Federalism: Dilemmas of a conceptual definition

Abstract

The aim of this research paper is to present the dilemmas involved in the efforts to define federalism. The paper’s approach ranges from the most basic references on the meaning of federalism to some attempts that seek to determine the concepts in a more meticulous way. Once a general framework of aspects has been established for the definition of federalism, we will try to demonstrate that, even so, when approaching different realities arising from this structure, there still remains a problem of definition. In order to illustrate the persistence of this conceptual indefinition, we will refer to concrete cases whose specific features may help to show the dilemmas involved in the efforts to suggest a concept of federalism. We seek to argue that the formalistic approaches, which focus on the features of institutions, might run the risk of taking wrong decisions. The specific type of current federalism depends on how its institutions overlap with specific political contexts. Therefore, the specific types of federate institutions relate to other political variables, amounting to different redundant results. Furthermore, the institutions are activated by specific political processes. The form in which the political power is distributed in a given political system depends partly on the characteristics of its institutions, but also depends on the form the political game theory is processed.