Fédéralisme et pandémie de COVID-19 - Un compendium de (res)sources

1. Blogues et sites consacrés à la pandémie et/ou au fédéralisme
2. Balados / vidéos / conférences
3. Projets de recherche et appels à contribution
4. Fédérations spécifiques
5. Fédérations comparées

L'équipe de la Chaire MacKell collige des sources sur l’intersection entre le fédéralisme (au sens large) et la COVID-19.

Nous tentons de mettre cette page à jour aux deux semaines. Tout nouveau matériel est ajouté au sommet de chaque section/pays. Merci de nous transmettre vos articles, liens utiles, etc., en écrivant à federalism-covid19.law [at] mcgill.ca.

Dernière mise à jour: 25 mars 2021.

1. Blogs or websites (partly) dedicated to the pandemic and/or federalism
Blogues et sites (partiellement) consacrés à la pandémie et/ou au fédéralisme

• Power and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Verfassungsblog is hosting a symposium on COVID-19 pandemic that brings together experts from over 70 countries to reflect on how legal and political systems have adapted to ongoing challenges presented by the pandemic to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, and to offer recommendations on the future of good governance. Please visit the website for posts.
• Law School Policy Review: This webinar series cum blog symposium – organized by the student wing of the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, the Kautilya Society, in partnership with the Young Scholars Initiative – aims to analyse key policy decisions have already been made by the governments, over the past weeks as the country wrestled with the pandemic. Indian federalism is one of the three main themes.
• The COVID Comparative Project: The COVID Comparative Project at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy features 16 country case studies conducted by University of Toronto undergraduate students, under the supervision of Professor Joseph Wong. It includes articles from federal systems such as, Germany, Brazil, China, Canada, India, Italy, UK, and the US.
• The Canadian Constitution Foundation has created a COVID-19 Watch section where it regularly publishes articles on policy responses by provincial governments and the Canadian government.
• The Centre for Constitutional Studies (University of Alberta) launched a blog on Pandemic Powers and Constitution.
• The PEX Network is publishing a compilation of articles from political scientists analyzing the response of the executives from all over the world. The series includes articles on the analysis of multi-level governance in Germany and the United States.
• The Coronavirus Challenge to Governance in Canada: The School of Policy Studies of Queen’s University has established a Governance Working Group that publishes op-eds in the Ottawa Citizen. Please visit the Group’s site for more information on the working group and all the published articles.
• The AUSPUBLAW Blog has a special series exploring the public law implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. These posts are written for the blog by a range of public law scholars and practitioners from across Australia.
• IACL-AICC Blog: The IACL blog launched a Vlog Symposium called “Constitutional Reflections on the Pandemic.”
• COVID Response – Birmingham University (SUNY): The lab’s website offers a focus on the role of democratic institutions generally, and among democracies – of the institutions of federalism in particular, in effecting policy responses during crises.
• The Regulatory Review: This publication’s website includes a section dedicated to essays that discuss the administrative law and regulatory dimensions to the global response to COVID-19.
• Canadian Journal of Political Science: The Journal regularly publishes accepted manuscripts and research notes on its website.
• Centre for Civil and Political Rights: The Centre created a compilation based on the data on measures taken by States in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic that may influence the state's ability to ensure the rights and obligations protected by the ICCPR.
• Institute for Government: The Institute’s website includes a page on UK Devolution and COVID-19.
• La Chaire de recherche en fiscalité et en finances publiques à l’Université de Sherbrooke: Ce site web fait un suivi des mesures économiques gouvernementales découlant de la crise de la COVID-19 au Québec, au Canada et ailleurs dans le monde.
• Hunton Andrews Kurth Complaint Tracker: The firm is offering a tracker that allows to see civil complaints in the US and its topic state by state.
• Daniel Turp: Sur son site web, le prof. Turp publie régulièrement un recueil des décrets et arrêtés [.doc, version: 10 mai 2020] visant à protéger la santé de la population du Québec dans la situation de pandémie de la COVID-19.
• Forum of Federations : two collections of articles on Pandemic responses in different federations: Federalism and COVID, and Devolution and COVID.
• Cambridge Core Blog: blog series by Health Economics, Policy and Law on country responses to COVID-19. Includes blog posts on many countries including federal systems, but also about several constituent units within federal/quasi-federal systems, i.e. British Columbia (Canada), Kerala (India), Bergamo (Italy), Minnesota, New Jersey, Wisconsin (US).
• Policy Options / Options politiques: publishes articles on COVID-19 crisis regularly.
• La COVID dans les Amériques : Série de billets dirigée par l’Institut des Amériques et « Interdisciplinary Global Environmental Studies » sur la COVID-19 aux Amériques.
• Verfassungsblog: A special debate section dedicated to blog posts regarding the states of emergency and democracy around the world with some discussions of federalism.
• Covid-Dem: An info hub maintained by Tom Gerald Daly on democracy and COVID-19 crisis.
• (Re-)Imagining Territorial Politics in Times of Crisis: UACES-JMCT Research Network launched a new blog exploring the drivers and consequences of territorial conflicts in multi-level and pluri-national societies during these turbulent times including COVID-19 crisis.
• iPolitics: The website now has a policy portal for COVID-19 related articles.
• CRIDAQ: Le centre a créé une rubrique pour accéder plus facilement aux articles de ses membres sur la COVID-19.

2. Podcasts / videos / conferences
Balados / vidéos / conférences

• Australia (Australie): Julian Morrow hosts this radio show on Australian federalism in which the guests, Geoff Gallop, Robert Carling, Karen Middleton, try to answer if the pandemic permanently changed Australians’ notion of federalism.
• Canada: In this episode of the Sunday Magazine, Johanne Poirier and Jennifer Wallner join Piya Chattopadhyay to talk about how the pandemic has tested Canadian federalism, what it has revealed to us about how well we work together, how we stack up against other federations - and what we can improve, moving forward.
• Germany (Allemagne): This webinar on Germany, Federalism and COVID-19 with StM Dr. Florian Heremann focus on the Covid-19 crisis from the perspective of the German Land Bavaria (Bayern).
• Union Européenne (European Union): Dans cette émission, Laurent Warlouzet, historien spécialiste de l’Europe à l’Université Paris Sorbonne, Alan Hervé, juriste et professeur à Sciences Po Rennes et Jacques Le Cacheux, économiste et professeur à l’Université de Pau s’interrogent si la Covid accélère le fédéralisme européen.
• United States (États-Unis): 26 January 2021, 12:00 EST, The National Constitution Center and the National Association of Attorneys General will host a bipartisan conversation of state attorneys general to discuss key issues regarding federalism and states’ rights, from the COVID-19 pandemic to law enforcement, elections, and more. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, will moderate.
• GOVTRUST Centre of Excellence (Belgium): The centre is organising a symposium on 29 January 2021, 14:00 - 17:00 CET. The theme of the symposium is “Trust and the COVID-19 Crisis: Regulation and Compliance in Multi-level Governance”. During this symposium, members of the GOVTRUST consortium and guest speakers will present recent work on the topic of trust and the coronavirus crisis, identify key learning points, and raise some crucial questions and issues for discussion.
• Québec: Dans ce balado, Louis-Philippe Lampron explique pourquoi le couvre-feu du Québec peut être considéré compatible avec la Charte des droits et libertés de la personne.
• Belgique & Suisse (Belgium & Switzerland): Dans leur épisode du 1er novembre, les chroniqueurs du programme « Les Beaux Parleurs » se demandent si le fédéralisme constitue un défi dans la lutte contre la pandémie.
• Canada: IPAC- IAPC organised an online panel on COVID-19 and federalism featuring Charles Breton, Mireille Paquet, Robert Schertzeer, and Roxanna Benoit. The panel is available on YouTube.
• United States (Etats-Unis): National Assocation of Counties is organizing an online event on “Examining Federalism and the Intergovernmental Partnership”. The event was held on October 21, 2020.
• United States (Etats-Unis): Federalism Index Project is organizing a two-day virtual event entitled “Federalism on Trial: Lessons from COVID-19”. The event was on October 21-22, 2020. For detailed information, please visit the website.
• International Association of Centres for Federal Studies (IACFS) is organizing a conference whose theme is “Combating the COVID-19 pandemic: Federalism a boon or bane?” The aim is to reflect on how, since the first outbreak of the virus in a country, the federal system functioned and responded over the crucial period ending in October 2020. The conference is taking place online on October 15-16, 2020. To obtain the link and the program, please contact the association.
• Asia & the Pacific: The 5th Melbourne Forum on Constitution Building in Asia and the Pacific at Melbourne Law School was hosted by the Constitution Transformation Network and by International IDEA. The third webinar of the forum was dedicated to Multi-level governments and COVID-19. Participants were Anne Twomey (Australia), Budhi Karki (Nepal), Ramdas Menon (India), and Yasser KureshiIt (Pakistan). The panel was moderated by William Partlett. The recording of the webinar can be viewed here.
• Canada: Runnymede Society’s McGill branch plans an online discussion with Dr. Ryan Alford on government emergency powers in a pandemic on 14 October 2020.
• Latin America & Carribeans: Forum of Federation’s webinar, “Subnational Governments in the COVID-19 Scenario in the Americas”, explores the dynamics and practices of subnational and local governments in responding to the challenges facing Latin America and the Caribbean as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
• United States (États-Unis): The Solomon Center for Health Law & Policy at Yale Law School is organizing a virtual COVID-19 workshop on COVID, federalism, and localism  on Wednesday, October 14, 2020 at 5:00PM - 6:30PM.
• Latin America (Amérique Latine): The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University is organizing a webinar entitled “Federalism and COVID Responses” on 17 November 2020. Please visit the website for more information.
• India (Inde): In August, the Institute of Law at Nirma University organized a webinar featuring Abhishek Singhvi as speaker. The webinar is entitled Federalism: Origin, Evolution and Post Covid Times.
• United States (États-Unis): In this virtual panel from Harvard Kennedy School, Matthew Baum, Erica Chenoweth, and Archon Fung discuss the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on democracies across the world. Fung’s talk particularly focuses on federalism.
• United States (États-Unis): In this webinar, Donald Verilli, Elizabeth (Bessie) N. Dewar, and Michelle Mello discuss the opportunities and challenges of the US federalism during this pandemic.
• Forum of Federations launched a podcast series that examines the principles and practice of federal and multi-level governance systems with a comparative international perspective. Each episode addresses a key governance issue with world-leading practitioners and scholars from the Forum’s global expert network.
• Hoover Institution is organizing a webinar on "Federalism and COVID-19" with Governor Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. and Lanhee J. Chen on Wednesday, August 12, 2020.
• Argentina (Argentine): In this edition of the IACL-AIDC Vlog Series, Pablo Riberi talks about Argentina.
• Mexico (Mexique): In this edition to IACL-AIDC Vlog Series, Eugenio Velasco Ibarra explains how Mexico handled the crisis.
• United States (États-Unis): In this video, J. Wesley Leckrone explores how federalism has affected the United States' response to COVID-19.
• United States (États-Unis): In this podcast, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush talks about the US federalism and challenges that the States are facing during this crisis.
• On 30 June 2020, American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University is organizing a webinar on how states’ responses to COVID-19 shaped the national response with a focus on US and Germany. The webinar will feature leaders of two of the largest and most densely populated states in Germany and the US, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and North-Rhine Westphalia Minister-President Armin Laschet.
• On 29 June 2020, the Institute of Federalism is organizing a webinar on the role and impact of federalism on effective crisis management.
• EURAC’s Institute for Minority Rights organized a series of webinars on Minority Rights and COVID-19.
• Australia (Australie): In this IACL-AICC vlog episode, Cheryl Saunders talks about Australia’s response to COVID-19.
• Ethiopia (Ethiopie): In this IACL-AICC vlog episode, Berihun Adugna talks about Ethiopia’s response to COVID-19.
• Nigeria (Nigéria): In this IACL-AICC vlog episode, Fola Adeleke talks about Nigeria’s response to COVID-19.
• United Kingdom (Royaume-Uni): On 23 June, the Institute for Government will publish a pre-recorded for the IfG LIVE podcast in which the First Minister of Wales, the Rt Hon Mark Drakeford MS will join Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government, to discuss the relationship between Westminster and Cardiff, how the Welsh government has forged its path and the rebuilding of the UK’s economy.
• India (Inde): Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT) shared the recording of their webinar on COVID-19 Pandemic and Fiscal Federalism in India.
• United States (États-Unis): The Federalist Society published the recording of the panel on Federalism and COVID-19 from their virtual conference on “COVID-19 & the Law”.
• India (Inde): In this video from the first episode of Political Pulse, Dinesh Trivedi, Neerja Chowdhury, Bhavna Vij-Aurora, Puneet Nicholas Yadav and moderator Mirza Arif Beg discuss if Indian federalism took a blow during the pandemic.
• USA (États-Unis): In this short video, Professor Keith Whittington of Princeton University discusses how states have traditionally exerted their authority as they see fit, particularly in a time of a health crisis, and how federal courts can monitor whether a state has unduly violated individual rights or interstate commerce.
• USA (États-Unis): The Federalist Society is organizing a virtual conference on “COVID-19 & Law” on 11-12 June 2020. The conference will includes a panel dedicated to federalism and COVID-19. See registration information and program.
• Canada & Hungary / Canada & Hongrie: This webinar on COVID-19: Emergency Powers and Legal Principle: addresses and explains the concept of a ‘state of emergency’ in both the Canadian and Hungarian contexts. Professors David Dyzenhaus and Paul Daly explore what a state of emergency means, examine Canada’s federal and provincial responses to the current public health crisis, and suggest strategies on how to ensure that government power is not abused.
• Mexico, USA & Brazil / Mexique, Etats-Unis, Brésil: In this webinar, Alberto Diyaz-Cayeros discusses how federalism impacted the Mexican response to the pandemic. He also comments on US and Brazilian federalism.
• USA / États-Unis: In this virtual policy briefing, John Yoo discusses COVID-19 and US federalism.
• USA / États-Unis: Aziz Huq, Miriam Seifter, and Debra Perlin discuss the division of decision-making authority in a public health crisis between the federal and state governments in the US Constitution. They try to determine if federal system an advantage or disadvantage in the fight against COVID-19 in this recording of their webinar entitled Federalism: Friend or Foe? Federal & State Authority to Fight COVID-19.
• USA / États-Unis: In this video entitled “COVID-19 vs. the Constitution: How Far Can Governors Go to Fight the Virus?”, Meryl Chertoff (moderator), Esha Bhandari, Lawrence O. Gostin, Juliette Kayyem, and Jeffrey Locke review the scanty relevant case law in the US. They discuss the federal public health laws governing quarantine and travel limits; consider what powers governors have to limit individual rights and to keep nonresidents out; and explore how constitutional principles on the right to travel; privileges and immunities; and due process could be invoked.
• USA / États-Unis: At a “teleforum” event organized by the Federalist Society, John Malcolm and John Yoo discuss the balance of powers in the US between the President, Congress, and state governors over lockdown and re-opening policy, testing, and medical expertise.
• USA / États-Unis: This Lawfare Blog podcast includes a case study of how pandemic control measures intersect with federalism issues and supply chain continuity & security, focusing on what is happening in Illinois. Jen Patja Howell moderates this discussion with David Priess and Mark Denzler.
• Canada: McGill Institute for the Study of Canada video titled A Critical Juncture in Fiscal Federalism? Canada & COVID-19, where Profs Daniel Béland (McGill U.), Mireille Paquet (Concordia U.), André Lecours (U. Ottawa), and Trevor Tombe (U. Calgary) present their Canadian Journal of Political Science research note, which combines insights from historical institutionalism with recent economic and fiscal projections to explore avenues for reform in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
• United Kingdom / Royaume Uni: Test, trace and trust: digital technologies & the COVID-19 response across the UK’s devolved nations: Ada Lovelace Institute organized a webinar where panelists discuss the governance and implementation of emerging technologies and how joined-up approaches to COVID-19 across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales could help to contain the virus and encourage public trust. Speakers are Dr Angela Daly (Strathclyde U.), Professor Maurice Mulvenna (Ulster U.), and Professor Pete Burnap (Cardiff U.). You can also read a written summary of the webinar.
• Canada: Alain-G. Gagnon parle du partage des risques entre les institutions régissant la fédération canadienne en temps de crise dans ce balado.
• Australia / Australie: Cheryl Saunders explains the “National Cabinet”, an ad hoc Australian intergovernmental institution set up for responding to COVID-19 in this video.
• Germany / Allemagne: Centre Interdisciplinaire d’Études et de Recherche sur l’Allemagne (CIERA, Paris) présente des capsules vidéos appelées « Instantanés » sur la lutte contre la COVID. Dans la première vidéo, Karim Fertikh propose des pistes de réflexions sur le modèle allemand, y compris une réflexion sur les effets du fédéralisme allemand dans cette lutte. Dans la deuxième vidéo, Christophe Duhamelle interroge le fédéralisme allemand à la lumière d’autres épidémies de l’histoire allemande.
• USA / États-Unis: In this podcast from Legal Talk Network, Professors Robert Tsai and Glenn Cohen discuss federalism in the US and states’ powers in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.
• Germany, EU & international / Allemagne, UE et international: Verfassungsblog is organizing three online discussions on COVID-19 crisis regarding with German, European and international perspectives.

