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Afederacy is a form ofgovernment where one or several substate units enjoy considerably more independence than the majority of the substate units.[1] To some extent, such an arrangement can be considered to be similar toasymmetric federalism.
A federacy is aform of government with features of both afederation andunitary state.[1] In a federacy, at least one of the constituent parts of thestate isautonomous, while the other constituent parts are either not autonomous or comparatively less autonomous. An example of such an arrangement isFinland, whereÅland, which has the status of autonomous province, has considerably more autonomy than the other provinces. The autonomous constituent part enjoys a degree of independence as though it was part of federation, while the other constituent parts are as independent as subunits in a unitary state. This autonomy is guaranteed in the country'sconstitution. The autonomous subunits are often formercolonial possessions or are home to a differentethnic group from the rest of the country.[1] These autonomous subunits often have a special status ininternational relations.
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Several states are federacies. The exact autonomy of the subunits differs from country to country.
Barbuda is autonomous withinAntigua and Barbuda.
Norfolk Island self-government was revoked by the Australian Federal Government in 2015. Its laws were subsumed into the laws of the Australian federal government and be subordinate to them. On 1 July 2016, the federal government increased federal regulations so that federal laws would also apply to Norfolk Island and to make it semi-autonomous. Since then, opposition by several organizations have protested these actions to the United Nations to include the island on its list of "non-self-governing territories".[2][3]
Nakhchivan is an autonomous part ofAzerbaijan.
Rotuma has the status of dependency in Fiji.
The archipelago ofÅland is aregion ofFinland, but compared to the other regions, it enjoys a high degree of home rule. Extensive autonomy was granted to it in theAct on the Autonomy of Åland of 1920 (last revised 1991), and the autonomy was affirmed by aLeague of Nations decision in 1921. TheParliament of Åland (Lagtinget) handles duties that in other provinces are exercised by state provincial offices of thecentral government. Åland sends one representative to theFinnish parliament, and is a member of the Nordic Council (independently of Finland). It is demilitarised, and the population is exempt fromconscription. Åland has issued its ownpostage stamps since 1984, and runs its own police force. Most of Åland's inhabitants speakSwedish as theirfirst language (91.2% in 2007). Åland's autonomous status was a result of disputes between Sweden andImperial Russia in 1809, and between Finland and Sweden 1917–1921.
Most of theFrench Republic is divided into 18régions: 13 are inmetropolitan France (Corsica, one of these, is strictly speaking not arégion, but is often counted as such) and 5 arerégions d'outre-mer (overseas regions). Not included in anyrégion are fivecollectivités d'outre-mer, oneterritoire d'outre-mer, onecollectivité sui generis and remoteClipperton Island (which is state private property under direct authority of theMinister of Overseas France). All are integral parts of France and subject toFrench law, butNew Caledonia (thecollectivité sui generis) andFrench Polynesia (one of the fivecollectivités d'outre-mer, but designated apays d'outre-mer) have considerably more autonomy. All except the uninhabitedFrench Southern and Antarctic Lands (theterritoire d'outre-mer) and Clipperton Island are represented in theFrench parliament. Defence and diplomatic affairs are responsibilities of France, but some overseas parts do participate in some international organisations directly. (Réunion, for example, is a member of theIndian Ocean Commission.) The French overseas territories were in the pastcolonial possessions.
Arab Iraq and theKurdistan Region havede jure full sovereignty over internal matters for their respective regions. The agreement was upheld in the country's2005 constitution.
After independence from British rule,princely states of theIndian Empire during theBritish Colonial Era were given the choice to opt for either to the new Dominions ofIndia orPakistan. TheKashmir state was ruled by a Hindu kingMaharaja Hari Singh but the majority of its population was Muslim. According toBurton Stein'sHistory of India,
Currently, the region is divided amongst three countries ina territorial dispute: Pakistan controls the northwest portion (Gilgit–Baltistan andAzad Jammu and Kashmir), India controls the central and southern portion (Jammu and Kashmir) andLadakh, and the People's Republic ofChina controls the northeastern portion (Aksai Chin and theTrans-Karakoram Tract). India controls the majority of theSiachen Glacier area including theSaltoro Ridge passes, whilst Pakistan controls the lower territory just southwest of the Saltoro Ridge. India controls 101,338 km2 (39,127 sq mi) of the disputed territory; Pakistan 85,846 km2 (33,145 sq mi); and the PRC, the remaining 37,555 km2 (14,500 sq mi).
