public administration literature on policy learning and multi-level governance with that on the institutional collective action framework, this article analyses if and how Italy and Spain have reacted and learned from the external pressures of the pandemic, leading to institutional adjustments to the respective multi-level governance systems in the de-escalation of the first emergency phase.
  • Multiple countries: Olga Shvetsova, Andrei Zhirnov, Julie VanDusky-Allen, Abdul Basit Adeel et al., “”, Frontiers in Political Science, Vol. 3, 2021: This essay examines the policy response of the federal and regional governments in federations to the COVID-19 crisis. Authors theorize that the COVID-19 policy response in federations is an outcome of strategic interaction among the federal and regional incumbents in the shadow of their varying accountability for health and the repercussions from the disruptive consequences of public health measures.
  • Multiple countries: Philip Rocco, Jessica A J Rich, Katarzyna Klasa, Kenneth A Dubin, Daniel BĂ©land, ””, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 21 May 2021: This study examines how subnational governments in federal democracies collect and report data on COVID-19 cases and mortality associated with COVID-19.
  • France & Germany /France & Allemagne: Nils C. Bandelow, Patrick Hassenteufel and Johanna Hornung, “”, International Review of Public Policy, Vol.3, No. 1, 2021: Through a comparison of France and Germany, the article highlights the effects of different patterns of democracy and attempts to show the ways in which the national institutional setting, particularly federalism and centralization, contributes to decision-making.
  • Austria, Germany & Switzerland /Autriche, Allemagne & Suisse: Yvonne Hegele, Johanna Schnabel, “”, West European Politics, Vol. 4, No. 5-6, 2021: To shed light on how Austria, Germany, and Switzerland managed COVID-19, this paper distinguishes two dimensions of federal decision making: centralised/decentralised and unilateral/coordinated decision making. Drawing on official government documents and press reports, it examines decisions on the introduction of containment measures and their subsequent easing during the first wave.
  • Bangladesh, India & Pakistan /Bangladesh, Inde & Pakistan: Jean N.Lee, Mahreen Mahmud, Jonathan Morduch, Saravana Ravindran, Abu S. Shonchoy, “”, Journal of Public Economies, Vol. 193, January 2021: The article shows how migration data can be used to predict coronavirus hotspots.
  • United States & New Zealand /États-Unis & Nouvelle ZĂ©lande: Richard W. Parker, “”, Administrative Law Review, Vol 73, No.1, 2021: The article offers an insight into NZ’s success and compares this response to the US.
  • Canada, United States, Mexico /Canada, États-Unis, MĂ©xique: Daniel BĂ©land, Gregory P. Marchildon, Anahely Medrano, Philip Rocco, “”, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, Vol. 23, No. 2, 2021: This paper argues that federal health financing regimes differ in ways that are shaping the agenda for post-pandemic reforms. The analysis, which focuses on health care financing in three federal countries (Canada, the United States, and Mexico), explores the current and potential future impact of COVID-19 on existing policy legacies.
  • Belgium & the Netherlands / Belgique & Pays-Bas: Toon Van Overbeke, Diederik Stadig, “”, European Policy Analysis, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2020: Authors argue that efficient multi‐level policy cooperation in both countries has run up against the limits of existing institutions, leading to significant political grievances.
  • Canada & United States /Canada & États-Unis: Abdul Basit Adeel et al., “”, Canadian Public Policy, Vol. 46, No. 4, 2020: The article examines the roles of sub-national and national governments in Canada and the United States vis-Ă -vis the protective public health response in the onset phase of the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The article’s finding is that the sub-national contribution to policy is more important for both the United States and Canada than are their national-level policies, and that the institutional origin of the policies as evidenced by the COVID-19 response differs greatly between the two countries and has implications for the evolution of federalism in each.
  • Canada, France & Belgium / Canada, France & Belgique: Zachary Desson, Emmi Weller, Peter McMeekin, Mehdi Ammi, “”, Health Policy and Technology, Vol. 9, No. 3, 2020: This paper presents an overview and comparative analysis of the epidemiological situation and the policy responses in France, Belgium, and Canada during the early stages of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. The decentralized structures in Canada and Belgium are compared with France’s centralized response.
  • Australia, Canada, Germany & United States / Australie, Canada, Allemagne & États-Unis: Mark J. Rozell, Clyde Wilcox, “”, The American Review of Public Administration, Vol. 50, No. 5-6, July 2020: This article compares and contrasts the responses of Australia, Canada, Germany, and the United States to the COVID-19 outbreak and spread.
  • Canada & United States / Canada & États-Unis: Abdul Basit Adeel, Michael Catalano, Olivia Catalano, Grant Gibson, Ezgi Muftuoglu, Tara Riggs, Mehmet Halit Sezgin, Olga Shvetsova, Naveed Tahir, Julie VanDusky-Allen, Tianyi Zhao, Andrei Zhirnov, “”, Canadian Public Policy, Vol. 42, No. 4, 2020: Authors examine the roles of subnational and national governments in Canada and the USA vis-Ă -vis protective public health response in the onset phase of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The study shows that the institutional origin of the policies as evidenced by COVID-19 response differs greatly between the two countries and has implications for the evolution of federalism in each.
  • Germany, Austria, and Switzerland / Allemagne, Autriche & Suisse: Zachary Desson, Lisa Lambertz, Jan Willem Peters, Michelle Falkenbach, Lukas Kauer, “”, Health Policy and Technology, Vol. 9, No. 4, 2020: This paper presents an overview of the policy responses in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (all federal states) during the early stages of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic.
  • Various systems: Klaus Dodds, Vanesa Castan Broto, Klaus Detterbeck, Martin Jones, Virginie Mamadouh, Maano Ramutsindela, Monica Varsanyi, David Wachsmuth & Chih Yuan Woon, “”, Territory, Politics, Governance, Vol. 8, No. 3, June 2020: This editorial briefly explains how territorial politics played a key role in the pandemic.
  • EU & ASEAN: Maria Papageorgiou, Daniella Silva Nogueira Melo, “”, Perspectives on Federalism, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2020: This article aims to examine the initial responses to COVID-19 and the development of regional policies of the two most successful examples of regional organisations; EU and ASEAN and it accounts for the different forms of integration and the varying COVID-19 spread levels between them.

