Costing Constitutional Change: Estimating the Cost of Five Variations on Australia's Federal System

Australia's system of government is by far the most centralised of the four 'classic' federations, hosting extremely centralised states, exceptionally weak local governments, and little of the substantive decentralisation and subsidiarity often presumed to derive from a federal structure. Five variations on the present structure are examined to estimate the costs of improved decentralisation, including New States models as traditionally advocated, Regional States models based on the ACT combined state–local prototype, and a National–Local model comprising a strengthened national government and local governments in essentially their present form. 1 Results indicate that the Regional States or National–Local models could deliver greater decentralisation while saving over $20 billion per annum compared to the present system. Generally, the analysis suggests that coherent modelling of alternative government structures may be more feasible than previously thought.     

The West German Federal Constitutional Court as Guardian of the Federal System

The West German Federal Constitutional Court has generally actedas a guardian of the German federal system. The Court has preventedattempts by the federation to encroach upon the modest autonomyleft to the Länder. If a national solution for a problemseems indispensable, the Court favors techniques that compensatethe Länder for a loss of autonomy by granting them certainparticipation rights. Guided by that principle, the Court'sconstruction of the Basic Law has increased considerably thenumber of federal statutes that require the approval of theBunesrat. Thus the Court emphasizes today the idea of partnership.However, in a 1986 decision, the Court made clear that a certainamount of federal leadership is needed to keep the system running.In this decision, the Court reminded the federation expresslyof its responsibility for the whole.     

The French Constitutional Council: A Study in Institutional Change

Embodying a revolution in French constitutional law. in principle, the Constitutional Council initially seemed destined for a marginal role. However, a 1971 decision constitutionalizing the Preamble to the constitution and the 1974 revision extending access to 60 parliamentarians transformed its prospects. Initially devised to keep Parliament in its place, it is now a force to be reckoned with at every stage in the policy process but its constraints are felt mainly by the executive. Its jurisprudence displays a blend of audacity and prudence. combining ambitious developments in respect of human rights and national independence with cautious awareness of its vulnerability as a recent creation arbitrating controversial issues within a system traditionally antipathetic to 'government by the judges'.     

State Initiatives in the Federal System: The Politics and Policy of Comparable Worth in 1984

In 1984, comparable worth came to occupy center stage amongstate and local political systems as the civil rights causeof the 1980s. Advocates of comparable worth came to see stateand local governments as being more receptive to consideringpolicy initiatives in this area than was the federal government.This article documents comparable worth events culminating in1984, describes the expansion of state and local action in thisarea, and considers the implications of these developments forthe federal system. A conceptual framework for examining theissue of comparable worth is also presented.     

State Sovereignty in the Federal System: Constitutional Protections Under the Tenth and Eleventh Amendments

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that state sovereignty is protectedby principles of common law rather than explicit constitutionalguarantees under the Tenth and Eleventh Amendments. The Courthas also cautioned that congressional actions, even under delegatedpowers, may not threaten the integrity of states as sovereignentities in the federal system. The National League of Citiesdecision in 1976 appeared to reverse this doctrine by implyingthe existence of Tenth Amendment protections of state actionsin traditional functional areas. However, the federal courtsdiscounted the NLC ruling as a compelling precedent in subsequentfederalism cases because of its vagueness and its fundamentalinconsistency with established doctrine. In 1985, the SupremeCourt overturned the ruling in Garcia v. San Antonio, reaffirmingthe common law nature of state sovereignty and arguing thatconstitutional protection of state interests lies primarilyin the representative structure of the federal system ratherthan in specific constitutional guarantees.     

The Political Constitution of Federalism in Antebellum America: The Nullification Debate as an Illustration of Informal Mechanisms of Constitutional Change

The requirements of the U.S. Constitution are often assumedto be either clear or defined by the judiciary through interpretation,or both. Examination of the nullification crisis of 1833 indicatesthat this view of the U.S. Constitution is misleading. The nullificationcrisis provoked three competing visions of the appropriate understandingof federalism in the context of textual ambiguity and judicialactivity. The subsequent development of federalism was determinedby that political conflict and compromise. The nullificationcontroversy provides an important example of the openness ofconstitutional norms, the significance of political debate inthe shaping of constitutional meaning, and the complexity ofantebellum political thought.     

The Enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982: A Multiple Perspectives Explanation

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) is generally analyzed from the distinct perspective of any given actor involved in the nuclear waste policymaking process. Yet, these perspectives often rest on totally different models of decisionmaking. This article applies a multiple perspective explanation as developed by Allison (1971) and Linstone (1984) to the NWPA and explains policy outcomes by reference to three models of decisionmaking: rational actor, organizational processes and governmental politics. Commonalities and points of disjointure in the three models are highlighted and prospects for future nuclear waste disposal policy development are assessed using an integrated decisionmaking framework.     

