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january/february 2009 EDITORIAL News
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Editor's ColumnThis issue of Federations magazine contains an ambitious package of news articles including a penetrating look into the cauldron that is Pakistan, the linchpin of terrorism in the region and beyond; and a fascinating set of articles on water and intergovernmental relations in five federal countries. Our thematic section, pages 8-22, was inspired by the International Conference on Water Management in Federal Countries held in Zaragoza, Spain from July 7-9, 2008, of which the Forum was a co-organizer. The twenty papers presented at the event are available on our website. In our news articles we learn that Italy is increasingly becoming federal as devolution was not a sufficiently sharp tool to deal with the gap between the struggling South and the booming North. This is the view of Lucio Levi, a professor of political science at the University of Torino. Prof. Levi, who is also editor of the review, the Federalist Debate, explains that the North is pushing for a form of fiscal federalism because in the long run, transfers to the poorer south will be reduced; while the South has been persuaded to go this way because their taxes will not be affected, for now. For Pakistan, Ismail Khan of the Daily Dawn presents us with a study of extremes. After Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December 2007, the country seemed en route to anarchy. In a fortunate turn of events, a calm set in by February 2008 when her widower, Asif Ali Zardari and his Pakistan People’s Party, won a decisive electoral victory over the forces of the reviled General Pervez Musharraf. That relative calm was exploded by terrorist bombs at an Islamabad hotel in September 2008, killing 60, and a gunfire terror attack on Mumbai, India, on Nov. 26, 2008, that killed another 180 plus victims. An enraged India is demanding that elements of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group responsible for the attack be turned over. Against that backdrop, President Zardari is also facing an increased demand for greater provincial autonomy, mainly from Balochistan and the North-West Frontier Province. The neighboring federation of India is contending with fiscal concerns, as the last eight of its 28 states replaced their sales tax regimes with a value added tax system known as the VAT. Mr. Sukumar Mukhopadhyay, formerly of India’s Central Board of Excise and Customs, writes that the phase-in of the VAT, as expected, has been bumpy. Tax revenues have fallen short of previous tax collections and the central government has had to compensate the states for the shortfall. In the long term, the VAT is expected to be a fairer tax which will help curb tax evasion. In North America, Professor Gregory Germain paints a picture of how the face of business in the U.S. has been determined by the so-called Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, a provision that prevents states from passing laws that interfere with trade between the states. The one-line clause has helped make the U.S. the most prosperous free-trade country in the world. Rounding out the menu is an interview with Peter Müller, the Premier of the German state of Saarland. Premier Müller speaks about innovation, autonomy and diversity among Germany’s 16 states, and how federalism, in his view, is a bulwark against the concentration of power. |
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| Reviewed February 2, 2009 by Shannon Elliot | Return to Top | Privacy Policies |