3. Existing research projects and calls for papers
Projets de recherche en cours et appels à contribution

• Hosted by the Verfassungsblog and supported by Democracy Reporting International, RECONNECT, and the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, Power and the COVID-19 Pandemic Symposium beginning on 22 February 2021 brings together experts from over 70 countries to reflect on how legal and political systems have adapted to ongoing challenges presented by the pandemic to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, and to offer recommendations on the future of good governance. Please visit the website for more information.
• The UACES-JMCT Research Network ‘Territorial Politics in Times of Crisis’: The research network invites submissions for its first workshop under the theme ‘Conceptualizing Crises in Territorial Politics’, to be held online 29-30 April 2021. The goal is to explore how crises of territorial orders (that is, the institutional organization of territorial diversity, ranging from federations to federacies, devolved states to regionalized unitary states) can be conceptualized. See the call for papers.
• Canada: In this podcast, Charles Breton moderates a discussion between Mireille Paquet, Robert Schertzer, and Roxanna Benoit. Mireille and Robert, who are associate professors of political science at Concordia University and the University of Toronto respectively, share findings from their recently released study with the Centre of Excellence, Irregular Border Crossings and Asylum Seekers in Canada: A Complex Intergovernmental Problem. Meanwhile, Roxanna brings insights on intergovernmental collaboration, drawing on her experience in the public service, including as Alberta’s former deputy minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations.
• Covid-19, internal boundaries and regional governance: The Foreign Languages Department at Université Grenoble Alpes is organizing a series of seminars that aims to take stock of the short- and medium-term impact of the crisis on relations between central and regional governments. Submissions will consist in a 300-word summary and a short bibliography, and should be sent in English or in French before 27 November 2020. For more information, see the call for papers.
• Canadian Journal of Political Science: The Canadian Journal of Political Science is now accepting short research notes (2,000 words or less) devoted to the coronavirus pandemic for rapid peer review and publication. They will accept submissions for the COVID-19 rapid review series until 31 May 2020. After that date, they will continue to accept submissions related to COVID-19 as part of their regular research note and article manuscript submissions. Please see the call for more details.
• The Review of Constitutional Studies: The Journal is now accepting submissions of manuscripts in English or French for its next two issues. For Issue 25.2, papers focusing on the constitutional implications of emergency powers in response to the recent health and environmental crises are particularly welcome. The deadline for submitting a manuscript for this issue is 30 September 2020. Please see the call for papers more information.
• Colloque étudiant virtuel sur le rôle des sciences sociales et humaines dans la redéfinition du vivre-ensemble : regards transdisciplinaires sur les sorties de crise: L’UOF et l’Acfas invitent les étudiantes et les étudiants au 2e et au 3e cycles ainsi que les jeunes chercheurs de toutes les disciplines à soumettre des projets de communication qui portent sur les différentes dimensions du vivre-ensemble impliquées par la crise de COVID-19. Les propositions doivent contenir un maximum de 500 mots incluant le titre, la question de recherche, les principales conclusions ainsi qu’un lien avec le thème du colloque. Elles doivent être rédigées en format Times New Roman avec une police de taille 12 et une interligne de 1,5. Le nom du fichier de la proposition doit suivre la forme suivante : prénom_nom_titre de la proposition. Elles doivent être soumises par courriel avant le 15 juin 2020. Toutes les propositions doivent être envoyées à l’adresse suivante : jade.boivin [at] uontario.ca
• CRIDAQ : Le Centre de recherche fait un appel à projet spécial COVID-19 pour ses membres.
• Public Law: The Public Law journal welcomes submissions to journal’s analysis section dealing with issues relating to the public law dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Editors would keen to receive pieces with varied perspectives including (but not limited to) territorial relations and policy variation between the UK’s governments and comparative reflections on “emergency” responses in other jurisdictions. See here for more information.
• Centre for Constitutional Studies at University of Alberta welcomes posts for their ‘Pandemic Powers and the Constitution Blog’. Please see the call for posts.
• The National Journal of Constitutional Law is calling for submissions of papers for possible publication in late 2020 and 2021 on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the federalism/ human rights and civil liberties in Canada, and the constitutional and administrative law aspects of the use of emergency legislation and the role of judicial review of emergency measures in Canada. The Journal welcomes comparative analysis of these issues in other liberal democratic or federal countries. The suggested deadline is September 30, 2020. Usual paper length is between 8,000 to 10,000 words. Due to the short time frame, shorter papers will also be considered. Papers can be submitted to Professor Errol Mendes at emendes [at] uottawa.ca (.)
• Writing Competition on Federalism: The theme for the third edition of the Baxter Family Competition on Federalism is 'Federalism, Identity and Public Policy in Challenging Times', which allows for, without being limited to, reflections on the impact of federalism on the coronavirus pandemic and vice versa. Restricted to students in law or in political science, and to jurists and political scientists having graduated less than five years before the Competition's deadline of February 1, 2021. Maximum word count is 8,000 words in English and 8,800 in French. Prizes ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 CAD$ will be awarded to winners, who will have the chance to present their work at a symposium in Montreal, if circumstances permit. Details will follow here, but mark your calendars!