On 20 November 2001, theMauritius National Assembly unanimously adopted two laws givingRodrigues autonomy, creating a decentralised government system. This new legislation has allowed the implementation of a regional assembly in Rodrigues constituting 18 members and an executive council headed by aChief Commissioner. The council meets every week to make decisions, draw up laws and manage the budget. TheChief Commissioner has the main task of informing the Mauritian Prime Minister of the management of the island's concerns.
In 1994Gagauzia, a territory in the southern part of theRepublic of Moldova inhabited by theGagauz people, an ethnic group distinct from the majorityMoldovans, was given autonomy including "the right of external self-determination". This is in contrast to the other subdivisions of Moldova (raioane) which are county-level administrative areas with little autonomy. However, the eastern part of Moldova is aninternationally unrecognized breakaway republic (Transnistria) which isde facto self-governing.
TheKingdom of the Netherlands consists of four autonomous countries, linked by theCharter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands as constituent parts: theNetherlands, an autonomous, independent country, andAruba,Curaçao andSint Maarten, three separate, non-independent, autonomous countries. (Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten formerly made up theNetherlands Antilles, which was acolony of the Netherlands until 1954. Aruba reached an agreement ondecolonization with the Kingdom of the Netherlands following a referendum held in 1977, and became autonomous and separate from the Antilles, with astatus aparte: meaning the status of an autonomous country with its full autonomous country status officially recognized in the Charter since 1986.) The Charter links the four autonomous countries. Aruba, Curaçao, and St. Maarten do not each havestatehood but haveDutch nationality in common with the Netherlands. Each of the four countries have separate constitutions, governments and parliaments, but Aruba alone has its own national currency andCentral Bank.
TheCouncil of Ministers of the Kingdom as a whole consistsde facto of theCouncil of Ministers of the Netherlands together with three ministersplenipotentiary, one nominated by each of the other countries. The legislature of the Kingdom consists of the parliament of the Netherlands.De facto the cabinet and theparliament of the Netherlands are responsible for the administration of the dependencies Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten alongside being responsible for theDutch government. There is limited participation of politicians of the other countries. Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten share a Common Court of Appeals; the DutchHoge Raad ("High Council") acts as theirsupreme court.
Dutch nationals related to these territories are fullyEuropean citizens; however, Dutch-Caribbean citizens residing in Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten are normally not entitled to vote in Dutch elections, but can vote in elections for theEuropean Parliament. Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten areoverseas countries and territories (OCTs), listed under Annex II of theEC Treaty. Hence EC law does not apply there.
The Netherlands Antilles was scheduled to be dissolved as a unified political entity on 15 December 2008, so that the five constituent islands would attain new constitutional statuses within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but this dissolution was postponed until 10 October 2010.Curaçao andSint Maarten gained autonomy as non-independent countries within the Kingdom, as Aruba had in 1986, and the three remaining islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba becamespecial municipalities of the Netherlands itself.[6]
Cook Islands is a member of thePacific Islands Forum and as such is part of the "Umbrella Agreement" including Australia and New Zealand, called the "Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations" (PACER). This agreement includes the future creation of a free trade area amongst the 14 ACP Forum Islands Countries (FICs) called the "Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement" (PICTA), without Australia and New Zealand. Under the Cotonou Agreement, Cook Islands is committed to negotiating the new reciprocal Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between theACP states and the EU, which was due to come into force in 2008. Cook Islands also benefits from the 9th EDF (PRIP) Regional Trade and Economic Integration Programme which provides approximately €9 million to assist the Region in implementing PICTA, negotiate trade agreements with developed partners (e.g. EPA), intensify links with the WTO and address supply-side constraints.
Nicaragua is divided into 15departments and two autonomous regions:North Caribbean Coast andSouth Caribbean Coast. The two autonomous regions formed the historical department ofZelaya and part of theMosquito Coast.
Papua New Guinea is divided into 20 provinces. Among themBougainville has an autonomous government.
ThePhilippines is divided into17 regions, withBangsamoro only the one to have anautonomous region.[7]
An earlier proposed autonomous region, the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity was "federacy" within the Philippines.[8]
Nevis is autonomous withinSaint Kitts and Nevis, with its own deputy governor and government.