Books & Book Chapters / Livres & chapitres d’ouvrages collectifs

  • Rupak Chattopadhyay, Felix KnĂŒpling, Diana Chebenova, Liam Whittington, Phillip Gonzalez (eds),: This book provides a comparative analysis of policy approaches and planning adopted by federal governments across the globe to battle and adequately respond to the health emergency as well as the socio-economic fallouts of the pandemic.
  • Multiple Countries: Nico Steytler (ed), (London: Routledge, 2021): With case studies from 19 federal countries, this book explores the core elements of federalism that came to the fore in combatting the pandemic: the division of responsibilities (disaster management, health care, social welfare, and education), the need for centralisation, and intergovernmental relations and cooperation. The authors adopt a multidisciplinary approach to question whether federalism has been a help or a hindrance in tackling the pandemic.
  • Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States / Argentine, BrĂ©sil, Canada, Mexique, et États-Unis: B. Guy Peters, Eduardo Grin & Fernando Luiz Abrucio, eds, “” (Emerald Publishing Limited, 2021): American Federal Systems and COVID-19 analyzes five American federations – Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States – and how they have responded to a complex intergovernmental problem (CIP) such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Countries of European Union / Pays de l’Union EuropĂ©enne: Linda Hantrais, Marie-ThĂ©rĂšse Letablier, “” (New York: Routledge, 2021): This book offers a template for analyzing policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and for using evidence-based comparisons to inform and support policy development.
  • Brazil, United States, India, Belgium, Germany and Australia / BrĂ©sil, États-Unis, Inde, Belgique, Allemagne et Australie: JosĂ© Ma. Serna de la Garza (coordinatior), (Mexico: Instituto De Investigaciones JurĂ­dicas, October 2020): This book is a collection of articles on how different constitutional orders responded to the pandemic and it includes many articles on federal systems such as Brazil, United States, India, Belgium, Germany and Australia.
  • United States, Brazil, Germany, European Union, Italy, Spain / États-Unis, BrĂ©sll, Allemagne, Union europĂ©enne, Italie, Espagne: Gian Luca Gardini (ed.), , European of International Studies Press, 2020: The e-book includes articles on national and regional perspectives about COVID-19 crisis and deals with several federal/ quasi-federal systems.