4. Articles on specific federations
Articles portant sur des fédérations spécifiques

Canada

• Nebal Snan, “No federal funding for long-term care homes that don't follow national standards, Canadian advocates demand”, The Guardian, 24 March 2021: The article provides a report of the news conference of Canadian Health Coalition on long-term care standards.
• Charlie Pinkerton, “Provinces on the sidelines of Ottawa’s vaccine-passport planning”, iPolitics, 22 March 2021: Pinkerton explains the lack of provincial participation in vaccine passport planning.
• Emily Cameron-Blake, Helen Tatlow, Thomas Hale, Andrew Wood, Jonathan Smith, Julia Sawatsky, Zachary Parsons, Katherine Tyson, Charles Breton, Paisley Sim, “Variation in the Provincial and Territorial Responses to COVID-19”, Blavatnik School Working Paper, 15 March 2021: The authors find that the benefits of federalism have been unevenly leveraged, a lack of coordination in planning and communication between the provinces and territories is an area of opportunity for improved future pandemic planning.
• Carolyn Hughes Tuohy, “Federalism as a Strength: A Path Toward Ending the Crisis in Long-Term Care”, Centre of Excellence on Canadian Federation – IRPP, 10 March 2021: This paper suggests that Canadian governments should exploit the strengths of Canadian federalism to improve long-term care.
• Paul Daly, “COVID-19 in Canada: Variable Forms of Power and Unvarying Judicial Deference”, Verfassungsblog, 8 March 2021: In this blog post, Daly, through the lens of pandemic-related public law litigation, explains how Canada has responded to COVID-19 and concentrates on the forms of power the federal and provincial governments have employed in response to the pandemic amongst other issues.
• Althia Raj, “Ottawa Ready To Agree To Unconditional Health Care Transfers With Provinces”, HuffPost Canada, 4 March 2021: Raj reports In Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s remarks on post-pandemic health care transfers.
• Gregory P. Marchildon, Carolyn H Tuohy, “Expanding health care coverage in Canada: a dramatic shift in the debate”, Health Economics, Policy, and Law, 8 February 2021: The article warns against reforming the health care system relying on shared-cost federalism and suggests two alternatives, one for LTC and one for pharmaceuticals, that are more likely to succeed given the state of the Canadian federation in the early 21st century.
• Joel Reardon, Emily Laidlaw, and Greg Hagen, “COVID-19 and Cellphone Surveillance”, Centre for Constitutional Studies Blog, 3 February 2021: Authors examine the technical aspects of smartphone surveillance, and the regulatory principles that should govern its use in a preliminary way to provide a legal framework to begin to think about these issues.
• Kevin Dougherty, “Legault explored Quebec law to enforce in-hotel quarantine”, iPolitics, 28 January 2021: The article explains Quebec’s now-dropped plan to enforce in-hotel quarantine in case federal government refused to do so.
• Fred McMahon, “Fiscal Federalism and the Dependency of Atlantic Canada”, Fraser Institute, 28 January 2021: The report explains the major challenges that fiscal federalism will face after COVID-19 crisis.
• Trevor W. Harrison, “Opinion: Federal government has had Albertans' back during COVID”, Edmonton Journal, 28 January 2021: Picking up data from the new report of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, this op-ed argues that at least in dealing with the pandemic, the federal government has had Alberta’s back; that federalism, for all its real and imagined sins, has worked well.
• Jean-Thomas Bernard, « Fédéralisme et santé : fragilité unanime des provinces », Le Devoir, 25 janvier 2021 : L’article explique les complications qui peuvent suivre la demande unanime des provinces pour des transferts accrus en santé.
• Jörg Broschek, “How Trudeau government can take control of the pandemic”, Policy Options, 22 January 2021: Broschek argues that the key to a better federal control of the pandemic is accountability and conditions on transfer payments, and more intergovernmental co-operation.
• Eric Montigny, « Entre collaboration et confrontation », La Presse, 20 janvier 2021 : L’article explique comment le fédéralisme exécutif canadien est rudement mis à l’épreuve par la pandémie.
• Kevin Dougherty, “Legault says Trudeau must ban non-essential air travel to fight COVID”, iPolitics, 18 January 2021: The article reports Quebec Premier’s message to federal government.
• Brian Pfefferle, “Police can — and should — enforce COVID-19 health orders in Saskatchewan”, CBC News, 6 December 2020: The op-ed calls for stricter enforcement of pandemic measures.
• Fanny Lévesque, « Des élèves Micmacs écartés de leur école secondaire », La Presse, 16 novembre 2020 : L’article explique comment plus d’une centaine d’élèves de Listuguj, en Gaspésie, ne sont plus autorisés à fréquenter leur école secondaire de Campbellton depuis que le gouvernement du Nouveau-Brunswick a décidé de les exclure de la « bulle atlantique ».
• Adam Miller, “How a national response could address an unprecedented COVID-19 surge across Canada”, CBC News, 14 November 2020: The article discusses the options for a nationwide response to the pandemic.
• Edward Conway, “Ultra Vires: What's wrong with the travel ban decision of Burrage J. in Taylor v. Newfoundland?”, CanLII Connects, 24 September 2020: Conway provides a critique of errors that he suggests are made by Burrage J. in his pith and substance determination in the travel ban decision.
• Alexandra Mae Jones, “Mapping out Canada's COVID-19 hotspots: new modelling shows where cases are rising”, CTV News, 22 September 2020: The article explains the map released by the federal government showing that the rise in cases has been far from even across the country, with several hotspots bumping up numbers nationwide.
• Michael Da Silva, “COVID-19 and Health-Related Authority Allocation Puzzles”, Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, Vol. 30 No. 1, 2021: This work explains why resolving health-related authority allocation puzzles should be part of long-term responses to COVID-19, and outlines some initial COVID-19-related findings that shed light on justifiable authority allocation, emergencies, emergency powers, and the relationships between them.
• Gregory P. Marchildon, “The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination: what can Canada learn from Israel?”, Israel Journal of Health Policy Research, Vol. 10, No. 12, 2021: This commentary compares Israel’s COVID-10 vaccination response to the much slower and less successful vaccination campaign in Canada.
• Nicholas Spence et al, “The COVID-19 Pandemic: Informing Policy Decision-Making for a Vulnerable Population”, International Indigenous Policy Journal, Vol. 11, No. 3, 2020: This article examines the pronounced vulnerability of Indigenous Peoples in Canada to the pandemic by highlighting the importance of moving beyond individual-level risk factors associated with COVID-19 by identifying and classifying Indigenous communities most vulnerable to the pandemic.
• Charlie Pinkerton, “Near-lockdowns aren’t enough to slow COVID’s spread, warns Dr. Tam”, iPolitics, 15 January 2021: The article includes federal authorities’ projections of cases in different provinces for the following months of the pandemic.
• Christine Van Geyn, COVID and Freedom, Canadian Constitution Foundation, 2020: The Foundation published an e-book on how the pandemic has affected constitutional rights and it includes our expert analysis of issues including mandatory masks, lock downs, border closures and business restriction.
• Michael Wolfson, « Le Canada a besoin d’une base de données nationale sur la vaccination contre la COVID-19 », Options Politiques, 11 janvier 2020 : Wolfson soutient que le Canada doit adopter une approche nationale de surveillance de la vaccination pour recueillir des informations essentielles sur chaque personne qui reçoit le vaccin.
• Livio Di Matteo, “Despite spending hundreds of billions during COVID, we seem to have little to show for it”, Fraser Forum, 8 January 2021: Di Matteo asks if federalism is responsible for the failures of Canada’s pandemic response despite the amount of money it spent.
• John Ibbitson, “Federalism allows ‘bumblebee’ Canada to stay aloft relatively well through a challenging year”, The Globe and The Mail, 29 December 2020: Ibbitson provides a summary of how Canada fared in this crisis during 2020 and what this performance says about Canadian federalism.
• « Réunion des premiers ministres sur le TCS : une première étape, et encore beaucoup de travail à faire », Le Conseil de la Fédération, 10 décembre 2020 : Ce communiqué de presse fournit les détails de la rencontre du premier ministre fédéral avec les premiers ministres des provinces et territoires.
• “Here's the COVID-19 vaccine rollout plan, province by province”, CBC, 10 December 2020: CBC explains the vaccine rollout plans in each province.
• Joël-Denis Bellavance, Mélanie Marquis, « Trudeau n’a pas l’intention d’augmenter les transferts en santé », La Presse, 10 décembre 2020 : Les journalistes écrivent les remarques de Trudeau sur son refus d’augmenter les transferts en santé malgré la demande des premier ministres des provinces.
• Philip Autier, “Trudeau has 'a responsibility' to boost health-care transfer payments to provinces: Legault”, Montreal Gazette, 2 December 2020: Authier reports Legault’s statement on Premier’s agreement to request federal government to increase the funding to cover the ballooning costs of the pandemic.
• Rachel Aiello, “PM: Feds, provinces agree vaccine prioritization should be consistent Canada-wide”, CTV News, 1 December 2020: Aiello reports PM Trudeau’s statement on provinces’ stance about the vaccine prioritization policy.
• Charlie Pinkerton, “Ottawa promises $1 billion for provinces to improve long-term care”, iPolitics, 30 November 2020: Pinkerton reports the federal plan to help provinces regarding long-term care after the pandemic exposed their vulnerability.
• Amir Attaran, “Trudeau needs a COVID-19 Emergency Order. Here's how to do it.”, Maclean’s, 27 November 2020: Attaran argues that Trudeau should make use of Emergencies Act.
• Mike Medeiros, Daniel Béland, André Lecours, “Overriding the provinces on COVID would cause long-term harm to Canada”, The Globe and Mail, 26 November 2020: Authors argue that “calls to have the federal government impose uniform national measures at this point, which implicitly depict the federal government as being above the provinces, pervert Canadians’ perceptions of their country and they ultimately weaken our federal culture.”
• Ian Waddell, “A Suggestion to Help Canadians Get Clear on COVID-19”, The Tyee, 18 November 2020: Waddell makes a case for co-operative federalism to tackle the crisis.
• Tomas Hachard, “It Takes Three: Making Space for Cities in Canadian Federalism”, IMFG Perspectives, No. 31, 2020: Author argues that the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted pre-existing cracks in Canada’s federal structure, particularly in relation to Canada’s cities. He highlights four challenges cities face in this context and offers solutions.
• Neil Bradford, “Policy In Place: Revisiting Canada’s Tri-Level Agreements”, IMFG Papers on Municipal Finance and Governance, No. 50, 2020: This paper underlines the importance of cities in Canadian policy-making and identifies specific policy fields where new tri-level agreements could have a positive impact and closes with six principles to inform their design and implementation.
• André Lecours, Daniel Béland, Nikola Brassard-Dion, Trevor Tombe, Jennifer Wallner, “The COVID-19 Crisis and Canadian Federalism”, Forum of Federations Occasional Paper Series No. 48, 2020: This paper examines the potential impact of the COVID-19 crisis on six key dimensions of Canadian federalism: social protection; intergovernmental relations; fiscal federalism; emergency powers; Québec nationalism and politics; and regional alienation in Alberta.
• Jolson Lim, “Federal resources ‘not infinite’ in COVID fight, Trudeau warns premiers”, iPolitics, 13 November 2020: The articles reports Trudeau’s warning to Canadian premiers about the pandemic restrictions.
• John Michael McGrath, “This is a global crisis. Why is Doug Ford talking about who has jurisdiction?”, TVO, 13 November 2020: McGrath’s opinion piece focuses on Ontario Premier Ford’s comments regarding his willingness to defend provincial jurisdiction against Trudeau.
• Lia Lévesque, « La loi n'est pas respectée, signale le commissaire », La Presse, 29 octobre 2020 : L’article explique les propos du commissaire aux langues officielles du Canada sur le non-respect des obligations linguistiques des institutions fédérales.
• Marie-Claude Prémont, Marie-Eve Couture-Ménard, « Le concept juridique de l’urgence sanitaire: une protection contre les virus biologiques et… politiques », Centre For Constitutional Studies Blog, 22 October 2020 : Les auteures se penchent sur le concept d’urgence sanitaire et démontrent les limites du concept, de même que ses défis.
• Iwona A. Bielska, Mark Embrett, Lauren Jewett et al.,”Canada’s Multi-Jurisdictional COVID-19 Public Health Response – January to May 2020”, Zdrowie Publiczne i Zarzadzanie, Vol. 18. No. 1, 2020: This paper examines Canada’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic during the first four months (January to May 2020) by overviewing the actions undertaken by the federal (national) and regional (provincial/territorial) governments.
• Konrad Yakabuski, “Jouer avec le feu”, Le Devoir, 17 octobre 2020: Yakabuski essaie de démontrer que les problèmes survenus pendant la pandémie a force Trudeau de faire une déclaration sur une possible régulation pour les résidences pour aînés.
• François Cardinal, “Une fausse solution… à un faux problème”, La Presse, 17 octobre 2020: L’auteur critique la proposition de Trudeau concernant de créer une régulation fédérale pour les résidences pour aînés.
• Adil Sayeed, “COVID-19 Blunts Alberta Challenge to Federal–Provincial Income Tax”, Canadian Public Policy (Advance Online), September 2020: Sayeed argues that COVID-19 crisis had an effect on Alberta’s stance on federal-provincial income tax.
• Jolson Lim, “Hundreds of federal staff now helping provinces do contact tracing”, iPolitics, 5 October 2020: Lim explains how federal government is helping provincial governments for contact tracing.
• Ken Coates, “The Pandemic and the Untimely Re-Emergence of Canadian Federalism”, The Epoch Times, 27 September 2020: Author explains how the throne speech and the federal and provincial responses to the speeches highlight the re-emergence of Canadian federalism.
• John Michael McGrath, “Forget the carbon tax: COVID-19 testing is the latest failure of federalism”, TVO, 25 September 2020: The author explains how rapid COVID-19 testing has increased the tensions between Ontarian and the federal government.
• Jörg Broschek, “Resilient Federalism and Transformative Policy Change: Prospects for a New “National Policy” in Canada”, Institute for Research on Public Policy, No. 1, September 2020: Broschek explains how the pandemic created a critical juncture in Canadian politics and how to use this moment to transform Canadian federalism.
• Michael Wolfson, « Fédéralisme fiscal et COVID-19 : accorder la priorité aux données » Options Politiques, 11 septembre 2020 : L’auteur soutient qu’au lieu d’offrir un financement sans condition aux provinces, le gouvernent fédéral devrait accorder la priorité aux données sur les cas de COVID-19 et les lier au financement en santé.
• Patricia Treble, “Coronavirus in Canada: These charts show how our fight to 'flatten the curve' is going”, MacLean’s, 31 August 2020: This article includes charts that show the overall and province numbers related to the pandemic.
• Kevin Dougherty, “Quebec rejects federal COVID Alert exposure app — for now”, iPolitics, 25 August 2020: Dougherty reports Quebec Premier Legault’s announcement about Quebec’s decision not to deploy the federal COVID alert application in Quebec.
• Carolyn Hughes Tuohy, “A New Federal Framework for Long-Term Care in Canada”, Policy Options, 20 August 2020: The author advocates for a federal-provincial collaboration to fix the long-term care system in Canada.
• Michael Bryant, “Has COVID-19 quietly killed Canadian Confederation?”,The Globe and The Mail, 13 August 2020: Bryant takes aim at Newfoundland’s travel ban and claims that it erodes the foundations of Canadian Confederation.
• Ligue des droit et les libertés, “Mémoire – consultations particulières sur les applications de traçage numérique.”, 11 août 2020: Le mémoire de l’organisme explique pourquoi le traçage numérique n’est pas une bonne stratégie contre la pandémie au Québec.
• Gregory P. Marchildon, Peter Bleyer, “Federalism done right in post-COVID-19 Canada”, Policy Options, 4 August 2020: Authors argue that the COVID-19 crisis is a chance to rethink Canadian federalism to better respond to the healthcare and climate change challenges.
• David Robitaille, “COVID-19 in Canada: The Division of Powers Over Quarantine and Borders”, SSRN, 4 August 2020: The author argues that, according to the principles of federalism, powers over quarantine and borders must be shared between the federal and the provinces based on their international, interprovincial and local impacts.
• Trevor Tombe, “What Now? The Need to Review Canada’s Fiscal Stabilization Program for provinces after COVID-19”, Canada West Foundation Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations Commission Policy Brief, August 2020: This brief analysis attempts to quantify the potential scale of the revenue challenge facing Canada’s provincial governments and some policy options available to help. It also clarifies what factors we should anticipate will dominate the federal-provincial relationship in the months to come.
• Charlie Pinkerton, “Canada’s COVID-19 ‘exposure notification’ app launches in Ontario and won’t track location data”, iPolitics, 31 July 2020: The federal governments’ tracking app, which was built in collaboration with Ontario, launches in the province.
• John Delacourt, “Crisis is the Mother of Collaboration: Federalism and COVID-19”, Policy Magazine, June 17, 2020: Delacourt argues that the lessons from a more co-operative federalism will resonate beyond the COVID-19 crisis.
• Josh Dehaas, “Opinion: Canada’s border restrictions no longer constitutionally justified.”, CCF Blog, 22 July 2020: Dehaas argues that Trudeau government’s near-total closure of the U.S. land border and 14-day self-quarantine requirements no longer meet the limits imposed by the Quarantine Act.
• Jocelyn Stacey, “Emergencies and the Rule of Learning”, Centre for Constitutional Studies Blog, 20 July 2020: Stacey highlights how the rule of law can and ought to contribute to learning during emergencies.
• Herman Bakvis, Grace Skogstad, “Canadian Federalism: Performing amidst the Pandemic”, UTP Blog, 6 July 2020: Authors take stock of how well the Canadian federation has fared so far in handling the pandemic.
• Colleen M. Flood, Vanessa MacDonnell, Jane Philpott, Sophie Thériault, Sridhar Venkatapuram (eds), “Vulnerable: The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19”, University of Ottawa Press, 2020: This book features articles that confront the vulnerabilities and interconnectedness made visible by the pandemic and its consequences, along with the legal, ethical and policy responses. These include vulnerabilities for people who have been harmed or will be harmed by the virus directly and those harmed by measures taken to slow its relentless march; vulnerabilities exposed in our institutions, governance and legal structures; and vulnerabilities in other countries and at the global level where persistent injustices harm us all. Download the open access PDF version.
• David Robitaille, « Confinements, déplacements et urgence nationale. Le partage des compétences en temps de crise sanitaire. », The Canadian Bar Review, Vol. 98, No. 1 (2020), 7 juillet 2020 : L’auteur explore les arguments qui pourraient être soutenus au soutien des compétences fédérales et provinciales sur certaines questions soulevées pendant la pandémie telles que la quarantaine et les frontières interprovinciales. Il discute ensuite du pouvoir fédéral d’adopter des lois en temps de crise qui pourrait écarter temporairement ce partage des compétences.
• Kyle Hanniman, “Post-pandemic, Canada will have to confront soaring provincial debt”, Ottawa Citizen, 6 July 2020: Hanniman discusses how Canadian federalism might tackle the provincial debts in the post-covid world.
• Kristopher Kissinger, Brian Bird, “The Freedoms We Cannot Afford to Ignore During COVID-19”, Centre for Constitutional Studies Blog, 29 June 2020: Authors discuss the importance of section 2(c) (guaranteeing the freedom of assembly) during the pandemic.
• Joanna Baron, “Unconstitutional travel bans are causing real harm”, National Post, 9 June 2020: Baron warns against the dangers of limiting right to free movements unconstitutionally.
• Catherine Girard, Guy Laforest, Isabelle Laforest-Lapointe, Félix Mathieu, Jean-Phillippe Warren (dir.), Penser l’après-Covid 19, July 2020: Ce dossier thématique du Magazine de l’Acfas contient des articles déjà publiées dans La Presse sur les enjeux de l’heure.
• Marco Vigliotti, “Atlantic premiers announce creation of regional travel bubble”, iPolitics, 24 June 2020: Vigliotti reports the creation of “Atlantic bubble”.
• « Les provinces de l’Atlantique forment une bulle contre la COVID-19 », Le Devoir, 24 juin 2020 : Les quatre provinces de l’Atlantique annoncent la création d’une « bulle » entre elles afin de permettre à leurs citoyens de circuler librement d’une province à l’autre alors que le nombre de cas d’infection au SARS-CoV-2 continue de fléchir.
• Shaun Fluker, “COVID-19 and the Exercise of Legislative Power by the Executive”, Centre for Constitutional Studies Blog, 22 June 2020: Fluker examines how Alberta ministers and the Chief Medical Officer of Health have been exercising emergency powers so far during the pandemic, and makes some observations on the hallmarks of legitimate governance and the role of the Regulations Act, RSA 2000, c R-14, in this regard.
• Andrea Riccardo Migone, “Trust, but customize: federalism’s impact on the Canadian COVID-19 response”, Policy and Society, 19 June 2020: This article explores how Canadian federalism, with its complex mix of competencies, and the country’s punctuated gradualism policy style interface with urgent, complex decision-making like the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Maxime St-Hilaire, “Deconstructing Quebec’s “Shocking” Bill 61”, Advocates for the Rule of Law, 16 June 2020: Author explains how the proposed Bill 61 overrides Public Health Act’s more general and older provisions and derogates from its already limited strictures imposed upon government
• Félix Mathieu, Dave Guénette, “Quebec, Canada and the Covid-19 Crisis: Making Federalism Work Again?” UACES Territorial Politics Blog, 16 June 2020: Dave Guénette and Félix Mathieu explain how the pandemic has shown in Canada that non-centralization may be an effective way to cope with the crisis.
• Michael Da Silva, Maxime St-Hilaire, “Pandemic Preparedness and Responsiveness in Canada: Exploring the Case for an Intergovernmental Agreement”, Centre for Constitutional Studies Blog, 15 June 2020: Authors argue that formal intergovernmental agreement could be a promising tool for ensuring cooperation and addressing the problems posed by genuine public health emergencies like COVID-19.
• Hélène Buzetti, Marie Vastel, « Pas de chèque en blanc, prévient Trudeau », Le Devoir, 11 juin 2020 : Les journalistes résument la réaction de Trudeau face aux inquiétudes des provinces sur les conditions d’aide financière.
• Hélène Buzetti, « Québec n’est pas seul à craindre l’empiètement d’Ottawa dans la relance de l'économie », Le Devoir, 10 juin 2020 : La journaliste compile les inquiétudes des provinces sur les conditions imposées par le gouvernement fédéral pour l’aide financière.
• Chistopher Nardi, “'We don’t want conditions': Premiers oppose strings attached to $14B federal COVID-19 aid package”, National Post, 5 June 2020: Journalist Christopher Nardi reports Premiers’ reaction to Trudeau’s conditions for aid package to provinces.
• Sarah Burningham, ““The New Normal”: COVID-19 and the Temporary Nature of Emergencies”, Centre for Constitutional Studies Blog, 4 June 2020: Burningham suggests that exceptional measures should be taken through usual constitutional and legal frameworks by drawing examples from the scholarship on security and anti-terrorism.
• Patricia Treble, “Coronavirus in Canada: Reopening plans province-by-province”, MacLean’s, 4 June 2020: Treble compiles a list of the reopening plans of federal and provincial governments. (The list is updated as new stages of plans are unveiled.)
• Patricia Hughes, “The Constitutionality of Interprovincial Boundary Closures (Part III)”, Slaw, 2 June 2020: In this final entry of the three-part blog post, Hughes looks at the enforcement provisions relating both to the closure of borders to out of province visitors and provisions that are imposed on people travelling across provincial/territorial borders.
• Monica Heller, “Communications, Language and COVID-19 Crisis Management” Voices of the RSC, 1 June 2020: Geller focuses on the problems about access to information due to language during the pandemic.
• L’Observatoire internationale sur les impacts sociétaux de l’IA et du numérique a preparé un guide sur les enjeux et opportunités des applications de notifications d’exposition à la COVID-19.
• Kyle Hanniman, “COVID-19, Fiscal Federalism and Provincial Debt: Have We Reached a Critical Juncture?”, Canadian Journal of Political Science, June 2020: This article assesses the claim that surging provincial debts have brought Canadian federalism to a critical juncture and that they have significantly increased the odds of federal measures to stabilize provincial finances.
• Andrew Potter, “Is Pandemic Federalism the New Normal?”, Max Bell School of Public Policy, 30 May 2020: Andrew Potter discusses the impact of pandemic on federalism, on fiscal policy, division of powers, internal borders, and the proper scrutinizing role of Parliament in Canada.
• Amir Attaran, “How Canada has bungled the COVID-19 endgame”, MacLean’s, 31 May 2020: Attaran argues that Canada has failed in its management of COVID-19 crisis and criticizes federal government for deferring the management of this public health crisis to provinces.
• Rafael Miró, Marco-Antonio Hauwert Rueda, «Vers un nouveau fédéralisme post-covid?» Le Délit, 31 mai 2020 : Le Délit s’entretient avec le prof. Daniel Béland sur l'impact de la COVID-19 sur le fédéralisme canadien.
• Patricia Hughes, “The Constitutionality of Interprovincial/Territorial Boundary Closures (Part II)”, Slaw, 26 May 2020: Hughes considers the constitutionality of the interprovincial and territorial border closures with respect to Section 1, 6 and 7 of the Charter
• “Charter challenge filed against N.L.'s travel restriction Bill 38”, CBC, 20 May 2020: CBC reports the legal challenge to the Newfoundland and Labrador government’s interprovincial travel restrictions.
• Chantal Bernier, “Finding our way through privacy, data gaps and pandemic response”, Canadian Lawyer, 19 May 2020: Bernier argues that there already is a framework to provide privacy protection while also collecting data and that Canadian governments should rely on that.
• Patricia Hughes, “The Constitutionality of Interprovincial/Territorial Boundary Closures (Part I)”, Slaw, 19 May 2020: Hughes discusses the legal background to the interprovincial/territorial boundary closures.
• Erica Rayment, Jason VandenBeukel, “Pandemic Parliaments: Canadian Legislatures in a Time of Crisis”, Canadian Journal of Political Science, 15 May 2020: Authors present the collected data on the activities of Canadian legislatures at the federal and provincial levels during the COVID-19 pandemic to see how their reaction has impacted their work and functions.
• Serges Jaumin, «Le Québec dans la tourmente de la COVID-19», COVIDAM : la Covid-19 dans les Amériques, 14 Mai 2020 : L’auteur présente les épreuves que le Québec endure pendant cette crise et s’interroge sur les effets de la crise entre le Québec et le gouvernement fédéral. (For English version, click here.)
• Teresa Scassa, “One app per province? How Canada’s federalism complicates digital contact tracing”, Heinrich Böll Stiftung, 13 May 2020: Scassa explains why Canada’s federal structure could lead to a multiplicity of apps across the country, complicating digital contact tracing.
• Maxime St. Hilaire, “Are Quebec and Canada having a “Schmittian” (or Iheringian) moment?”, 6 May 2020: Maxime St. Hilaire questions Quebec government’s choice of not invoking Section 33 of the Constitution Act (1982) and discusses possible theoretical frameworks for state of emergencies.
• François Laroque, Linda Cardinal, « Le français, autre victime de la Covid-19 au Canada », The Conversation, 5 Mai 2020 : Les auteur.e.s parlent des dangers que la crise cause pour la langue française en raison du manque d’un cadre au niveau fédéral.
• Alain Noel, “COVID-19 et tensions intergouvernementales”, Options Politiques, 4 Mai 2020: L’auteur présente les défis que la crise pose pour le fédéralisme canadien et attire l’attention du lecteur au problème du déséquilibre fiscal.
• Bob Rae, “Federalism and the COVID-19 crisis: The view from Canada”, Forum of Federations Blog, April 2020: Former Ontario premier looks at Canada’s response.
• Mirelle Paquet, Robert Schertzer, “COVID-19 as a Complex Intergovernmental Problem” (2020) Canadian Journal of Political Science: Paquet and Schertzer introduce the concept of “Complex Intergovernmental Problem” and propose it as a framework to treat intergovernmental issues in federal systems related to COVID-19 crisis by giving examples form Canadian context.
• Stéphanie Chouinard, Martin Normand, “Talk COVID to Me: Language Rights and Canadian Government Responses to the Pandemic”, Canadian Journal of Political Science, 28 April 2020: Authors argue that in addition to legal requirements to provide minority language services, it is not justifiable for governments to suspend or curtail such services in an emergency situation, for reasons pertaining to public safety and public health and explain how governments could better uphold their language obligations in times of emergency.
• Alain-G. Gagnon, « Penser l’après-COVID-19: pandémie, fédéralisme et concertation », La Presse, 28 avril 2020 : L’auteur offre des pistes de réflexion sur l’importance de l’autonomie provinciale mais aussi de la coordination et la concertation au sein du fédéralisme canadien pour mieux répondre à la crise.
• Alex Usher, “Post-Covid Fiscal Rebalancing”, Higher Education Strategy Associates, April 28, 2020: Usher is asking if Canadian federal government providing direct help to individuals is going to become a long-term fixture of Canadian federalism and how Quebec is not currently challenging this policy.
• David Dyzenhaus, “Canada the Good?”, University of Alberta Center for Constitutional Studies Blog, 27 April 2020: Dyzenhaus writes about emergency powers of federal government and the lack of checks on these powers.
• Catherine Xhardez, Mireille Paquet, « Immigration : se rappeler des fondations de notre régime distinct », La Presse, 23 Avril 2020 : Les chercheuses prévient contre le danger de mettre en question les pouvoirs que le Québec détient en matière d’immigration pendant la pandémie.
• Maxime St. Hilaire, « Les circonstances modernes de l'état d'urgence », ABC National, 21 Avril 2020 : L’auteur explique les théories générales sur l’état d’urgence et fait un état de lieu de l’utilisation des pouvoirs exceptionnelles au niveau des gouvernements fédéral et québécois.
• Marc Lee, Arman Hamidian, “Comparing provincial economic responses to COVID-19”, Policy Note, 23 April 2020: Lee and Hamidian compares economic responses of Canadian provinces and points out to the need for a comprehensive federal response.
• Charles Breton, Mohy-Dean Tabbara, “How the Provinces Compare in their Covid-19 Responses”, 22 April 2020 : The authors compare provincical responses by presenting data on measures taken and their timing.
• Daniel Béland, André Lecours, Mireille Paquet, and Trevor Tombe, “A Critical Juncture in Fiscal Federalism? Canada's Response to COVID-19”, Canadian Journal of Political Science, 20 April 2020: Authors discuss how Canada’s response to COVID-19 crisis may transform fiscal federalism in the light of provincial autonomy and already existing intergovernmental tensions.
• Sujit Choudhry, “COVID-19 & the Canadian Constitution”, Medium, 16 April 2020.
• Gérard Boismenu, « Covid-19, agent révélateur des fractures canadiennes », COVIDAM : la Covid-19 dans les Amériques, 9 Avril 2020 : Boismenu compare les réponses des provinces et la réponse fédérale pour la crise.
• Stéphanie Chouinard, “COVID-19 crisis sheds light on blind spot of Canadian federalism: interprovincial collaboration”, iPolitics, 9 April 2020: Chouinard focuses on horizontal collaboration during this crisis and calls for better collaboration.
• Robert Schetzer, Mirelle Paquet, “How well is Canada’s intergovernmental system is handling the crisis?”, Policy Options, 8 April 2020: Authors assess how well provincial governments and the federal government are handling the crisis and how the lessons from previous crises helped.
• Amy Swiffen, “The limits of Canada’s federal emergency law during the coronavirus pandemic”, The Conversation, 1 April 2020: Swiffen concentrates on limitations of Canadian federalism and asks if Federal Emergencies Act gives enough power to federal government to deal with COVID-19 considering that federal government can intervene only if the spread exceeds capacities of the provinces according to the Act.