Príncipe has had self-government fromSão Tomé since 1995.
Serbia has two 'autonomous provinces' defined in its constitution:Vojvodina, andKosovo & Metohija. The partially recognizedRepublic of Kosovo administers the latter, resulting ina territorial dispute.
Badakhshan is an autonomous region in Tajikistan consisting of 7 local districts. Its government is considered somewhat sovereign to the Tajik government, but the region has from time to time been in militant conflict just as in 2014.[9]
Tanzania is divided in30 regions. Five of those regions together formZanzibar. This island is a self-governing region. It elects its ownpresident who has control over the internal matters of the island. Zanzibar was an independentsultanate and a British protectorate, whileTanganyika was aGermanSchutzgebiet until 1919, when it became a Britishmandate territory. The two were united in 1964, after a popularrevolt against theSultan of Zanzibar.
Tobago has its ownHouse of Assembly, with its Chief Secretary. It handles some of the responsibilities of theTrinidad and Tobago central government.
TheAutonomous Republic of Crimea within Ukraine existed in unregulated form as theConstitution of Ukraine states that Ukraine is aunitary state, until the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea. FollowingWorld War II, the peninsula was in a state of turmoil, intensified by thedeportation of the Crimean Tatars, indigenous to the area, in the spring of 1944. In 1944,Kherson Oblast was created out of Mykolaiv and Zaporizhia oblasts in Soviet Ukraine. In summer of 1945 the peninsula was stripped of its autonomous status as its titular nationality, the Crimean Tatars, were removed and it was made a regular oblast of Russia. To resolve the issue of drought in Crimea, in 1950 construction started on theKakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant and a new city ofNova Kakhovka to serve it, both in Ukraine. At the same time there was a decision to build theNorth Crimean Canal. The new power station improved supply of power to the peninsula, while its dam created theKakhovka Reservoir, which alleviates drought in the steppe areas of Kherson oblast and Crimea. In 1954, theCrimean Oblast was transferred to Soviet Ukraine from theRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, primarily to improve bureaucratic efficiency since power and water in Crimea primarily came from Soviet Ukraine. The transfer represented a territorial readjustment for economic reasons between two administrative divisions of the centralized Soviet Union. During the 1960s, the North Crimean Canal was dug through the steppe territory of Crimea all the way to the city ofKerch. By the time ofdissolution of the Soviet Union, theCrimean Oblast was a favorite vacation spot for top Communist officials from the whole Soviet Union. The then-leader of the Soviet UnionMikhail Gorbachev stayed inForos during the 1991August Putch at his "gosdacha". In 1989 political sanctions against Crimean Tatars in the Soviet Union were lifted and they started to return to their homeland. In 1991, as part of the so-called "Novo-Ogarevo process" (reorganization of the Soviet Union), a referendum was held on the restoration of autonomy to Crimea, but the referendum did not have an option for the Crimean Tatars to be restored as the titular nation. After the August Putsch, a referendum was held in Crimea on Ukrainian independence. In 1992, there was conflict surrounding competing Russian and Ukrainian claims on the former SovietBlack Sea Fleet that was based out ofSevastopol, and there was the possibility of escalation to armed conflict. In 1993 the Russian parliament adopted an official statement "About status of the Sevastopol City" where it made territorial claims against Ukrainian territory in Ukraine. The issue was brought to the Security Council.[10] In 2003, theTuzla Island conflict occurred. In 2014, Crimea was annexed by Russia and Ukraine lostde facto control of Crimea.
The relationship between the United States andPuerto Rico is a federacy.[11][12]
Puerto Rico residents areUnited States citizens and may freely travel between the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico. Residents of Puerto Rico are exempt from some federal taxes. Puerto Rico's autonomy is granted byCongress. Federal taxes do not automatically apply to Puerto Rico unless theGovernment of Puerto Rico wants them to. Although the U.S. government has full say over its foreign policy, Puerto Rico does maintain direct contacts with its Caribbean neighbors.
Puerto Rico does not have full voting representation in the U.S. Congress, nor do its people vote for electors in U.S. presidential elections.
Karakalpakstan is an autonomous republic that occupies the whole western portion ofUzbekistan.
