Transformative Energy Policy in Federal Systems

Transforming the energy system towards an increasing share of renewables requires a significant change of a policy to redirect the path-dependent evolution of a highly complex technical system. Moreover, a new path of development towards energy provision from renewables has to be stabilized to assure sustainability. The federal systems in Canada and Germany diverge in the institutional conditions relevant for policy change and stability. Canadian federalism separates powers in energy policy and allows the federal and provincial governments to change policies on their own. In contrast, German federalism requires co-operation between federal and Länder governments which favors policy stability but renders significant change unlikely. However, energy transformation started in the 1990s in Germany under conditions that allowed the federal government to avoid the usual mode of joint decision-making. In Canada, provincial governments took the lead in energy transformation, when the conservative federal government showed no interest in intergovernmental coordination. The article explains these shifts in power within the institutional framework. It also discusses the consequences, considering the stability of transformative energy policy. In Germany, policy change from the center undermined the stabilizing structures of intergovernmental coordination, in Canada, institutional conditions favoring continuity never existed. Hence in both countries, governments changed policies but failed to reform institutions of governance.

COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan: Containment Failed or Successful?

This short article examines key governmental measures against the spread of COVID-19 in Japan from a geopolitical perspective. “Geopolitical” in this article means to see the measures as spatial strategies. At the stage of globalized pandemic, state territoriality or border control is no longer able to effectively control the spread of the virus. Instead, this article argues, multi-scalar intergovernmental coordination is inevitable to tackle the virus moving along increasing trans-border/local human flows. Using the case of Japan, this article overviews how effective social distancing as a spatial strategy has been and illustrates how the limits to such a strategy to control human behavior can affect anti-virus measures. In conclusion, this article argues that the effective devolution of state power to local governments and the strengthening of state supplementary function to sustain local healthcare system and economy would be more desirable than the authoritative concentration of state power in the state of emergency.

Vertically-challenged? Interrogating intergovernmental coordination in Kenya’s municipal solid waste management (MSWM) for sustainability

The concept of environmental integration offers a viable paradigm for realisation of sustainability through incorporation of environmental protection considerations in policy and legislation. Pursuing optimal environmental integration between various levels of governance – a concept known as vertical environmental integration (VEI) – is contingent on effective and adequate intergovernmental coordination. Using municipal solid waste management (MSWM) as a reference case, this paper explores the pursuit of VEI through intergovernmental coordination in Kenya. The paper argues that the prospects of entrenching VEI are undermined by inadequate and incongruent intergovernmental coordination mechanisms and strategies as well as by the lack of clarity in distribution of regulatory responsibilities in MSWM between the national and county levels of government. This is despite the adoption of a transformative Constitution in 2010 with a focus on devolution that emphasises coordinated and consultative relationships between the two levels of government. Lessons from South Africa offer prospects for improving intergovernmental coordination to achieve sustainability in MSWM.

Classifying Cases in Federal Studies. An Illustration of why Political Scientists should do more Cluster Analysis

Typologies are widely used in research on federalism, e.g. to distinguish dual from cooperative or coming-together from holding-together federations. More general, ideal types, archetypes and categories are frequently used in political science research to define concepts and classify cases. As recently as in 2014, Filho et al. pointed out that Cluster Analysis is still hardly used when it comes to developing typologies in political science. Rather, political scientists rely on more intuitive methods or factor analysis. Our paper argues that Cluster Analysis is of great usefulness because it a) focuses on the relationship between cases and not variables and b) draws on empirical data when identifying the clusters. This paper proposes to apply this fruitful approach to the field of federalism to exemplify its major heuristic potential. Furthermore, we emphasize that testing the secondary validity is a crucial step. Our paper provides two original examples from comparative federal politics and public management that illustrate the strength of Cluster Analysis both in testing and generating hypotheses through the establishment of typologies. For both examples, the validity of the Cluster Analysis is tested by checking for correlations between the clusters and the distribution of power. Hence, the typologies established through Cluster Analysis not only define our respective dependent variables related to aspects of intergovernmental coordination within federations and the normative density of evaluation clauses in the Swiss federation, but also offer strong insights in issues of regional autonomy.