Argentina / Argentine

• Matías Bianchi, “Federalism and the COVID-19 crisis: More federalism than ever in Argentina”, Forum of Federations Blog: Bianchi explains how federalism is rising to the challenge in Argentina during this crisis.

Australia / Australie

• Marco Rizzi, Tamara Tulich, “The Australian Response to COVID-19: A Year in Review”, Verfassungsblog, 22 February 2021: Authors explain Australia’s legal and political response to the outbreak of COVID-19 that has been marked by the formation of a new intergovernmental forum, the National Cabinet.
• Jenny Child, Roland Dillon, Eija Erasmus, and Jacob Johnson, “Collaboration in crisis: Reflecting on Australia’s COVID-19 response”, McKinsey& Company, 15 December 2020: The article offers a valuable insight into Australia’s COVID-19 response as it features results distilled from interviews with dozens of public- and private-sector leaders responsible for shaping Australia’s COVID-19 response as well as quantitative data. It also shines a light on these collaborative actions and the lessons they might hold for other countries.
• Kate Doust, Sam Hastings, “Legislative Scrutiny in Times of Emergency: A Case Study of Australian Parliaments”, European Journal of Law Reform, No. 4, 2020: This article examines the scrutiny of primary legislation by the parliaments of Western Australia the Commonwealth of Australia during the initial stages of the pandemic, through the application of principles from the House of Lords Select Committee inquiry into fast-track legislation.
• Nicolas Aroney, Michael Boyce, “Australia and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Federal, State and Local Responses”, SSRN, 13 November 2020: The paper describes and evaluates the response of the Australian federal system to the COVID-19 crisis. It argues that despite serious administrative failures, especially in the State of Victoria, the measures implemented by Australian governments at a Commonwealth, State, Territory and local level have been remarkably successful in containing the virus and providing quality health care to those infected.
• Tamara Tulich, Ben Reilly, Sarah Murray, “The National Cabinet: Presidentialised Politics, Power-sharing and a Deficit in Transparency”, AUSPUBLAW, 23 October 2020: Authors argues that the alleged effectiveness of Australia’s National Cabinet bears many resemblances to the effectiveness of presidential form of government and that this effectiveness comes at a cost.
• Robert Carling, “Has federalism failed us in the pandemic?” Spectator Australia, 30 September 2020: Carling argues that state premiers failed to come up with adequate and coordinated response to the pandemic.
• Anne Twomey, “Multi-Level Government and COVID-19: Australia as a case study”, Melbourne Forum 2020 Discussion Papers, September 2020: This paper highlights how the multi-level government of Australia responded to the COVID-19 crisis.
• Narelle Miragliotta, Nicholas Barry, Zim Nwokora, “Will national cabinet change federal-state dynamics?”, The Conversation, 3 September 2020: Authors discuss how National Cabinet, introduced to coordinate COVID response, will alter the Australian federalism.
• Kalinga Seneviratne, “One Nation, Six Governments – COVID-19 Battle Uncovers Australian Federalism”, IDN - In Depth News, 29 August 2020: Seneviratne reports the tensions that arose in the Australian federal system hit by the second wave of the pandemic.
• Peta Stephenson, Jonathan Crowe, “Queensland Public Health Laws and COVID-19: A Challenge to the Rule of Law?”, AUSPUBLAW Blog, 21 August 2020: Stephenson and Crowe examine the mechanisms used in Queensland to issue public health directions aimed at curbing the spread of the pandemic and focus particularly on the extraordinary use of delegated legislation.
• Henry Cooney, Harry Sanderson, “Border Closures and s 92: Clive Palmer’s Quest to Enter WA”, AUSPUBLAW, 4 August 2020: The article examines the legal challenge to a border closure which was made by a Mr. Palmer who wanted to travel into Western Australia.
• Emrys Nekvapil, Maya Narayan, Stephanie Brenker, “COVID-19 and the Law of Australia”: Authors created an online textbook for guidance on the laws made by the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary (and administrative tribunals) of the Commonwealth and each State and Territory in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also includes a chapter on constitutional division of powers on this matter.
• The Parliament of Victoria launched an inquiry into the pandemic response of the Victorian government. Related documents can be reached through its website. Amongst the submissions made to the committee, Evgenia Lega’s submission particularly addresses the federalist nature of Australia and how federalism failed in this crisis.
• Anne Twomey, “We should bake in improvements in our federation”, The Australian, 6 July 2020: Twomey explains how the lessons from the pandemic can be used to improve the federal system, specifically by reforming the “National Cabinet”.
• Shreeya Smith, “The Scope of a Nationhood Power to Respond to COVID-19: Unanswered Questions”, Australian Public Law Blog, 13 June 2020: Smith discusses the legal basis for a coordinated Commonwealth response to COVID-19.
• Stephanie Branker, “An Executive Grab for Power During COVID-19?”, Australian Public Law Blog, 13 June 2020: Branker specifically looks at the power conferred on the federal executive by the Biosecurity Act and argues that to validly act during this crisis, the federal executive may need to rely on other sources of power than the quarantine power under Section 51 of the Australian Constitution. The article also explains how the Biosecurity Act pushes the division of power between the Commonwealth and the state to its limits.
• Shipra Chordia, “Border closures, COVID-19 and s 92 of the Constitution – what role for proportionality (if any)?”, Australian Public Law Blog, 5 June 2020: Chordia argues that structured proportionality should not be adopted as a methodological tool in the context of Section 92 (Trade within the Commonwealth to be free) of the Australian Constitution.
• Alan Fenna, “Coping with Covid-19: an encomium to Australian Federalism”, UACES Territorial Politics Blog, 12 June 2020: Fenna argues that the COVID-19 response in Australia showcased both the continuing importance of the States and the potential for genuinely collaborative intergovernmentalism despite the frictions.
• Mark Nolan, “Have the bushfires and COVID-19 highlighted a constitutional crisis in Australia?”, CSU News, 21 May 2020: Nolan highlights how recent crises underlined important issues about Australian federalism.
• Narelle Miragliotta, “National and state leaders may not always agree, but this hasn’t hindered our coronavirus response”, The Conversation, 14 April 2020: Miragliotta argues that despite the friction between NSW government and Australian Border Force over Ruby Princess debacle, Australia’s response to COVID-19 is a testament to the benefits of the federation.
• Allan Patience, ”The Coronavirus Pandemic and the Crisis of Australian federalism”, John Menadue – Pearls and Irritations, 25 March 2020: Patience explains how the early days of the COVID-19 crisis underlined the failure of Australian federalism.
• Stephen Duckett, Anika Stobart, “Will the gloss wear off the ‘National Cabinet’?”, Croakey, 25 May 2020: Authors ask if Australia’s new intergovernmental cooperation institution, National Cabinet, will survive the pandemic and become permanent.
• Chris Wallace, “Schools have been ideological battlegrounds in the past. In the coronavirus crisis, they are again”, The Conversation, 3 May 2020: Wallace explains the tension between federal and Victorian government about closure and re-opening of schools and highlights problems of Australian federalism on matters related to education policies.
• John Warhurst, “Grappling with the realities of a national cabinet”, Canberra Times, 26 March 2020: Warhurst questions, with a special focus on accountability, the benefits of “National Cabinet”, an intergovernmental cabinet formed to coordinate responses to COVID-19 in Australia.
• Paul Carp, “Coalition offers independent schools early funding if they return to face-to-face teaching”, The Guardian, 29 April 2020: Paul Karp reports on how independent schools are caught up in the tension between federal and Victorian government.
• Roger Wilkins, “Federalism and the COVID-19 crisis: An Australian Perspective”, Forum of Federations Blog: Author explains how different levels of government are coordinating the response to the pandemic.
• Tamara Tulich, Marco Rizzi, Fiona McGaughey, “Cooperative Federalism, Soft Governance and Hard Laws in Australia’s State of Emergency”, Verfassungsblog, 10 April 2020: Authors discuss Australian response to the crisis with a section focused on the National Cabinet “comprised of the Prime Minister of Australia, the Premiers of the six Australian states and the Chief Ministers of the two Australian territories.

Austria / Autriche

• Anna Gamper, “Austrian Federalism and the Corona Pandemic”, Institut für Federalismus Blog, 5 June 2020: Gamper explains the challenges that Austrian federalism faced during the pandemic, especially the centralizing effect and Tyrol’s unique situation during the crisis.
• Peter Bußjäger, “COVID-19 crisis challenging Austria’s cooperative federalism”, Institut für Föderalismus Blog, 28 April 2020: The author focuses on some of the mistakes made in handling of the crisis and underlines the importance of intergovernmental cooperation.