Research Papers & Reports / Documents de recherche & Rapports

  • OECD Countries: OECD, “”, Fiscal Federalism 2022: Making Decentralization Work, February 2022: This chapter of the OECD report analyses the responses countries have taken through the channel of intergovernmental relations to tackle the pandemic at different stages of the crisis, highlighting lessons learnt. Not only have intergovernmental relations shaped the response to the crisis, but the crisis is shaping the future of intergovernmental relations. 
  • Multiple countries: Metropolis, Analytics Note 4, December 2021: This note focuses on multilevel governance and emergency coordination during the COVID-19 pandemic. It draws on case study analysis of 15 national-level responses, assesses the position of subnational governments within the pandemic response structure.
  • Multiple Countries: Cheryl Saunders, “”, Constitutional Insights, No. 7, September 2021: This article explores what can be learned from the COVID-19 experience about the purposes, design and operation of federations, including for the division and allocation of powers and fiscal resources; collaboration and cooperation between levels of government; and the challenges of democratic accountability.
  • United States & Germany /États-Unis & Allemagne: Brandon Bohrn, “”, Bertelsmann Foundation, February 2021: This report is devoted to exploring the most pressing challenges facing the United States and Germany and presenting analysis to policymakers, professors, teachers, and students on both sides of the Atlantic. It provides readers with a better understanding of how the U.S. and Germany, through their different forms of federalism, have navigated this once-in-a-century public health crisis.
  • Multiple Countries: Sheila Jasanof, Stephen Hilgartner, J. Benjamin Hurlbut, Onur Özgöde, Margarita Rayzberg et al., 12 January 2021: This report provides a preliminary distillation of Comparative Covid Response: Crisis, Knowledge, Politics (CompCoRe) – a cross-national study of the policy responses of 16 countries across five continents. Led by a team based at Harvard, Cornell and Arizona State Universities, CompCoRe is a collaborative undertaking involving more than 60 researchers from around the world. The participating countries are Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Additionally, teams from Indonesia and Peru, as well as an Africa Group, are included as CompCoRe affiliates. Since the list contains federal countries, it also analyzes the effects of federal system where it is relevant.
  • Germany & European Union /Allemagne & Union EuropĂ©enne: Lucie Coatleven, François Hublet, ThĂ©ophile Rospars, , Groupe d’études gĂ©opolitiques, DĂ©cembre 2020 : Ce rapport propose de s’inspirer de la rĂ©ponse institutionnelle allemande, suisse ou belge pour imaginer une « gestion de crise subsidiaire » au service des citoyens et des territoires europĂ©ens.
  • Latin America & Caribbean / AmĂ©rique Latine, & Les CaraĂŻbes: OAS & Forum of Federations & University of Kent, , 2020: The Organization of American States, the Forum of Federations and the University of Kent organized a webinar on the occasion of the International Day of Peace (September 21) addressing the growing pivotal role of subnational governments in the current Latin American and Caribbean COVID-19 scenario. The information was reviewed and summarized to produce this practical guide as an important contribution to the hemispheric efforts underway to strengthen local democratic governance, and more specifically to respond effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic at the subnational levels.
  • OECD Countries / Pays d’OCDE: OECD, “”, OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19), 2 September 2020: This paper discusses the high-level institutional arrangements put in place by governments with a special focus on center of governments role in three main dimensions: co-ordination and strategic planning, the use of evidence to inform decision-making, and communicating decisions to the public. Even though the paper is not solely focused on federal systems, it also provides insights to how central governments coordinate subnational responses.
  • United States and European Union / États-Unis et Union EuropĂ©enne: Carlo Maria Palermo, “”, CESPI, 22 March 2020: This policy brief tries to explain the situation for both Europe and the United States in the early days of the pandemic and discusses how to create more efficient, accountable institutions for the citizens.

