{"id":5642,"date":"2020-04-06T14:26:20","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T13:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/?p=5642"},"modified":"2021-06-15T16:17:14","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T15:17:14","slug":"federalism-and-decentralisation-in-the-age-of-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/federalism-and-decentralisation-in-the-age-of-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Federalism and decentralisation in the age of Covid-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dr Soeren Keil looks at how states have implemented crisis management structures differently across Europe.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

A pandemic, such as the spread of Covid-19, raises\ninteresting questions about the state\u2019s ability and structures in times of\ncrises. This is particularly relevant for federal and decentralised states, in\nwhich the central government has to work together with regional governments, as\nthey retain important competences in the areas of health care, education, and\nalso in some cases calling for a state of emergency and imposing curfews. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good example of the need for coordination and the\npower of lower levels of government can be found in Germany and the UK. In\nGermany, the administrative federal system gives the L\u00e4nder a lot of autonomy\nin areas such as implementing social distancing measures and curfews. What is\nmore, in key policy fields such as education, the L\u00e4nder retain autonomy, this\nis why different L\u00e4nder closed their schools at different times across Germany.\nWhile Angela Merkel has attempted to demonstrate leadership in this time of\nnational and global crisis, her powers, and the powers of the German government,\nas a whole, are rather limited, and coordination between the 16 L\u00e4nder and the\nnational government is key. That is why Markus S\u00f6der, the Minister President of\nBavaria has also managed to establish himself as a leading crisis manager. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, while the UK government acted later than\nmany other governments in Europe, it too has to work with governments in\nScotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as they have substantial devolved powers\nin the areas of health care, education and social care. Initially, Scotland, in\nco-ordination with Wales took the lead, and the governments in Edinburgh and\nCardiff were the first to agree on school closures before the UK government\ndecided to close all schools in England as well, and Northern Ireland followed.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More recently, there is evidence for greater co-ordination\nbetween the UK government and the devolved governments, and joint actions have\nbeen taken for example when implementing key decisions in relation to the\nNational Health Service (NHS). This is even more interesting, because forums of\nco-ordination and the political willingness to work together have been lacking\nin the UK, not least as a result of the Brexit referendum and the fall-out from\nthe negotiations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other countries with decentralised systems have taken\ndifferent routes. Spain, the second most affected country in Europe after\nItaly, has declared a state of emergency, meaning crisis management is co-ordinated\nand implemented by the central government in Madrid. For example, under the\ncurrent state of emergency all regional and local policy forces are now under\nthe control of the central Ministry of the Interior. This is particularly\nremarkable, because of existing tensions between Catalonia and the central\ngovernment, in the wake of the 2017 unilateral referendum and declaration of independence\nof Catalonia, and also because Catalonia is now the second most affected area\nwithin Spain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An interesting example to examine further is the case\nof Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is one of the most decentralised countries in the\nworld, and health care is a responsibility of the entities, rather than of the\nnational government. However, in the wake of increased cases of Covid-19 across\nthe country, there have been instances of political disagreement and a lack of\nproper enforcement of social distancing. In fact, many of the weaknesses of the\nstate as a whole, and of the entities are displayed very openly during this\ncrisis \u2013 the lack of proper healthcare provisions, including ventilators, the\ninability of political actors to take joint and decisive actions in times of\ncrisis, and the unwillingness of ethnic elites to look beyond ethnicity and\ngroup belonging and find compromises for joint action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current global pandemic is a challenge for all states. It raises fundamental questions about political leadership, fundamental human rights and how states engage and enforce social distancing rules. <\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It is interesting to make a first comparison between\ndifferent federal and decentralised systems, and how they have implemented\ncrisis management structures differently. More comparative research on this\ntopic is will certainly be forthcoming, not least to examine if federal and\ndecentralised systems have the same level of efficiency when dealing with such\na fundamental challenge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Soeren Keil is a Reader in Politics and International Relations <\/a>and Director of the Centre for European Studies (CEFEUS)<\/a>. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can read more blogs from the University\u2019s Politics and International Relations team here<\/a>. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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