Belgium / Belgique

• Maaike De Ridder, “Belgium’s Accordion Response to COVID-19”, Verfassungsblog, 10 March 2021: The post provides an overview of the measures taken in Belgium since March 2020 and explains how the coordination between different levels of government worked.
• Steven Arrazola de Oñate, Bruno Yammine, « Gouvernons la Belgique sur la base de ses neuf provinces », La Libre, 4 mars 2021 : Les auteurs plaident pour remplacer les entités fédérales actuelles avec les provinces en raison de la complexité du système démontrée par la pandémie.
• Saba Parsa, Marc Uyttendaele, « La pandémie de Covid-19 face au droit », Anthémis, 2021 : Cet ouvrage est une collection des articles qui illustrent les défis posés par la pandémie contre le droit en ayant l’objectif d'envisager l'avenir et d'imaginer des balises pour que la crise inédite de Covid-19 soit un tremplin vers une société meilleure plutôt que l'esquisse d'un rétrécissement de nos espaces de liberté.
• « Coronavirus en Belgique : accord entre le fédéral, les Communautés et Régions sur le Plan de relance », RTBF, 11 janvier 2020 : L’article explique les grandes axes de l’accord sur le plan de relance belge.
• Kevin Dupont, « Covid-19: le millefeuille politique responsable de la haute mortalité belge? », Moustique, Décembre 2020 : L’auteur fait un bilan des opinions sur la façon dont le système fédéral belge a géré la crise sanitaire.
• « Le gouvernement fédéral et les entités fédérées collaborent pour la vaccination COVID-19 d’au moins 8 millions de Belges », AFMPS, 16 novembre 2020 : La Conférence Interministérielle Santé publique et du Commissaire Corona du Gouvernement fournit plus de détails sur la stratégie de vaccination et la collaboration intergouvernementale.
• Xavier Counasse, Martine Dubuisson, « Quand le coronavirus montre le singulier visage du fédéralisme belge », Le Soir, 25 octobre 2020 : Les journalistes expliquent les tensions du fédéralisme belge en deuxième vague de la pandémie.
• Patricia Popelier, “COVID-19 legislation in Belgium at the crossroads of a political and a health crisis”, The Theory and Practice of Legislation, Vol. 8, No. 1-2, 2020: This paper discusses the corona virus crisis legislation in Belgium, against the background of a political crisis intertwined with the problems of Belgian federalism.
• Courtney Withrow, “COVID-19 Is Pushing Belgium’s Messy Federal System to Its Limits”, World Politics Review, 6 August 2020: Withrow argues that Belgium’s divisions are as deep as ever and that COVID-19 may have only exacerbated them through its federal system.
• Bernard Demonty, « La Belgique n’a pas de plan de gestion de crise », Le Soir, 10 juillet 2020 : Le journaliste explique l’absence de coordination entre les entités fédérales.
• Eric Burgraff, « Grand Baromètre: les Belges veulent refédéraliser la Santé », Le Soir, 22 juin 2020 : Le journaliste explique pourquoi les Belges souhaitent que le gouvernement fédéral ait plus de pouvoir en matière de santé.
• Eric Deffet, « Un accord de coopération jette les bases du traçage numérique », Le Soir, 18 juin 2020: Le journaliste annonce l’accord interfédéral finalisé sur le traçage numérique.
• Béatrice Delvaux, « Covid: la Belgique a mal à son image », Tribune de Genève, 7 juin 2020: L’éditorialiste du « Soir » de Bruxelles soutient que la pandémie a démontré la nécessité pour une urgente amélioration de la structure belge explosée en multiples couches institutionnelles, régionales, communautaires et fédérale.
• Toon Moonen, Jonas Riemslagh, “Fighting COVID 19 – Legal Powers and Risks: Belgium”, Verfassungsblog, 25 March 2020: Authors focus on three types of early measures taken during the crisis: containment measures, the granting of ‘special powers’ to the executive and measures aimed at socio-economic survival and recovery. They also provide details on how Belgium’s federated entities use their powers to respond to the crisis.
• Centre de droit public de l’Université Libre de Bruxelles publie des carnets de crise sur les effets de la crise avec un appui sur le droit public belge.
• Frédéric Bouhon, Andy Jousten, Xavier Miny et Emmanuel Slautsky, “L’État belge face à la pandémie de Covid-19 : esquisse d’un régime d’exception”, (2020) 2446 Courrier hebdomadaire du CRISP: Les auteur.e.s expliquent comment la gestion de la crise ébranle les dynamiques du fédéralisme belge, la séparation du pouvoir au sein des gouvernements fédérés et fédéral, et le régime des droits fondamentaux. (English version: summary on I-CONNECT Blog.)
• Ivan de Vadder, « Chers politiques, faites en sorte que le goût de l’après-corona ne soit pas amer », Le Soir, 6 Mai 2020 : Le chroniqueur s’interrogent sur les changements qui attendent l’État belge après cette crise en attirant l’attention des lecteurs aux demandes des réformes différentes des francophones (transfert des pouvoirs relatif à la santé publique au niveau fédéral) et des flamands (transfert des pouvoirs aux unités constituantes).
• Patricia Popeliers, “The impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the federal dynamics in Belgium”, UACES Territorial Politics Blog, 5 May 2020: Popeliers highlights the centralizing effect of this crisis and the need for an institutionalized framework for health-related crisis management.
• Peter Bursens, “Federalism and the COVID-19 crisis: Reflections on competences, actors and party politics in Belgium”, Forum of Federations Blog: Bursens examines how different federal level of governance in Belgium are operating during the crisis.
• Sarah Ganty, “Belgium and COVID-19: When a Health Crisis Replaces a Political Crisis”, Verfassungsblog, 21 April 2020: Ganty shows how this crisis underlined the fragility of federalism in Belgium.

Bosnia and Herzegovina / Bosnie-Herzégovine

• Nina Sajic, “Federal institutional design and the COVID 19 crisis management in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Forum of Federations Blog: Sajic delves into the practical application of the governance structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina and how it operated throughout the COVID pandemic and points the resurfacing divide within the federation out.
• Soeren Keil, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Covid-19 Crisis”, UACES Territorial Politics, 12 May 2020: Keil explains how Bosnia and Herzegovina became a “role model” on how to handle the crisis.

Brazil / Brésil

• Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer, Thomas Bustamante, “COVID-19 in Brazil: A Sick Constitutional Democracy”, Verfassungsblog, 22 February 2021: The post explains how different institutions including subnational reacted to President Bolsonaro’s irresponsible approach to COVID-19.
• Thomas Bustamante, Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer, Felipe Tirado, “Opposing an Idle Federal Government: The Brazilian Federal Supreme Court on Mandatory Vaccination”, Verfassungsblog, 23 December 2020: The article analyzes Brazilian Federal Supreme Court’s judgments on vaccination policies and argues that the court strengthened Brazilian federalism in the face of a federal government that remains largely inactive in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Carolina Gabas Stuchi, Vanessa Elias de Oliveira, Gilberto M. A. Rodrigues, “Covid-19 and emergency grant: a Brazil’s populist policy?”, UACES Territorial Politics Blog, 24 September 2020: Authors explain how President Bolsonaro tries to limit to autonomy of subnational governments during the pandemic in order to make way for his populist policies.
• Victor Marcel Pinheiro, Marcelo Ilarraz, Melissa Terni Mestriner, “The impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on the Brazilian legal system – a report on the functioning of the branches of the government and on the legal scrutiny of their activities”, The Theory and Practice of Legislation, Vol. 8, No. 1-2, 2020: The article explains that state-level officials took most public health actions in Brazil, what gave rise to a clash between the President and Governors about who has authority to decide about public health measures.
• Fernando Luiz Abrucio, Eduardo José Grin, Cibele Franzese, Catarina İanni Segatto & Claudio Gonçalves Couto, “Combating COVID-19 under Bolsonaro's federalism: a case of intergovernmental incoordination”, Revista de Administracao Publica Vol. 54, No. 4, August 2020: Through historical-institutional analysis, the study examines how the model of federalism adopted by President Bolsonaro's government influenced policy responses to the pandemic in the country.
• Hervé Thery, « Quels sont les facteurs associés à la propagation de l’épidémie de Covid-19 au Brésil ? », Diploweb.com, 5 juillet 2020: L’auteur cherche à identifier quels sont les facteurs associés à l’épidémie de Covid-19 au Brésil, au moins dans les modalités de sa distribution spatiale jusqu’au 14 juin 2020.
• Juliano Zaiden Benvindo, “Tomorrow Knows Better: A New Inflection Point in Brazil’s Democracy?”, I-CONnect Blog, 1 July 2020: Benvindo explains how Bolsonaro’s election affected Brazilian democracy and why things are getting complicated for Bolsonaro, citing the tension between governors and Bolsonaro as a reason.
• Eduardo José Grin, “The Perfect Covid-19 Storm in Brazil”, Middle Atlantic Review of Latin American Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1 (2020): Author argues that the actions of the current government to deal with Covid-19 are detrimental to the cooperative type of federalism that is in place in Brazil in the last thirty years.
• Mariana Urban, Eduardo Saad-Diniz, “Why Brazil’s COVID-19 Response is Failing”, The Regulatory Review, 22 June 2020: Authors explain Brazil’s failure to respond effectively to COVID-19 through the lens of the political crisis raging between federal and state governments.
• Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer, Thomas Bustamante, “Judicial Responses to Bolsonarism: The Leading Role of the Federal Supreme Court”, Verfassungsblog, 16 June 2020: In a general recollection of the most important rulings and procedures that take part in Federal Supreme Court’s backlash at Bolsanaro, authors also reveal the tension that surfaced between the Court and Bolsanaro on state powers.
• Julie VanDusky-Allen, Olga Shetsova, Andrei Zhirnov, “Brazilian Federalism and State Level Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic”, The Blue Review, 10 June 2020: Authors explain how federal structure allowed subnational units to compensate the lack of action against COVID-19 on federal level.
• Lorena G. Barberia, Luiz Cantarelli, Maria Leticia Claro, Isabel Seelaender Costa Rosa, Fabiana da Silva Pereira, Marcela Zamudio,”Confronting the COVID-19 Pandemic: Brazilian Federal and Subnational-Government Responses, Technical Report on Social Distancing Stringency (SDS)”, OSF, 15 April 2020: After developing a refined version of the stringency index introduced by the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker to examine federal and state policies in the Brazilian federation, the study reports on the social distancing policies adopted by the 26 states and the federal district of the Brazilian federation.
• Gilberto M. A. Rodrigues, Vanessa Elias de Oliveira, “Brazil and Covid-19: the President against the Federation”, UACES Territorial Politics, 5 June 2020: Authors argue that the conflict between the federal union and the subnational entities has challenged cooperative federalism in Brazil and has opened room for redesigning the country’s intergovernmental relations.
• João Victor Archegas, Letícia Kreuz, “The ‘Constitutional Military Inter­vention’: Brazil on the Verge of Democratic Breakdown” Verfassungsblog, 4 June 2020: Authors explain how President Bolsanaro’s actions, including his feud with state governors, challenge Brazil’s constitutional order and why some of President’s supporters are calling for the military to play the role of “constitutional moderator”.
• Marcelo Figureiedo, “Symposium: COVID-19 in Brazil - The Main Political, Social and Legal Events” IACL-AIDC Blog, 2 June 2020: Figureiedo provides examples of the steps taken by the federal government in Brazil and explains the tensions between subnational units and the federal government.
• Bruno Queiroz Cunha, “Brazil’s COVID-19 Response is Caught Between Denialism and Technocratic Hubris”, The Regulatory Review, 1 June 2020: Author explains the failure of Bolsanaro’s policies during the pandemic and underlines the lack of cooperation between subnational units and the federal government.
• Sthéfano Bruno Santos Divino, “The Brazilian Government’s Actions Against the COVID-19” [.pdf], Biodritto, 16 March 2020: Author explains early measures of Brazilian federal government to fight COVID-19.
• Ana Carolina Lorena, Eduardo Henrique Correa da Silva Paranhos Neris, “Federalism and the COVID-19 crisis: Perspectives for Brazil”, Forum of Federations Blog: Authors discusses Brazil’s response to the COVID crisis and how the lack of a stable intergovernmental coordination affects this response.
• Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer, Thomas Bustamante, “Authoritarianism Without Emergency Powers: Brazil Under COVID-19”, Verfassungsblog, 2 April 2020: Authors discuss Brazil’s response to crisis while addressing the power struggle between state governors and the President.
• Different media outlets (Time, Bloomberg, ABC News, The Globe and Mail) and NGOs (Human Rights Watch) report on the power struggle between state governors and President Bolsonaro and how the federal courts are revoking or suspending Bolsonaro’s decrees that limit the powers of state governors.

China / Chine

• Jacques DeLisle, Shen Kui, “China’s Response to COVID-19”, Administrative Law Review, Vol 73, No.1, 2021: The article offers an overview of the legal framework that helped China tackle the crisis.
• Jacques DeLisle, “China’s Administrative State Is Both a Blessing and a Curse”, The Regulatory Review, 30 June 2020: Author evaluates China’s response to the pandemic while providing insight to the role of local-level authorities.
• Philipp Renninger, “China and COVID-19: A Central-Local ‘Chess Game’”, 20 June 2020: Renninger explains the role of local authorities in the management of this crisis and how the central government positions itself vis-à-vis this role.
• Yuxue Fang, “Fighting COVID 19 – Supportive Measures for Employees and Enterprises in China”, Verfassungsblog, 22 March 2020: Fang explains the legal basis and scope of restrictive measures, and supportive measures for financially affected employees and enterprises while offering a brief overview of subnational measures.

Colombia / Colombie

• Juan Carlos Covilla Martínez, “Coordinating Colombia’s Pandemic Response”, The Regulatory Review, 3 June 2020: In this article, Martínez argues that Colombia lacks procedures for ensuring coordination among different levels of government.