Blog Posts & Academic Essays / Billets de blogue & essais académiques

  • Canada & Germany / Canada & Allemagne: Marie Bettega, « Les dilemmes du fĂ©dĂ©ralisme face Ă  la pandĂ©mie de COVID-19 », Forum of Federations Blog, 25 fĂ©vrier 2022 : Depuis Janvier 2020, la pandĂ©mie de COVID-19 marque une crise sanitaire internationale sans prĂ©cĂ©dent. La propagation accĂ©lĂ©rĂ©e du virus dans un monde globalisĂ© a nĂ©cessitĂ© des rĂ©ponses inĂ©dites de la part des gouvernements. L’efficacitĂ© des actions engagĂ©es dĂ©pend du systĂšme politique des diffĂ©rents États. Cet article se concentre sur les États fĂ©dĂ©raux, et plus particuliĂšrement le Canada et l’Allemagne.
  • Multiple countries: Sean Dougherty, Pietrangelo de Biase, “”, VOX EU CEPR, 26 October 2021: This column presents evidence suggesting that the Covid crisis has impacted the fiscal positions of subnational governments in the OECD far less than the previous crisis, which should mitigate the tendency of subnational government towards pro-cyclical fiscal policy by reducing investment, drawing out the recovery.
  • Multiple countries: Eugenio Velasco-Ibarra, “”, IACL-AIDC Blog, 16 September 2021: In this contribution, the author addresses the broad constitutional theme of federalism and restrict their discussion to that which is more uniquely apposite to the character of a state’s inter-governmental relations.
  • Arvind Ashta, “”, LSE EUROPP Blog, 18 March 2021: Ashta lists seven reasons why we should now consider moving toward a world federal government.
  • Multiple Countries: Sean Molloy, Christine Bell, Asanga Welikala, Erin Houlihan, Kimana Zulueta-FĂŒlscher, “”, Verfassungsblog, 13 March 2021: This post looks at emergency law responses to the Covid-19 pandemic in conflict-affected states in transition and it underlines the impact on relationships between the central state and divided groups in sub-state regions as a main area of concern.
  • Nyasha Weinberg, Joelle Grogan, “”, Verfassungsblog, 4 November 2020: In this post, authors argue that the most effective action in response to global health emergency is guided by principles of the rule of law and good governance. They also focus on the benefits of collaboration for multi-level governance.
  • France, Italy, United States / France, Italie, États-Unis: Isabel Perera, Sidney Tarrow, “”, Public Seminar, 26 August 2020: This essay argues that institutional fragmentation and a lack of national solidarity have derailed the pandemic response in the US by comparing it to France and Italy.
  • Australia, India, and the United States / Australie, Inde, et États-Unis: Niranjan Sahoo, “”, Melbourne Asia Review Blog, 14 July 2020: The article explains how the pandemic is exposing the strengths and weaknesses of different forms of federal systems by giving examples from these three federations.
  • Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico / Argentine, BrĂ©sil, Mexique: Julie VanDusky-Allen, Olga Shvestova, and Andrei Zhirnov, “”, Duck of Minerva, 2 July 2020: The authors compare the responses of these three countries by taking into account both the national and subnational levels.
  • Australia & USA / Australie & États-Unis: Julian R. Murphy, “”, BACL Blog, 25 May 2020: Murphy compares the responses of the federal systems of Australia and the United States and suggests that it is as much the attitude of the actors within the federal system, as it is the system itself, which determines the success of a national response in a time of crisis.
  • Francesco Palermo, “”, Verfassungblog, 13 May 2020: Palermo compares responses to the crisis in many different federal systems as well as reactions to those responses, and argues for the importance of federalism during this turbulent period to protect another principle related to federalism: pluralism.
  • Luiz de Mello, JoĂŁo Tovar Jalles, “”, VOX CEPR Policy Portal, 8 April 2020: Authors describe how, in particular, the crisis was associated with an increase in the subnational shares of general government spending and revenue, which are conventional quantitative gauges of fiscal decentralisation.

