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Federalism and Secession.

The controversial issue of secession has received little attention from experts of federalism. The best federal studies either evade it or dismiss it in a few lines. However, this issue has been present throughout the history of federations. This book is one of the first to explore the complex relat...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Cagiao y Conde, Jorge.
Other Authors: Gagnon, Alain-G.
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Brussels : P.I.E. - Peter Lang SA Éditions Scientifiques Internationales, 2021.
Edition:1st ed.
Series:Diversitas Series
Subjects:
Electronic books.
Online Access:Click to View
Table of Contents:
  • Cover
  • Copyright information
  • Acknowledgements
  • Contents
  • Introduction
  • 1 Federalism(s) and secession: from constitutional theory to practice
  • Introduction
  • 1. Confederation: a "free union" that hides its true nature?
  • 1.1 From a union of sovereign states …
  • 1.1.1 Confederation as viewed in Kantian political philosophy
  • 1.1.2 The concept of confederation in public law
  • 1.2 … to a "perpetual confederation"
  • 1.2.1 Confederal laws against secession
  • 1.2.2 The philosophical turning-point in the 16th century: the Dutch influence
  • 1.2.3 Universalization of the right of secession: the US Declaration of Independence
  • 2. The federal state: an "indissoluble union"?
  • 2.1 Federal positive law
  • 2.1.1 Federal constitutions expressly allowing a right of secession
  • a) Constitutions that recognized a right of secession in the past
  • b) Constitutions currently recognizing a right of secession
  • 2.1.2 Federal constitutions excluding all forms of secession
  • 2.1.3 Constitutions that remain silent on the question of secession
  • a) Interpretation by Supreme Court justices: a centripetal constitutional force
  • b) Federal realpolitik
  • 2.2 Using constitutional theory to cut the Gordian knot of secession
  • 2.2.1 The trap set by the syncretism of the federal state
  • 2.2.2 Redefining the constitutional basis for secession
  • a) Partial versus total revision
  • b) Actual cases
  • 2 Secession from a federation: a plea for an autonomous concept of federative secession 1
  • Introduction
  • 1. Defining and identifying the concept of federative secession
  • 1.1 The dominant conception of secession
  • 1.1.1 Secession seen as the aspiration of an infra-state (or infra-nation) group to constitute its own state or nation
  • 1.1.2 The legal dogma on secession
  • a) Secession is not dissolution
  • b) Secession is not devolution.
  • 1.2 Federative secession and conceptual autonomy
  • 1.2.1 Why the state-centric view of secession fails to account for the specific nature of federative secession
  • 1.2.2 Dogma on federative secession
  • a) Federative secession and intra-federative secession
  • b) Secession of a member state and exclusion of a member state
  • c) Unilateral or non-unilateral secession?
  • d) The effects of secession: secession and dissolution
  • 2. Deciding the licitness of federative secession: neither authorized nor prohibited (like secession from a unitary state)
  • 2.1 Federative secession cannot be prohibited a priori
  • 2.2 The impossible licitness of unilateral federative secession
  • 3. The impossibility of imposing a legal sanction on federative secession
  • 3.1 The distinction between federal intervention and federal execution
  • 3.2 The Civil War, or the division of the union institutionalized by war
  • 3 Are federalism and secession really incompatible?
  • Introduction
  • 1. General approach
  • 2. Secession as seen by the theoreticians of federalism
  • 3. Secession in positive law
  • 4. Secession and "legal logic"
  • Conclusion
  • 4 From referendum to secession - Qu é bec's self-determination process and its lessons *
  • Introduction
  • 1 The constitutional capacity of Qu é bec's institutions to hold a referendum - A stake little debated or opposed
  • 1.1 The historical dimensions leading to referendums on the sovereignty of Qu é bec
  • 1.1.1 Referendum practices in Qu é bec and Canada prior to the debates on secession
  • 1.1.2 The 1980 and 1995 referendums on Qu é bec sovereignty
  • 1.2 The legal aspects allowing self-determination referendums in Canada
  • 1.2.1 The absence of constitutional restrictions on holding referendums
  • 1.2.2 Constitutional practices with respect to referendums.
  • 2 Qu é bec's constitutional ability to declare its independence - An issue far less consensual
  • 2.1 The activism of federal institutions
  • 2.1.1 The Reference re Secession of Qu é bec and the conciliation of strongly diverging interests by the Supreme Court of Canada
  • 2.1.2 The Clarity Act and the federal parliament's declaration that it was both party and judge in the constitutional dispute
  • 2.2 The contemporary evolution of the debate and some unanswered questions
  • 2.2.1 The threshold of the popular majority required for Qu é bec to declare independence
  • 2.2.2 The ambiguity surrounding the duty to negotiate and the process of constitutional amendment
  • Conclusion
  • 5 Compromise or dislocation: federal alternatives to secessionist and centralizing temptations
  • Introduction
  • 1. Federalism in Spain
  • 1.1 The federal projects of political parties in the central state
  • 1.2 The federal projects of political parties at the regional level
  • 2. Federalism and the right to self-determination
  • Conclusion
  • Notes about the Contributors
  • Series index.

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