The retreat of the Central State in federalized decentralizing polities: the cases of democratic Brazil, Spain, and South Africa

Abstract

This paper develops a general comparative framework to interpret the changes in the patterns of territorial governance in democratic Brazil, Spain and South Africa as a consequence of their respective processes of decentralization and federalization after their transitions to democracy. With this goal in mind, the paper advances a set of propositions concerning the evolution of federalization and decentralization in the selected cases. By indicating that these three countries belong to a universe of federations ("transitional federations") whose intergovernmental institutions are in a process of constant negotiation, the framework attempts to capture the critical elements that contribute to their unsettledness of intergovernmental dynamics. In addition, in trying to understand the linkage between the aforementioned processes and the emergence of new patterns of intergovernmental relations, the paper identifies possible causal mechanisms. Under this general framework, the paper suggests that the uncertainty of intergovernmental dynamics in these federations is largely the result of the new window of opportunity opened to subnational governments with the unfolding of federalization and decentralization.