Working Papers / Documents de travail

  • OECD Countries / Pays d’OCDE: David Cameron, “”, Forum of Federations Occasional Paper Series, No. 50, April 2021: In this chapter, the author scrutinizes how the pandemic was managed while focusing on differences between federal and non-federal countries.
  • Indonesia & Malaysia / IndonĂ©sie & Malaisie: Raine Sroge Johnson, “”, Birmingham Working Paper Series, 18 January 2021: This paper identifies and analyzes Indonesia and Malaysia’s public health policies from March to May of 2020. It argues that Indonesia’s political elites’ denial of the pandemic threat and incumbents’ economic and religious anxieties as well as the nation’s federal institutional design dictated its lackluster policy response. Comparatively, after the resolution of Malaysia’s political turmoil, the new incumbent was enabled by the country’s federal institutional design to create effective policies that prioritized health and safety over the short-term political concerns.
  • OECD Countries / Pays d’OCDE: Pietrangelo de Biase and Sean Dougherty, “”, OECD Working Papers on Fiscal Federalism, January 2021: The paper focuses on how countries made changes to the configuration of federalism during the first wave of the pandemic. The strengths, weaknesses and implementation risks of various approaches are analysed using country examples.
  • Olga Shvetsova, Andrei Zhirnov, Julie VanDusky-Allen, Abdul Basit Adeel et al., “”, October 2020: This essay argues that institutional systems that allow redundancies in information channels and in policy-making (i.e. democracies and decentralized policies) are more likely to generate a rapid policy response to crises such as the onset of COVID-19 pandemic than more streamlined systems.
  • Germany, Switzerland, France and Italy / Allemagne, Suisse, France et Italie: Tim Buthe, Joan BarcelĂł, Cindy Cheng, Paula Ganga, Luca Messerschmidt, Allison Spencer Hartnett, and Robert Kubinec, “”, SSRN, 14 September 2020: Authors argue that the extent to which federalist countries reap the benefits or suffer the costs of giving sub-national units greater autonomy depends on whether a given policy is itself more optimally implemented homogenously or heterogeneously across different regions. They analyze national and sub-national policy responses to COVID-19 in 2 federal (Germany and Switzerland) and 2 unitary countries (France and Italy).
  • Multiple states: Olga Shvetsova, Andrey Zhirnov, Abdul Basit Adeel, Michael Catalano, Olivia Catalano, Hyoungrohk Chu, Garrett K. Dumond, Georgian-Marius Ghincea, Jason Means, Ezgi Muftuoglu, Tara Riggs, Almira Sadykova, Mehmet Halit Sezgin, Julie Vandusky Allen, and Tianyi Zhao, “”, Citizenship, Rights, and Cultural Belonging Working Paper Series, 12 May 2020: The article analyzes the contrast in the speed of policy response between more centralized and autocratic states versus democratic federations.
  • USA & United Kingdom / États-Unis & Royaume Uni: Olga Shvetsova, Michael Catalano, Hyoungrohk Chu, Garrett K. Dumond, Ezgi Muftuoglu, Hasan Ozutemiz, Almira Sadykova, and Tara Riggs, “”, Citizenship, Rights, and Cultural Belonging Working Paper Series, 15 April 2020: This piece explains how democratic institutions, in particular federalism, can impact the speed and degree of policy responses protecting citizens, even when national leaders share similar public rhetoric that is non-conducive to speedy policy response through a comparison of the policies of United States and United Kingdom.

Opinions

  • Australia & Canada / Australie & Canada : Steven Lewis, “”, Policy Options, 10 February 2021: The article briefly explains how Australia’s strong and coordinated response to the pandemic could be a lesson for Canada.
  • Australia & Canada /Australie & Canada: Stephen Van Dine, “”, iPolitics, 5 February 2021: The article offers another comparison of two federal systems.
  • France & Allemagne /France & Germany: Vincent Glad, « », łąâ€ÍÖłæ±è°ù±đČőČő, 5 fĂ©vrier 2021 : L’article compare la France et l’Allemagne pour songer s’il existe un argument Ă  faire pour soutenir le fĂ©dĂ©ralisme dans la guerre contre COVID-19.
  • France, Allemagne & Belgique / France, Germany & Belgium: GĂ©rald Papy, « Avantage Ă  l’Etat fĂ©dĂ©ral », Le Vif, NumĂ©ro 19, 7 Mai 2020.
  • USA, India & EU / États-Unis, Inde & UE: Mihir Sharma, “”, Bloomberg News, 02 May 2020: Sharma explains how COVID-19 widen the fault lines existing within these federal systems.
  • Davide Vampa, “”, Democratic Audit, 15 April 2020: In this piece, Vamps compares the territorial arrangements of countries facing the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and argues that centralising power in federal systems would be misguided, and instead we should look to examples of successful coordination within multi-level forms of governance.
  • Argentina, Brazil & Mexico: Agustina Giraudy, Sara Niedzwiecki, and Jennifer Pribble “”, Americas Quarterly, 30 April 2020.
  • Canada & US: James McCarten, “”, National Post, 14 April 2020.
  • Brazil & US / BrĂ©sil & États-Unis: Wayne Madsen, “”, Strategic Culture Foundation, 28 March 2020: The author offers an early day comparison of two states’ pandemic policies.

News Articles / Article de presse

  • Allemagne, Italie & Espagne /Germany, Italy & Spain: Ludovic Piedtenu, Marie-HĂ©lĂšne Ballestero, Olivier Tosseri, « », France Info, 3 mars 2021 : Les auteurs expliquent les procĂ©dures de dĂ©cisions dans ces trois pays dĂ©centralisĂ©s.
  • France & Allemagne / France & Germany: Ludovic Piedtenu, « », France Inter, 24 janvier 2021 : L’article compare la France et l’Allemagne en terme de communications des mesures contre COVID-19.
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