European Union / Union européenne

• Barthélémy Gaillard, « Vaccination contre le Covid-19 en Europe : où en est-on ? », Toute l’Europe, 22 mars 2021 : L’article offre une analyse compréhensive du processus européen de la campagne de vaccination.
• Nazaré da Costa Cabral, “Borrowing in the European Union: from a pure national model to the antechamber of a European fiscal federal solution”, Journal of European Integration, 2021: In this article, the author presents the evolution in the European Union of different borrowing models going through a path which starts out with a purely national model, passes through stages of hybrid (national and European) models, to reach the final stage, a purely European model after the Sovereign Debt and the COVID-19 crises.
• Jean Marsia, Domenico Rossetti di Valdalbero, « Quel fédéralisme pour les États-Unis d’Europe ? », La Libre, 31 janvier 2021 : Cet article est un plaidoyer pour le fédéralisme européen.
• Bertille Bayart, « Clément Beaune: «La souveraineté, ce n’est pas l’autarcie» », Le Figaro, 8 janvier 2021 : Dans cet entretien, le secrétaire d’État aux Affaires européennes défend les achats communautaires de vaccins et insiste sur la nécessité d’une autre politique commerciale.
• Deborah S. Ianotti, “EU Next Generation in a (Not So) Post-Pandemic World”, The New Federalist, 21 December 2020: Ianotti explains how the most ambitious economic plan of the EU finally came to fruition overcoming all obstacles.
• Hjalte Lokdam, “The Ideological Shade of the Constitutional Order: Public Law and Political Economy in the Eurozone”, iCourts Working Paper Series, No. 231, 2021: This paper argues that the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) created at Maastricht conformed to the neoliberal theory of interstate federalism in seeking to constitute structural conditions that circumscribed the effective exercise of activist public authority at both the Member State and European level. However, different crises, including COVID-19 pandemic highlighted that the objectives pursued under the reformed EMU might depart from the set of policies traditionally associated with neoliberalism.
• “Did Europe Just Experience Its “Hamiltonian Moment”?”, The International Economy, Summer 2020: Experts share their view over the “Hamiltonian Moment” debate for EU that erupted after the announcement of its COVID-19 package.
• Geert Bouckaert, Davide Galli, Sabine Kuhlmann, Renate Reiter, Steven Van Hecke, “European Coronationalism? A Hot Spot Governing a Pandemic Crisis”, Public Administration Review, Vol. 80, No. 4, 2020: The authors point to the lack of European response within the Union by focusing on Belgium, France, Germany, and Italy.
• John Palmer, “Is the European Union finally moving to an economic – not just a monetary – Union?”, The Federal Trust, 21 July 2020: Palmer discusses the effects of the deal reached in the last week’s European summit amongst country leaders.
• Mathis Bittion, “The Spectre of European Federalism”, National Review, 9 July 2020: Bittion argues that EU is at a critical juncture and will either become increasingly federal or shatter to pieces depending on the economic response that it will give to the pandemic related crisis.
• Alession M. Pacces, Maria Weimer, “From Diversity to Coordination: A European Approach to COVID-19”, European Journal of Risk Regulation, Vol 11, Special Issue 2 June 2020: Authors argue that a coordinated response as an exit strategy is more desirable for the future of the EU.
• Mitja Kovac, Amira Elkanawati, Vita Gjikolli, and Ann-Sophie Vandenberghe, “The COVID-19 Pandemic: Collective Action and European Public Policy under Stress”, Law & Economics of Covid-19 Working Paper Series, April 2020: Authors seek to address the role played by European public policy in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and argue that the current unprecedented outbreak of this superspreading virus calls for a more significant EU-wide coordinated response.
• Ivan Krastev, Mark Leonard, “Europe’s pandemic politics: How the virus has changed the public’s worldview”, European Council on Foreign Relations, 24 June 2020: Authors claim that this crisis represents a new opportunity for European integration but not as a “Hamiltonian” moment of proto-federalization.
• Brendan McKee, “European Federalism and the Canadian Model”, Europa United, 21 June 2020: McKee argues for a better way to understand European federalism through the lens of Canadian federalism.
• Jacek Rostowski, Arnab Das, “Europe’s “Hamiltonian Moment” or “Fort Sumter Fusillade”?”, Project Syndicate, 8 June 2020: Authors challenge the view that, like Alexander Hamilton’s 1790 agreement with Thomas Jefferson on transferring US states’ Revolutionary War debts to the new federal government, Franco-German proposal for a €500 billion European Union recovery fund to cope with the COVID-19 crisis would pave the way to a United States of Europe.
• Bruno Maçães, Anu Bradford, “The duel: could Covid-19 kill off the EU?”, Prospect, 5 June 2020: Authors debate on the effects of COVID-19 on the integration of the EU.
• Peter van Elsuwege, “Lifting Travel Restrictions in the Era of COVID-19: In Search of a European Approach” Verfassungsblog, 5 June 2020: The author argues that travel restrictions imposed within the EU are increasingly untenable in the light of fundamental principles of EU law and that this chaotic response calls for a reflection on the division of competences.
• Irene Queralt Santamatilde, “What can Federalism Learn from Feminism?”, Tourillon, 4 June 2020: The author argues that feminism can inspire federalists to build a federal Europe based on interdependence, collaboration, and mutual care.
• Oresto Pollicino, “Fighting Covid-19 and Protecting Privacy Under EU Law — A Proposal Looking at the Roots of European Constitutionalism”, IACL-AIDC Blog, 21 May 2020: Pollicino explains the challenges on the way of developing a pan-European model of contact tracing.
• Théo Boucart, « COVID-19 : l’esprit de Ventotene à la rescousse de l’UE ? », Le Taurilllon, 16 avril 2020 : À partir du discours de Ursula von der Leyen au Parlement européen, l’auteur s’interroge sur la possibilité d’une Europe solidaire pour sortir de cette crise.
• Eric Maurice, Ramona Bloj, Stefanie Buzmaniuk Cécile Antonnini, Catherine D’Angelo, “COVID-19: European Responses,: A Complete Picture” [.pdf], Fondation Robert Schuman, 12 May 2020: Authors provide an overview of all the measures taken so far, at national and EU level explaining that the EU’s ability act depends largely on Member States.
• Fondation Robert Schuman, “The European Union and the Coronavirus”, 6 April 2020: The article outlines the EU’s competences in health, argues even though the Union did not have extensive competence on this matter, the EU’s action created an unease. It also illustrates the crisis’s fragmenting effect on European integration.
• Iñigo de Miguel, Elena Atienza-Macías, “What Can We Expect From the EU Legal Framework in a Pandemic Outbreak?” [.pdf], Biodritto, 14 March 2020: Researchers explain how the EU could help the Member States to cope with COVID-19 and focus on the so-called, “Solidarity Clause” as well as the Integrated Political Crisis Response arrangements.
• John Bruton, “Where can the EU find the ammunition to fight a coronavirus-induced economic slump?” [.pdf], Fondation Robert Schuman, 6 April 2020: Bruton criticizes the first reactions of Member States to the crisis and evaluates possible economic solutions to the economic problems.
• Rory Montgomery, “Solidarity in a Time of Crisis: The EU and the Pandemic”, TCD COVID-19 Crisis Blog, 6 April 2020: Montgomery outlines how European solidarity is being tested as a result of the pandemic and what role the EU can play and argues the EU has more powers to combat with the economic difficulties in the aftermath of the pandemic.
• Alberto Alemenno, “Testing the Limits of EU Health Emergency Power”, Verfassungsblog, 18 April 2020: Author presents the challenges that the crisis created for EU and how it showed the limits of its powers.

Council of Europe/ Conseil d’Europe

• Council of Europe, “Respecting democracy, rule of law and human rights in the framework of the COVID-19 sanitary crisis: A toolkit for member states”, 7 April 2020: The Council published an information document for its member states for dealing with the COVID-19 crisis in a way that respects the fundamental values of democracy, rule of law and human rights. The document acknowledges the need for central governments to bypass standard division of competences, but it also underlines that the rights of local and regional authorities should be re-established as soon as the situation allows it.

Ethiopia / Éthiopie

• Yonatan Fessha, “Ethiopia’s Tigray Crisis: A Troubled Federation”, Verfassungsblog, 27 November 2020: Fessha explains the rising of tensions between the central government and state of Tigris after federal elections were postponed due to COVID-19.
• Zemelak Ayitenew Ayele, “Federalism and the COVID-19 crisis: The perspective from Ethiopia”, Forum of Federations Blog: Author explains how different levels of government responded to the crisis.

Germany / Allemagne

• Matthew Pelowski, “Did federalism impact the capacity for public health policy response to COVID-19? The case of Germany”, University of Birmingham Working Paper Series, March 2021: Pelowski compares the measures taken in different states and the measures taken on national level to see the role federalism played in Germany’s response to the pandemic.
• Johannes Saurer, “Patterns of Cooperative Administrative Federalism in the German Response to COVID-19”, Administrative Law Review, Vol 73, No.1, 2021: This essay explores the role of cooperative administrative federalism in COVID-19 containment from March to August 2020.
• Sabine Kinkartz, “Opinion: Germany needs tougher measures to counter COVID-19”, DW, 6 January 2021: The author argues that German federalism has also its limits and that the country might need tighter restrictions.
• Hans Georg-Betz, “How COVID-19 Stole Christmas”, Fair Observer, 23 December 2020: The author explains how the pandemic has exposed the pitfalls of German federalism.
• Sadiya Ansari, “How Germany’s federation co-ordinated a pandemic response”, Policy Options, 21 December 2020: The article explains the main reasons behind the successful coordination within German federal system during the pandemic.

• Alain Howiller, « Covid-19 : quand le fédéralisme allemand se grippe ! », EuroJournalist, 18 novembre 2020 : Howiller explique les limites du système fédéral allemand qui, en temps normal, est un paradis pour la subsidiarité, mais qui risque de devenir un défi en temps de crise.
• Christophe Bourdoiseau, « Allemagne: le coronavirus met le fédéralisme à l’épreuve », Le Soir, 14 octobre 2020: Bourdoiseau explique comment la deuxième vague de la pandémie oblige Berlin à revoir une politique de restrictions régionales qui est devenue incohérente.
• Mark Hallam, “Coronavirus in Germany: How the federal system hampers the fight against the pandemic”, DW, 12 October 2020: Hallam explains briefly the pros and cons of federal governance under Germany’s response to COVID-19.
• Fabian Hattke, Helge Martin, “Collective action during the Covid-19 pandemic: The case of Germany’s fragmented authority”, Administrative Theory & Praxis, September 2020: The authors show how fragmented authority can foster collective action to mount an effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic by taking Germany as an example.
• Lothar Wieler, Ute Rexroth, and René Gottschalk, “Emerging COVID-19 success story: Germany’s strong enabling environment”, Our World in Data, 30 June 2020: The article underlines the reasons behind Germany’s success to handle the pandemic. It also explains the effect of German federalism in this success.
• Christophe Bourdoiseau, « Retour au confinement pour 650.000 personnes en Allemagne », Le Soir, 23 juin 2020 : Le journaliste explique la réapparition des frontières internes en Allemagne avec de nouveaux cas d’éclosion dans le Nord.
• Johanna Schnabel, Yvonne Hegele, “Covid-19 and Federal Dynamics in Germany: Business as Usual”, UACES Territorial Politics Blog, 9 June 2020: Authors argue that the management of the COVID-19 crisis has been consistent with Germany’s cooperative approach to federalism rather than creating a major change in federal dynamics.
• Johannes Saurer, “COVID-19 and Cooperative Administrative Federalism in Germany”, The Regulatory Review, 13 May 2020: Saurer explains how Germany ‘s federal system shaped the country’s response to COVID-19.
• Anika Anika Klafki, Andrea Kießling, “Fighting COVID 19 – Legal Powers and Risks: Germany”, Verfassungsblog, 20 March 2020: Authors provide an overview of the relevant legal instruments in the fight against the virus as well as the tensions due to the federalism.
• Constanze Stelzenmüller, Sam Denney, “COVID-19 Is a Severe Test for Germany’s Postwar Constitution”, Law Fare Blog, 16 April 2020: Authors discuss to what extent the German constitutional order is apt to counter the crisis and also addresses federalism in a specific section to explain how the revised Infection Protection Act gave new powers to the federal government and how this revision and other practices within the parliament have a centralizing effect on German federalism.
• Gaëlle Winter, « Regards sur la réaction allemande à la crise du Covid-19 », Notes de la Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique, 20 Avril 2020 : Cette note détaillée sur la réponse allemande met en lumière – parmi d’autres – les conditions peu favorables du fédéralisme allemand pour la gestion de la crise, surtout en matière de partage des compétences ; explique comment ces institutions se sont adaptées; et offre une réflexion sur l’impact de la crise aux relations européennes.
• Georg Milbradt, “Federalism and the COVID-19 crisis: A perspective from Germany”, Forum of Federations Blog, April 2020: Milbradt examines Germany’s experience dealing with the COVID-19.
• Holger Hestermeier, “Coronavirus Lockdown-Measures before the German Constitutional Court”, IDEA - Voices from the Field, 30 April 2020: Hestermeier summarizes case-law of German Constitutional Court about lockdown-measures adopted by several states (Länder).
• Philip Oltermann, “Germany's devolved logic is helping it win the coronavirus race”, The Guardian, 5 April 2020: Oltermann explains how devolution helps administering tests more effectively.
• Stéphane Roland, “L’Allemagne malade de son fédéralisme”, Libération, 16 Mars 2020 : Roland présente les défis que le fédéralisme allemand peut créer dans cette crise.