The President's FY 1990 Budget: The Last Act in a Decade of Change

This article examines the budget requests of Presidents Reagan and Bush for fiscal year 1990, and how the federal budget has changed during the decade of the 1980s. The author concludes that the federal budget has become less controllable, as the priorities and composition of federal expenditures have shifted during the Reagan years. While the Reagan and Bush budgets do not differ significantly, the manner in which they were constructed does. The effort of President Bush to define his budgetary version of a "kinder, gentler" America may be more illusory than real. The author also traces the change in federal assistance to state and local governments, concluding that, apart from transfer payments, the federal role has markedly declined.     

The Directions of Constitutional Change: Implications for the Public Sector

Constitutional change is in the air and this applies to the constitutional system, not just the documents that we call the Commonwealth and state constitutions in Australia. The causes of change are multitudinous but two warrant special mention: (a) natural or endemic change in the economy and society at large, and (b) political causes.     

The Politics of Judicial Procedures: The Role of Public Oral Hearings in the German Constitutional Court

Modern liberal democracies typically depend on courts with the power of constitutional review to ensure that elected officials do not breach their constitutional obligations. The efficacy of this review, however, can depend on the public observing such breaches. One resource available to many of the world's constitutional courts to influence the public's ability to do so is public oral hearings. Drawing on the comparative judicial literature on separation of powers, public awareness, and noncompliance, I develop a formal model of public oral hearings. The model provides empirical implications for when a court will hold public oral hearings and how hearings correspond to a court's willingness to rule against elected officials. An empirical analysis of hearings at the German Constitutional Court supports the model's prediction that courts use hearings as a resource to address potential noncompliance.     

The 2003 and 2015 Constitutional Referenda in Rwanda: A Significant Change in Voter Turnout

Data on voter turnout and choice at the Rwanda’s 2003 and 2015 constitutional referenda were acquired and analyzed. The results revealed contrasting changes in voter turnout between diaspora and in-country electorate. Arguably, at home, lack of freedom on the part of registered voters to make independent choices may explain the 9.3 percent and 5.2 percent increase in voter turnout and “yes” vote, respectively. On the other hand, while the repressive arm of the regime can reach Rwandan citizens both at home and abroad so as to compel them not oppose its political agenda, voters in diaspora enjoy some level of relaxation, especially those staying in Western democracies, which could explain the 37.8 percent drop in voter turnout. The article further argues that the results of the 2003 and 2015 referenda could be used to support suggestions that the Tutsi electorate indeed stands more divided than it was a decade ago.     

Constitutional Reform and Continental Free Trade: A Review of Issues in Canadian Federalism in 1987

Two issues dominated the Canadian federal provincial agendain 1987: constitutional reform and trade negotiations with theUnited States. On the constitutional side, a unanimous agreement—knownas the Meech Lake Accord—was reached among First Ministers(Prime Minister and provincial premiers). On the economic side,Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and President Ronald Reagan signeda comprehensive, bilateral, free trade agreement. However, neitheragreement will take effect until endorsed or implemented bythe relevant legislatures, and one cannot take for granted thatlegislative approval will be forthcoming in either case. Whateverthe outcome, the attempt to grapple with these matters willhave a lasting impact on Canadian federalism. Both agreementsare controversial in certain regions, and while implementationwould initiate a string of systemic changes, rejection wouldengender new regional animosities. Thus, each of the two issues,taken separately, will affect institutional arrangements andterritorial (regional) relationships within Canada. The interplaybetween the two initiatives will also be significant.     

Policy and Organizational Change in the Federal Aviation Administration: The Ontogenesis of a High‐Reliability Organization

Although the high‐reliability organization (HRO) literature identifies several attributes that differentiate HROs from other types of organizations, these studies do not explain how an HRO comes into being, nor do they provide a means to gauge or measure the extent to which an organization exhibits the specified features. This article reports the results of a 97‐year longitudinal case study tracking the emergence and continuation of HRO characteristics in the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control operations to answer the following questions: how do HRO functions emerge in public organizations, and do policy changes lead administrative changes, or is there little relation between policy and organizational change? The analysis shows that (1) HRO characteristics emerged incrementally over an extremely long period of time, and (2) policy changes preceded organizational changes early in the process of HRO development, but the relationship of policy change to organizational change decreased in later stages.