A federacy differs from anassociated state, such as theFederated States of Micronesia, theMarshall Islands, andPalau (in free association with the United States) and theCook Islands andNiue (which are parts of theRealm of New Zealand). There are two kinds of associated state: in the case of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau, association is concluded by treaty between two sovereign states; in the case of the Cook Islands and Niue, association is concluded by domestic legal arrangements.
In anasymmetric federation one of the federated states has more independence than the others. An example of this isCanada, whereQuebec has been given political deference to craft independent language and education policies.
Someunitary states, such as Spain and the United Kingdom, may also be regarded as asymmetric federations. For example, in Spain, theBasque Country,Catalonia andGalicia (later alsoAndalusia,Aragon,Balearic Islands,Canary Islands,Navarre,Valencia, etc.) have been granted greater autonomy and political deference than the rest of theSpanish autonomous communities (see:nationalities and regions of Spain).
The difference between an asymmetric federation and federacy is indistinct; a federacy is essentially an extreme case of an asymmetric federation, either due to large differences in the level of autonomy, or the rigidity of the constitutional arrangements.
TheBritish Overseas Territories are vested with varying degrees of power; some enjoy considerable independence from the United Kingdom, which only takes care of their foreign relations and defence. However, they are considered neither part of the United Kingdom nor sovereign or associated states.
The relations between the United Kingdom and theCrown Dependencies, i.e. theIsle of Man and the bailiwicks ofGuernsey andJersey in theChannel Islands, are very similar to a federate relation: they enjoy independence from the United Kingdom, which, via The Crown, takes care of their foreign relations and defence—although the U.K. Parliament does have overall power to legislate for the dependencies. However, the islands are neither incorporated into the United Kingdom nor independent or associated states. TheIsle of Man does not have a monarch butCharles III holds the position ofLord of Mann.
A federacy differs from adevolved state, such asDenmark, Spain and the United Kingdom, because, in a devolved state, the central government can revoke the independence of the subunits (e.g.Scottish Parliament,National Assembly for Wales,Northern Ireland Assembly in the case of the U.K.) without changing the constitution.
Jaime Lluch has critiqued the classification and description of "federacy" as used by Elazar and Watts. Lluch argues that the category of "federacy" is misapplied to the case of Puerto Rico (and to other comparable cases), and that it is an example of "conceptual stretching". He finds that "federacies" is in the end not a helpful category to understanding the types of institutional arrangements referred and recommends that scholars ofcomparative federalism find a more nuanced category to describe contemporary actually-existing autonomies such as Puerto Rico. Lluch shows that federacies have little to do with federalism, and are in fact distinct status arrangements that are more properly seen as "autonomies," of which there is a wide variety. This variety includes autonomies which are classified along a continuum that would take several "federacies" and reclassify them thus:
In examining the Puerto Rico case, Lluch notes that although Elazar has mischaracterized the nature of the Puerto Rico–U.S. relationship, it is still cited as the prototype of a "federacy". Lluch defines Puerto Rico as a non-federal autonomy, which is officially an unincorporated territory belonging to the federal political system that is the U.S. and subject to the plenary powers of the U.S. Congress under the Territorial Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and states that it is not a "free-associated" state.[13] Similar conclusions were made by threePresidential Task Forces on Puerto Rico's Status in 2005, 2007 and 2011. In particular, Lluch notes that contrary to Elazar's assertions in his 1987 and 1991 works, the power to terminate or modify the Puerto Rico–U.S. relationship rests squarely on the U.S. Congress and that the U.S. government contends that sovereignty over Puerto Rico resides solely in the United States and not in the people of Puerto Rico.[13]
Lluch notes that both Watts and Elazar define a "federacy" as "political arrangements where a large unit is linked to a smaller unit or units, but the smaller unit retains considerable autonomy and has a minimum role in the government of the larger one, and where the relationship can be dissolved only by mutual agreement". However contrary to this definition he notes that far from having a minimum role in the government of the United States, Puerto Rico has no effective representation in Congress, except for a token representative that has no right to vote there. Nor do the residents of Puerto Rico vote for the U.S. president. However, Puerto Ricans are eligible to join U.S. political parties, and both major parties conduct primary elections for national positions in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico thus has no direct representation in the institutions of the central state. He notes that essentially the Puerto Rico–U.S. relationship exhibits some elements of empire, and nearly none of federalism. Puerto Rico is better conceptualized as an exemplar of autonomism with the category of "federacy" being less helpful to explain it.[13]