India / Inde

• “Government sends health teams to Maharashtra, Punjab following spike in daily cases”, The Hindu, 6 March 2021: The article reports how central government intervened to alleviate the crisis in Punjab.
• Thulasi K. Raj, “COVID-19 and the Crisis in Indian Democracy”, Verfassungsblog, 26 February 2021: This blog post underlines the three features that defined the Indian response to COVID-19: lack of transparency, executive monopoly (including the centralization trend), and suppression of dissent.
• “Centre to Bear Expenses for 1st Phase COVID Vaccination: PM to CMs”, The Quint, 11 January 2021: The article reports Modi’s remarks on vaccination policies and federalism’s impact on this policy.
• Sumit Ganguly, “Mangling the COVID Crisis: India’s Response to the Pandemic”, The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 43 No. 4, 2020: Author analyzes why India’s response to the pandemic has been problematic, and identifies the lack of state and central coordination as one of the reasons.
• Kaunain Sheriff M, “Vaccine politics: Why the BJP’s Bihar election move comes as a surprise to states”, The Indian Express, 28 October 2020: The author explains how the debates about the vaccine distribution already challenges the Indian cooperative federalism.
• Rushali Saha, “India’s failed COVID-19 response”, South Asian Voices, 19 October 2020: Saha explains how India’s centralized and yet uncoordinated response to the pandemic became a failure.
• Himangshu Kumar, Manikantha Nataraj, and Srikanta Kundu, “COVID-19 and Federalism in India: Capturing the Effects of Voluntary, State and Central Responses on Mobility”, SSRN, 9 September 2020: This paper examines and compares the relative impact of state and central level lockdown policies on changes in mobility.
• Kevin James, “An overbearing Centre: Legal dimensions of India’s COVID­19 response”, Indian Federalism Perspectives, September 2020: James argues that India’s COVID­19 response demonstrates that the potential of its multi-level polity remains under­utilised.
• Ramdas Menon, “Multi-Level Government and COVID-19: Lessons from India’s experience”, Melbourne Forum 2020 Discussion Papers, September 2020: Menon highlights how the multi-level government of India responded to the COVID-19 crisis.
• Varun Kannan, “Coronavirus and the Constitution – XXXV: Examining the GST Compensation Crisis”, Indian Constitutional Law and Philosophy Blog, 8 September 2020: Kannan examines the legal arguments of the central government that it has no legal obligation to compensate the State Governments for the shortfall in revenue that arose after the implementation of the GST based on the claim that the shortfall is the result of the pandemic.
• Ragini Agarwal, “Achieving Coordinated Action Through Interstate Cooperation”, Law School Policy Review, 8 August 2020: Agarwal explains how intergovernmental cooperation works and should work in Indian federalism.
• Anubhav Khamroi, “Federalism and Covid-19: Analysing The “National Importance” Justification Of The Centre”, Law School Policy Review, 8 August 2020: Khamroi explores how India’s Centre-State relationships have been working out, during this state of de-facto emergency and questions if the States have any power to lift the lockdown.
• Tejas Popat, “Union Territories or Union’s Territories – A Tryst With the Finance Commission”, Law School Policy Review, 8 August 2020: Popat argues that Union Territories’ rightful status is to be treated at par with States under the Constitution and that their exclusion from the Finance Commission puts this in danger.
• Yashasvi Jain, Hetal Doshi, “Indian Courts’ Crusade Against COVID-19 and Executive Underreach”, IACL-AIDC Blog, 7 July 2020: This article uses the example of India’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic to discuss the role of courts when the executive falls short of its duty, specifically due to lack of coordination in multi-level governance.
• Uday Shankar, “Strengthening Horizontal Federalism in India: Role of the Inter-State Council” Bar and Bench, 13 June 2020: The essay examines the relevance of intergovernmental relations (specifically amongst states) in the strengthening of the federal framework in India.
• Abhishek Manu Singhvi “Federalism in times of COVID: Pandemic has injected operational unitariness, deserving strict scrutiny by Supreme Court”, The Times of India Blogs, 26 June 2020: Singhvi explains how federalism became gradually important in Indian constitutional order and how COVID-19 had a centralizing effect that needs to be strictly scrutinized by the Supreme Court.
• Goutham Shivshankar, “Debating the Applicability of India’s Disaster Management Law to COVID-19”, Admin Law Blog, 19 May 2020: Shivshankar criticizes several authors who question the applicability of Disaster Management Act, which transfers significant powers to the central government, in the current pandemic.
• Ronojoy Sen, “Politics and COVID-19: Will the Pandemic Result in State Power Expanding?”, The Wire, 11 May 2020: Sen argues that the pandemic’s impact might be felt most in the expansion and reach of the state and the centralization of power.
• Devansh Kaushnik, “The Indian Administrative Response to COVID-19”, Admin Law Blog, 5 May 2020: Kaushnik analyses the legality of the governmental response from an administrative law perspective while shedding light on measures taken by the State governments and their legality.
• Gautam Bhatia, “An Executive Emergency: India’s Response to Covid-19”, Verfassungsblog, 13 April 2020: Bhatia explains the legal framework of India’s response to COVID-19, which involves multiple levels of government.
• Wilfried Swenden, ”Political and Fiscal Centring: India’s Territorial Response to Covid”, UACES Territorial Politics Blog, 19 June 2020: Swenden explains how the way Modi government handled the crisis appears to have intensified the already existing centralizing tendencies.
• Ashit Kumar Srivastava, Deval Garg, “Tracing Apps and Competitive Federalism”, The Statesman, 18 June 2020: Authors argue that the use of tracing apps separately by the Union government and some states raises important questions on privacy.
• Rahul Sonpimple, “Caste-ing COVID-19 and Indian Federalism”, Karvaan India, 17 June 2020: Sonpimple argues that the ruling party’s (BJP) idea of ‘powerful Centre’ is embedded into the age-old upper-caste supremacy and not into the constitutional principles of responsible and robust Centre.
• “India’s COVID-19 battle example of cooperative federalism: PM tells CMs”, The Federal, 16 June 2020: PM Narendra Modi makes the headlines in India as he claims that India has served as an example of cooperative federalism in the fight against COVID-19.
• Anindita Mukherjee, “Symposium: COVID-19 in India: Examining the Structural Enablers of Over-Centralisation: PART I & PART II”, IACL-AIDC Blog, 4 June 2020: In this two-part post, Mukherjee describes India’s response to COVID-19 by focusing on the dynamic between the Union and the States. She explains the constitutional and statutory structures that enable consolidation of power at the Union level as well as existing systems of accountability and their response to state action during this emergency.
• Akshay Aurora, “The Constitutional Propriety of India’s COVID-19 Response from a Distribution of Powers Perspective”, IACL-AIDC Blog, 2 June 2020: Aurora searches to answer if the central government of India is usurping powers not vested in it.
• “Pandemic politics: Target Maharashtra”, The Telegraph India, 2 June 2020: The Editorial Board of the newspaper outlines the significant issues about the tension that arose between the central government and the state of Maharashtra.
• Marya Shakil, “How Coronavirus is Altering India's Co-operative Federalism, One Border at a Time”, News 18, 31 May 2020: Shakil provides several examples to explain the effects of COVID-19 crisis on cooperation amongst states and the central government.
• Kabir S. Ghosh, “Erosion of fiscal federalism in the times of COVID-19”, The Hindu Business Line, 25 May 2020: Author points out to the centralizing trend in federalism and explains how the fiscal demands the current pandemic have put extraordinary pressures on State finances.
• Anmol Jain & Prannv Dhawan, “COVID-19 and Democratic Deliberation in India”, IACL-AIDC Blog, 21 May 2020: Authors explain how India’s response to COVID-19 shows the growth of centralising tendencies. They invite the Indian government to honor the constitutional requirements of co-operative governance, participatory governance and critical engagement.
• Vignesh Karthik K.R. and Saumya Gupta, “COVID-19 as a Test of Narendra Modi's Promise of Cooperative Federalism”, The Wire, 05 May 2020: Authors claim that a shift from a centralized approach to the idea of federalism is necessary to fight the pandemic.
• Niranjan Sahoo, “COVID-19 and cooperative federalism in India: So far, so good”, Observer Research Foundation, 30 April 2020: Sahoo claims that India’s cooperative federalism is being tested and praises federal system’s ability to tackle the crisis.
• Kevin James, “Covid-19 and the Need for Clear Centre-State Roles”, VIDHI Centre for Legal Policy, 3 April 2020: Author is arguing for a clearer separation of vertical powers and criticizes the centralizing effects of COVID-19 measures taken by the central government.
• Rekha Saxena, “Federalism and the COVID-19 crisis: Centre-State apposite relations in Pandemic Federalism – India”, Forum of Federations Blog, April 2020: Saxena details how the Indian federal system has worked closely together through a collaboration between the states and central government in a broad effort to flatten the curve and preserve healthcare in this populous country.
• Parth Maniktala, “Diluting Federalism In The Fight Against COVID-19 Pandemic”, Outlook, 27 April 2020: Maniktala warns against the weakening of states’ power to cope with pandemic due to the effects of concentrating a majority of the resources in a Fund controlled by the central government.

Italy / Italie

• Cristina Fasone, “Coping with Disloyal Cooperation in the Midst of a Pandemic: The Italian Response”, Verfassungsblog, 8 March 2021: Looking back at the first year of pandemic, Fasone identifies a crucial problem of the Italian management of the disease and the related economic and social crises: the lack of loyal cooperation with regard to the relationship amongst the different levels of government.
• Fernanda Nicola, Gino Scaccia, “The Italian Model to Fight COVID-19: Regional Cooperation, Regulatory Inflation, and the Cost of One-Size-Fits-All Lockdown Measures”, Administrative Law Review, Vol 73, No.1, 2021: The article focuses on the weaknesses and the strengths of Italian response with a section on the effects of regional cooperation.
• Giliberto Capano, “Policy design and state capacity in the COVID-19 emergency in Italy: if you are not prepared for the (un)expected, you can be only what you already are” Policy and Society, Vol. 29, No. 3 (2020): This paper analyses the policy dynamics of the first four months of management of the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy and discusses the implications of Italian regionalism for health policy.
• Elisabeth Alber, “Action and Reaction: What Covid-19 can teach us about Italian regionalism”, UACES Territorial Politics Blog, 29 May 2020: Alber discusses how and by which instruments central and subnational authorities have (re)acted to the crisis. Through her reflections, she engages into the broader debate on what most recently has been labelled Italy’s “federal” regionalism by pointing out the lack of intergovernmental coordination.
• Francesco Palermo, “Devolution and COVID-19: Italy: did the virus infect the regional system?”, Forum of Federations Blog, May 2020: Palermo explains the centralizing effects of the Italy’s response to COVID-19 and how the tensions between regions and central government might affect the governance even after the end of the crisis.

Kenya / Kenya

• Rosa B. Osoro, “Devolution And Covid-19 Crisis: A Kenyan Perspective”, Forum of Federations Blog, May 2020: Osoro explains how the national government has strictly centralized the overall response process. She argues that there is need for concerted and deliberate intergovernmental approaches.

Malaysia / Malaysie

• Ratna Rueban Balasubramaniam, “COVID-19: Malaysia’s Fragile Constitutional Democracy”, Verfassungsblog, 2 March 2021: The blog post gives an overview of the pandemic measures throughout the first year of the crisis by underlining how the state-federal coordination grew weaker.
• Jay Jay Denis, “COVID-19 Demands Renegotiation Of Federalism”, JDD Blog, 10 December 2020: Denis explains the crisis that Malaysian federalism has endured since March 2020.
• Tricia Yeoh, “Federalism and the COVID-19 Crisis: State-Federal Tensions Arise in Malaysia”, Forum of Federations Blog, May 2020: Yeoh lays out how Malaysia used the pandemic response to weigh a more centralized approach and how that played out.

Mexico / Mexique

• Eugenio Velasco, “COVID-19 in Mexico: A Year in Review”, Verfassungsblog, 25 February 2021: This blog post offers an overview of the measures taken in Mexico with a brief mention of sub-national authorities’ role.
• Samuel Jouault, Gilles Polian, Bernard Tallet, « Deux exemples de la diversité des réactions à la crise sanitaire dans le du sud-est mexicain », COVIDAM : la Covid-10 aux Amériques, 24 septembre 2020 : Les auteurs démontrent la diversité des réalités régionales dans le contexte de la pandémie en Mexique à partir des exemples des deux états du Chiapas et du Yucatan.
• Andrea Pozas-Loyo, “On the Possible Legal and Political Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic in México”, I-CONNECT Blog, 25 June 2020: Pozas-Loyo explains the important events of the crisis, including the ones that influence the separation of competences, and reflects on possible effects of the pandemic on Mexico.
• Mauricio Guim, “Mexico’s Untimely Fight Against Coronavirus”, The Regulatory Review, 27 May 2020: Guim explains that Mexico was late to take measures and that many states were forced to fill this void.
• Benjamin Russell, “Mexico’s Governors Find Their Voice – and the Spotlight – in COVID-19”, American Quarterly, 21 April 2020: Russell reports how governors became important actors in Mexico during this pandemic.
• Laura Flamand, “Federalism and COVID: Managing the health and economic crisis in the Mexican federation”, Forum of Federations Blog: Flamand explains the various responses from all level of government in Mexico to the COVID pandemic.

Nepal / Népal

• “Local governments lack resources to tackle Covid-19”, Nepali Times, 6 October 2020: In this interview, Professor Rohini Pande explains how and why subnational units in Nepal were not prepared for the pandemic.
• Budhi Karki, “Multi-Level Government and COVID-19: Nepal as a case study”, Melbourne Forum 2020 Discussion Papers, September 2020: This paper highlights how the multi-level government of Nepal responded to the COVID-19 crisis.
• Nasala Maharjan, “The spirit of federalism amidst COVID-19 in Nepal”, Nepal Economic Forum, 7 September 2020: The author looks at how the responses to the public health crisis were coordinated at different levels of government.
• Michael Callen, Rohini Pande, Trilochan Pokharel, Deepak Singhania, “COVID-19 funding in federal systems: Lessons from Nepal”, IGC Blog, 27 August 2020: This post focuses on local governments in Nepal and shows how mismatches between COVID-19 caseloads and funding can arise, and suggests an approach to close such gaps.
• Budhi Karki, “Multi-Level Government and COVID-19: Nepal as a Case Study”, Melbourne Forum Papers, August 2020: Karki examines how Nepal’s new federal system responded to the pandemic.
• Iain Payne, “Transition in Crisis: COVID-19 and Federalisation in Nepal”, Asian Legal Conversations - COVID-19, 10 July 2020: Payne argues that the governmental response in Nepal has brought three observations on Nepali federalism: incomplete federalisation, weak intergovernmental relations, and emerging power centres rival to the capital.
• Anurag Acharya, Ashlea Brewer, Swechchha Dahal, and Ashim Pandey, “Federalism, conflict and peace in Nepal”, Saferworld, July 2020: This learning paper explores the interrelated nature of governance and conflict resolution in Nepal based on a data of over ten years. It also discusses the risks posed by COVID-19.
• Prakriti Nepal, Amol Acharya, Nicola Nixon, “Nepal: federalism and Zoom under lockdown”, DevPolicyBlog, 9 July 2020: Authors explains how Nepal’s fragile federal system dealt with the pandemic and how Zoom was used for coordination and consultation with local governments.
• Bijay Chhetri, “Prosperity and Justice in Nepal after COVID-19”, International Alert, 25 June 2020: Chhetri explains how this crisis will affect Nepal, including its federal order.
• BK Dhrubaraj, “In Nepal, Federalism, Health Policy, and the Pandemic”, The Asia Foundation, 10 June 2020: Dhrubaraj explains how the pandemic tested Nepal’s federalism and how the country’s federal structure has risen to this challenge.
• Iain Payne, George Varughese, “Governing Lawfully in Crisis: COVID-19 and Public Accountability in Nepal” IACL-IADC Blog, 26 March 2020: Payne and Varughese raise their concerns about the probable centralizing effects of the response to this crisis.
• Surendra Pandey, “Federalism and the COVID-19 crisis: Nepal’s Condition and Efforts”, Forum of Federations Blog, April 2020: Pandey describes Nepal has grappled with the COVID pandemic during their transition period to federalism.

Nigeria / Nigéria

• Dele Babaloa, “Federalism and the Covid-19 pandemic: the Nigerian experience”, UACES Territorial Politics, 22 May 2020: Author argues how Nigerian federalism mostly rose to the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis with cooperative federalism, but also explains minor conflicts between the two levels of government.
• Lukman Abdulrauf, “Nigeria’s Emergency (Legal) Response to COVID-19: A Worthy Sacrifice for Public Health?”, Verfassungsblog, 18 May 2020: Abdulrauf discusses restrictions on human rights, including the suspension of inter and intra state movements, due to the state of emergency as well as the controversial the Control of Infectious Diseases Bill 2020.
• Julius O. Ihonvbere, “Federalism and the COVID-19 crisis: Nigerian Federalism”, Forum of Federations Blog: Ihonvbere discusses Nigeria’s response to COVID-19 and explains how it shows central government’s dependence on local authorities.
• Remi Okeke, “COVID-19 Pandemic, Federalism and Nigeria’s Leadership Challenges”, Advance, 20 April 2020: Okeke proposes to restructure Nigerian state by creating more states for post-COVID-19 period.

Pakistan

• “Federalism, parliamentary democracy eroding in Pakistan: Senator Rabbani”, Business Standard, 17 March 2021: The article reports the remarks of a Pakistani senator on the state of federalism and democracy in Pakistan.
• David A. Thirlby, “Does the Fight Against the Pandemic Risk Centralizing Power in Pakistan?”, European Journal of Law Reform, No. 4, 2020: This article argues that despite the weakening of the devolution process in Pakistan due to the pandemic, the situation is more complex than it seems.

• Yasser Kureshi, “Multi-Level Government and COVID-19: Lessons from Pakistan’s experience”, Melbourne Forum 2020 Discussion Papers, September 2020: This paper highlights how the multi-level government of Pakistan responded to the COVID-19 crisis.
• Hassan Javid, Sameen M. Ali, Umair Javed, “Factional Federalism, State Capacity, and Fiscal Constraints: Pakistan’s COVID-19 Challenges”, LSE South Asia Centre Blog, 3 April 2020: Authors explain how the country’s ability to effectively deal with the virus will be impeded by tensions between the central and provincial governments, a lack of state capacity, and fiscal constraints.
• Nasir Iqbal, “SC dismayed at closure of businesses by provincial govts” Dawn, 5 May 2020: Supreme Court of Pakistan expressed dismay over shutting down of business activities by the provincial governments during ongoing proceedings.
• Saleem Mandviwalla, “Federalism and the COVID-19 crisis: A Pakistani Perspective”, Forum of Federations Blog: Mandviwalla documents how recent constitutional changes gave provinces the ability to react swiftly to the pandemic in the health sphere while the federal government flexed their muscle to aid the economy.

The Philippines / Les Philippines

• Azer Parrocha, “Covid-19, typhoons ‘sharpen’ need for federalism: Puno”, Philippine Canadian Inquirer, 29 November 2020: Journalist reports Former Chief Justice’s speech supporting a federal system in the Philippines.

