Rethinking federalism in contested polities: EU and Canada as multi-headed federations?

Organised by

• Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies
• EGPP: European Governance and Politics Programme

The point of departure for this paper is the need to reconsider federalism to make it more suitable for today’s world. From the late Daniel Elazar, we can discern an 'interconnectedness-consent conundrum': even if polities are closely interconnected, they exhibit little willingness to enter a binding federal arrangement. Furthermore, what has become the federal orthodoxy today—the American model of federalism—does not transfer well to other contexts. Two main alternatives to the American model, multilevel governance and multinational federation, also have weaknesses.

This paper outlines the challenges to the American model, addresses the shortcomings in multilevel governance and multinational federalism, and introduces the concept of multi-headed federations. This term has no normative pretensions and may serve as a temporary point in the direction of further federalisation or defederalisation. The paper presents the key features of this concept, assesses Canada and the EU as potential examples, and explores possible routes for transition.