Courts in Federal Countries: Federalists or Unitarists?

Description

“Courts In Federal Countries: Federalists or Unitarists” Courts are key players in the dynamics of federal countries since their rulings have a direct impact on the ability of governments to centralize and decentralize power. Courts in Federal Countries examines the role high courts play in thirteen countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Nigeria, Spain, and the United States. The volume’s contributors analyze the centralizing or decentralizing forces at play following a court’s ruling on issues such as individual rights, economic affairs, social issues, and other matters. The thirteen substantive chapters have been written to facilitate comparability between the countries. Each chapter outlines a country’s federal system, explains the constitutional and institutional status of the court system, and discusses the high court’s jurisprudence in light of these features. Courts in Federal Countries offers insightful explanations of judicial behavior in the world’s leading federations. Foreword, Peter H. Russell vii Preface xi 1 Introduction: Courts in Federal Countries 3 nicholas aroney and john kincaid 2 The High Court of Australia: Textual Unitarism vs Structural Federalism 29 nicholas aroney 3 The Constitutional Court of Belgium: Safeguard of the Autonomy of the Communities and Regions 69 patrick peeters and jens mosselmans 4 The Supreme Federal Court of Brazil: Protecting Democracy and Centralized Power 103 gilberto marcos antonio rodrigues, marco antonio garcia, lopes lorencini, and augusto zimmermann 5 The Supreme Court of Canada: The Concept of Cooperative Federalism and Its Effect on the Balance of Power 135 eugénie brouillet 6 The Supreme Court of Ethiopia: Federalism’s Bystander 165 gedion t. hessebon and abduletif k. idris 7. The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany: Guardian of Unitarism and Federalism 193 arthur benz 8 The Supreme Court of India: The Rise of Judicial Power and the Protection of Federalism 223 manish tewari and rekha saxena 9 The Supreme Court of Mexico: Reconfiguring Federalism through Constitutional Adjudication and Amendment after Single-Party Rule 256 josé antonio caballero juárez 10 The Supreme Court of Nigeria: An Embattled Judiciary More Centralist Than Federalist 290 rotimi t. suberu 11 The Constitutional Court of South Africa: Reinforcing an Hourglass System of Multi-Level Government 328 nico steytler 12 The Constitutional Court of Spain: From System Balancer to Polarizing Centralist 367 elisenda casanas adam 13 The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland: Judicial Balancing of Federalism without Judicial Review 404 andreas lienhard, daniel kettiger, jacques bühler, loranne mérillat, and daniela winkler 14 The Supreme Court of the United States: Promoting Centralization More Than State Autonomy 440 ilya somin 15 Comparative Observations and Conclusions 482 nicholas aroney and john kincaid