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In this issue:
International Conference on Federalism in Brussels
Just off the press: constitutions in federal countries
Federations magazine: ...Belgium celebrates 25 years as a federal country
Forum welcomes federal youth to Brussels
Two videos: Speaking of Federalism and The Challenge of Diversity
Belgium hosts International Conference on Federalism
Leaders from federal countries around the world are gathering in Brussels, Belgium, from March 3 to 5 for the International Conference on Federalism 2005. There will be more than 60 countries represented. Forum President Bob Rae and Board member Arnold Koller will have prominent roles, as will many practitioners and researchers who have worked with Forum over the past five years. Among activities being organized in the margins of the conference, the Forum is hosting a book launch for the first in the Global Dialogue series, Constitutional Origins, Structure and Change in Federal Countries (see below) and the Handbook of Federal Countries, the new 2005 edition. The conference program, papers in advance, and news are posted on the conference website.
New Forum book and booklet on constitutions in federal countries
Just published by McGill-Queens University Press, the first of the Global Dialogue on Federalism series (a joint effort of the Forum and the International Association of Centers of Federal Studies) is the book Constitutional Origins, Structure and Change in Federal Countries, edited by John Kincaid and G. Alan Tarr. 'This impressive volume will be of value to practitioners as well as academics, a difficult balance to strike,' said Dan Sprague, Executive Director of the Council of State Governments. The Global Dialogue series includes user-friendly booklets on the same topics as the books. Each booklet provides a comparative snapshot of its topic, with analyses, glossaries of country-specific terms and a timeline of constitutional events. The booklet on the constitutional theme is available as well as the booklet on the second theme: Dialogues on Distribution of Powers and Responsibilities in Federal Countries.
Federations newsmagazine:...Belgium celebrates 25 years as a federal country
Belgium's 175 years as a nation and 25 years as a federal country are featured in the cover story of the new issue of Federations, Vol. 4 No. 3. Also, read about the attempts to bring self-government to the Bodos, a tribal people in India's North East, and how Germany's recent attempt to reform its federal system broke down. Plus a clear explanation of the Canadian offshore oil and equalization controversy, an analysis of the USA debate over same sex marriage and much more.
Forum welcomes federal youth to Brussels
The Forum of Federations and the three youth organizations of Belgium will be hosting 50 youth participants from federal countries from Brazil to India at the International Conference on Federalism 2005 in Brussels. (See the youth program on the conference website.) Four members of the Forum's International Youth Network Committee were among the 50 youths chosen to participate in the conference. The committee is also helping the Forum expand the Forum's International Youth Network.
Two Forum videos on federalism, in DVD format:
Speaking of Federalism, an exploration of ideas from the 2002 International Conference on Federalism in the words of the participants who came to St. Gallen, Switzerland, for the event. It is a look at what federalism means in the words of those who practice it, from prime ministers to supreme court judges to experts on federal theory, in more than a dozen countries, in both English and a French versions.
Click here for more information on Speaking of Federalism.
The Challenge of Diversity, an on-the-spot look at systems of federal governance in India, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium and Canada. The video shows citizen democracy in the town square in Swiss villages and explains the French, Flemish and German language community governments in Belgium. There is a section on French and English schools in Canada, and on the Autonomous Communities of the Basque Country, Catalonia, and elsewhere in Spain. In India, the video examines the grassroots democracy of the panchayat, where one-third of the members must be women.
Click here for more information on The Challenge of Diversity.
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