Russia / Russie

• Krill Koroteev, “A Year of Zeros? Legal Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Russia”, Verfassungsblog, 1 March 2021: The author explains how the federal government used the pandemic to strengthen its authority while leaving the implementation of measures to sub-state authorities.
• Paul Goble, “Pandemic Has Further Undermined Federalism In Russia”, Euraisa Review, 28 December 2020: Based on Pavel Luzin’s research, Goble explains that the pandemic will further increase the center’s power on regions because regions do not have enough resources to fulfill their responsibilities related to the pandemic.
• Marat Salikov, “Federalism in Russia: Current State and Emerging Trends”, BRICS Law Journal, Vol. 7, No. 4, 2020: The article considers the phenomenon of federal relations in modern Russia from a theoretical and normative point of view. It also includes a subsection on the impact of COVID-19 on these relations.
• Dmitrii Kofanov, Vladimir Kozlov, Alexander Libman, Nikita Zakharov, “Encouraged to Cheat? How Federal Incentives and Career Concerns Trigger Under-Reporting of COVID-19 Mortality by Subnational Politicians”, SSRN, 9 November 2020: This paper investigates the political determinants (such as approaching constitutional referenda or regional elections) of manipulating COVID-19 mortality in Russian Federation.
• Elena A. Kremyanskaya, “Pandemic as a Trigger for a Restart of Federalism in Russia?”, UACES Territorial Blog, 6 July 2020: Author explains how COVID-19 changed the dynamics of federalism in Russia.
• Fred Weir, “As Russia reopens, Putin takes a back seat to local leaders”, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 June 2020: Special correspondent explains how Putin is deferring responsibility to local leaders in the management of reopening.
• Paul Kalinichenko, Elizaveta Moskovkina, “Russia – With Scepter and Corona”, Verfassungsblog, 23 May 2020: Kalinichenko and Moskovkina discuss Russia’s response to COVID-19 and explains the shift of responsibility for the consequences of the emergency from the President and his Administration, to the Federal Government and regional authorities.
• Patrick Kennelly, “How Has Russia Responded to COVID-19?”, Lawfare Blog, 15 May 2020: Kennelly discusses Russia’s struggle with COVID-19 and focuses on the fact that Putin deferred to governors and mayors for a solution.
• Galina Kurlyandskaya, “'Emergency Federalism, Russian Style'”, Forum of Federations Blog, May 2020: Kurlyandskaya explains the impact of the COVID crisis on the Russian federation and focuses on “top-down” approach of federal government.

South Africa / Afrique du Sud

• Geo Quinot, “Justification, Integration, and Expertise: South Africa’s Regulatory Response to COVID-19”, Administrative Law Review, Vol 73, No.1, 2021.
• Nico Steytler, “Federalism and the COVID-19 crisis: A perspective on South Africa” [.pdf], Forum of Federations Blog: Author explains how this crisis illustrated the centralized nature of South African federalism and argues for a more differentiated response for the exit strategy and economic recovery.

Spain / Espagne

• Alicia Cebada Romero, Elvira Dominguez Redondo, “Spain: One Pandemic and Two Versions of the State of Alarm”, Verfassungsblog, 26 February 2021: This post focuses on the two different approaches that the central Spanish government adopted in the two waves of the pandemic.
• Patricia García Majado, “The Covid-19 Measures in Madrid, and why they Suffered Defeat in Court”, Verfassungsblog, 11 October 2020: Majado explains the legal issues regarding the Court’s refusal to ratify a perimeter closure issued by the Community of Madrid.
• Sandra León, Amuitz Garmendia Madariaga, “Popular Reactions To External Threats in Federations”, SocArXiv Papers, 1 June 2020: Authors argue that in search of a more effective response against the threat, citizens coordinate their preferences around the centralization of authority boundaries in the federation. They test this argument using an on-line survey experiment in Spain, a country where the threat caused by COVID-19 has operated on top of non-negligible internal threats.
• Mireia Grau-Creus, Marc Sanjaume-Calvet,” ‘Loyalty does not mean submission’: On the COVID-19 measures and the apparently surprising features of the Spanish territorial model” UACES Territorial Politics Blog, 26 May 2020: Authors argue that this crisis has revealed the structurally centralized features of the Spanish intergovernmental system and, in extension, of the whole territorial institutional system.
• Susana de la Sierra, “Old Norms and New Challenges in Spain’s Response to COVID-19”, The Regulatory Review, 20 May 2020: Author explains the challenges surfaced due to COVID-19 and mentions the centralizing effect of the measures taken by the Spanish government.
• Alba Nogueira López, Gabriel Doménech Pascual, “Fighting COVID 19 – Legal Powers and Risks: Spain”, Verfassungsblog, 30 March 2020: Authors look at major legal issues related to COVID-19, including the question of whether the central government should have powers devolved to better manage the crisis power grab of the central government.
• Ayoze Corujo, Acaymo Viera, “Canary Islands, Spain and Covid-19”, UACES Territorial Politics, 19 May 2020: Authors focus specifically on the relationship between the Canary Islands and Spain while explaining how and why the central government is adopting territorially different responses for the exit strategy.
• Fernando Jiménez Sánchez est, “The Political Management of the Covid-19 Crisis in Spain” [.pdf], Fondation Robert Schuman, April 2020: Author provides a limited and provisional analysis of the impact of COVID-19 related measures on the system of government and highlights the lack of coordination between regions.
• Miguel Ángel Presno Linera, “Beyond the State of Alarm: COVID-19 in Spain”, Verfassungsblog, 13 May 2020: Linera outlines the legal foundations of the State of Alarm declared by the Spanish government and explains how Spain’s decentralized structure fits into this frame.
• Mario Kölling, “Federalism and the COVID-19 crisis: A perspective from Spain”, Forum of Federations Blog, April 2020: Kölling describes Spain’s healthcare system and the rapid federal response to the pandemic.

Switzerland / Suisse

• Jan von Overbeck, « Les limites du fédéralisme dans la gestion de la pandémie Covid-19 », Le Temps Blog, 11 mars 2021 : L’auteur explique en quoi le fédéralisme est limité pour répondre à cette crise en comparant la situation actuelle à la pandémie de 1918.
• Olivier Delacrétaz, « Deux fédéralismes, et même trois », 24 Heures, 2 mars 2021 : L’auteur analyse le «Sonderbund des terrasses» voulu par quelques cantons.
• Felix Uhlmann, Odile Ammann, “Switzerland and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Look Back and a Look Into the Future”, Verfassungsblog, 1 March 2021: Authors explains a year of COVID measures as they also underline the centralizing effect of the crisis.
• Lise Bailat, « Le fédéralisme, champion du yo-yo », 24 Heures, 19 février 2021 : L’auteure soutient que le fédéralisme suisse n’est toujours pas prêt pour une troisième vague.
• Lukas Schmid, Pascal Lago, « L’odyssée du fédéralisme et de la démocratie en temps de Covid », Avenir Suisse, 5 février 2021 : Dans cette analyse, les auteurs formulent huit recommandations pour améliorer la gestion des crises par la Confédération.
• Christoph A. Schaltegger, Mark Schelker et Yannick Schmutz, « Les errements et tourments du fédéralisme suisse », Le Temps, 25 janvier 2021 : Les auteurs soutiennent que la crise COVID-19 révèle deux problèmes classiques du fédéralisme, et qu’il faut en revenir à un fédéralisme responsabilisé.
• Daniele Mariani, « Trop de chefs d’orchestre désaccordés ont géré la pandémie », SwissInfo, 24 janvier 2021 : Dans un interview avec Andrea Arcidiacono, consultant, économiste et journaliste, Mariani offre un récit compréhensif de la gestion de crise en Suisse pendant la première et la deuxième vague.
• Philippe Bach, « Limites du fédéralisme », Le Courrier, 13 janvier 2021 : Bach fait une analyse des dernières mesures annoncées par le Conseil fédéral.
• Samuel Jaberg, « Guy Parmelin: «La Suisse accorde toujours la priorité à la santé de sa population » », Swiss Info, 27 décembre 2020 : Dans cet interview, le Président de la Confédération explique sa vision pour lutter contre la pandémie en tout respectant les limites du fédéralisme.
• Haig Simonian, “Federalism and Collegiality Put to the Test”, Avenir Suisse, 23 December 2020: Simonian argues that the country requires better co-operation and mutual information flows between different levels of government to develop a coherent pandemic policy.
• Yvette Jaggi, « Covid ébranle-t-il le fédéralisme helvétique ? », Domaine Public, 22 décembre 2020 : Jaggi soutient que le fédéralisme suisse résiste bien au stresstest de la pandémie.
• Bernard Wuthrich, « Le fédéralisme mis à rude épreuve », Le Temps, 22 décembre 2020 : L’article explique les différentes positions prises par le Chancellerie fédéral et la Conférence des gouvernements cantonaux sur les dysfonctionnements survenus durant la deuxième phase.
• Noémie Guignard, « Le fédéralisme, allié ou ennemi en temps de crise? », Le Temps, 9 décembre 2020 : La pièce inclut les avis des experts soutenant qu’un système fédéraliste concurrentiel empêche de lutter efficacement contre le coronavirus.
• Christophe Reymond, « Le fédéralisme est un atout, en situation de crise aussi », 24 Heures, 1 décembre 2020 : Reymond soutient que la répartition des tâches entre Confédération et Cantons est une des bases du fonctionnement de la Suisse même en pleine pandémie.
• Alain Meyer, “How Covid-19 is crash-testing Swiss federalism”, Swiss Info, 16 November 2020: The article explains the sharp criticisms directed to the Swiss federal system due to its inconsistencies.
• Marc-Olivier Buffat, « Le Covid-19 menace-t-il aussi le fédéralisme? », 24 Heures, 2 Novembre 2020 : L’auteur explique pourquoi l’abandon des pouvoirs cantonaux au profit du Conseil fédéral est regrettable.
• Hans-Georg Betz, “The Perils of Federalism in Time of Pandemic”, Fair Observer, 27 October 2020: Betz argues that Swiss federalism has performed poorly during the pandemic, but there are alternative ways to handle this crisis even within federal systems.
• Yasmine Willi, Gero Nischik, Dominik Braunschweiger, Marco Pütz, “Responding to the COVID‐19 Crisis: Transformative Governance in Switzerland”, Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, Vol. 111, No. 3, 2020: Discussing examples from Switzerland, the article illustrates how policy responses to COVID‐19 reflect the uncertain and experimental forms of governance that have emerged.
• Bernard Wuthrich, « Les limites du fédéralisme face à la pandémie », Le Temps, 18 octobre 2020 : Le journaliste soutient que la crise a démontré la nécessité d’un minimum de règles unifiées en matière sanitaire.
• Felix Uhlmann, Eva Scheifele, “Legislative response to Coronavirus (Switzerland)”, The Theory and Practice of Legislation, Vol. 8, No. 1-2, 2020: The paper focuses on the federal legislature while also addressing how federalism shaped the legislative response.
• Annick Chevillot, « La loi Covid-19 et les pouvoirs spéciaux du Conseil fédéral menacés par un référendum », Heidi. News, 9 septembre 2020 : L’article explique les grands enjeux autour de la loi Covid-19 votée au Parlement.
• Laetitia Desfontaine, « Le fédéralisme suisse au temps du coronavirus », Dossier publics, 8 septembre 2020 : L’auteure se concentre sur les frictions entre les autorités cantonales et la Confédération mises en lumière par la crise sanitaire.
• « Loi COVID-19 : Les cantons d’accord sur les principes », Tribunal de Genève, 28 août 2020 : Cet article annonce le résultat La Conférence des gouvernements cantonaux sur la nouvelle loi et énumère les inquiétudes soulevées par les cantons.
• Bernard Wuthrich, « Par temps de Covid, les pouvoirs controversés du Conseil fédéral », Le Temps, 25 août 2020 : Le journaliste explique le projet de loi Covid-19, qui vise à prolonger une partie de ces mesures extraordinaires en donnant pouvoir au Conseil fédéral.
• Vincent Bourquin, « Après la crise mondiale, la Suisse ne sera plus la même », Le Temps, 10 juin 2020 : Le journaliste synthétise les opinions de différents politologue concernant l’impact de la COVID-19 sur le système politique suisse, y compris son système fédéral.
• Eva Maria Belser, Simon Mazidi, “Does Swiss Federalism Need Oxygen Treatment After Been Hit by the Covid-19 Crisis?”, UACES Territorial Politics, 2 June 2020: Belser and Mazidi explain how the crisis affected Swiss federalism by focusing on the three-stage model of the Federal Epidemics Act.
• Odile Ammann,” Regulatory Uncertainty Over Emergency Powers in Switzerland”, The Regulatory Review, 29 May 2020: Ammann explains how Swiss federalism faced regulatory uncertainties in dealing with COVID-19.
• Felix Uhlmann, “Fighting COVID 19 – Legal Powers and Risks: SWITZERLAND”, Verfassungsblog, 23 March 2020: Uhlmann explains the legal background and early-stage problems regarding the response to COVID-19 as well as its impact on federalism.
• L’Institut du Fédéralisme a publié une infolettre spéciale sur COVID-19 et le fédéralisme suisse.
• Frédéric Ney, « Avec le Covid-19, le fédéralisme d’exécution est-il «au pied du mur»? », Heidi.News, 09 Avril 2020 : L’avocat s’interroge sur l’exécution des mesures prises au niveau fédéral par les cantons et demande si ce temps d’exception justifierait la mainmise de pouvoir par le gouvernement fédéral.
• Hans Altherr, “Federalism and the COVID-19 crisis: An interim perspective from Switzerland”, Forum of Federations Blog, April 2020: Altherr looks at what Switzerland has done to date.
• Patrick Monay, « Le virus met le fédéralisme suisse à l’épreuve », 24 Heures, 27 mars 2020 : Le journaliste explique les tensions entre la confédération suisse et les cantons en ce qui concerne les directives de protection contre la COVID-19.
• Pierre Yves-Bosshard, « Le fédéralisme à l’épreuve de la crise sanitaire », Domaine Public, 11 avril 2020 : Bosshard explique comment la répartition des compétences ont changé au cours de l’histoire de la Confédération en matière de la lutte contre les épidémies.
• Urs Geiser, “How the virus puts the Swiss political system to test” SwissInfo, 27 Mars 2020: The journalist explains how Switzerland avoids sacrificing its federal system while responding to the COVID-19.

United Kingdom / Royaume-Uni

• Jess Sargeant, “The four governments of the UK must better co-ordinate their coronavirus approaches” Institute for Government, 30 October 2020: As coronavirus cases rise across all four parts of the UK, Jess Sargeant calls for coordination of different approaches to lockdown rules amongst Westminster and the devolved governments.
• Jess Sargeant, “Co-ordination and divergence: devolution and coronavirus”, Institute for Government, 29 October 2020: Author argues that the four governments of the UK must better co-ordinate their different approaches to lockdown restrictions to control the rising number of cases in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• Alex Thomas, “England’s patchwork quilt governance is not strong enough for a crisis like coronavirus”, Institute for Government, 26 October 2020: Thomas argues that England’s ad hoc governance structures are too reliant on politicians muddling through. The coronavirus crisis has highlighted the need for a change in mindset from central government.
• “Would handing No. 10’s powers to local leaders have improved the UK’s Covid response?”, The Week, 22 October 2020: The article argues that a more regional response to the pandemic could have been a more robust response to the pandemic.
• Dave Busfield-Birch (ed.), Constitution Unit. Monitor, Issue No. 75, July 2020: The latest Monitor focuses on the UK Constitution under COVID-19. It also addresses how the UK devolution is affected by the pandemic.
• Catriona Mullay, “No Unity in the United Kingdom”, Verfassungsblog, 26 June 2020: Mullay discusses the disunity in the British response to coronavirus, focusing on the Scottish and British governments. She argues that COVID-19 illustrates the political and legal instability of the British constitution as the country exits the European Union.
• Coree Brown Swan, Daniel Cetrà, “Speaking for the Union: Unionist Discourses and Covid-19”, Centre on Constitutional Change, 8 June 2020: Authors explains how Unionist voices have made a case for state unity during the Covid19 pandemic.
• Akash Paun, “Five key questions about coronavirus and devolution”, The Constitution Unit Blog, 31 May 2020: Akash Paun argues that the COVID-19 crisis has raised five key questions about the politics of devolution at a time when efficient and effective intergovernmental relations are crucial.
• Elspeth Nicholson, Akash Paun, “Devolved legislatures: how are they working in the coronavirus lockdown?”, Institute for Government, 28 May 2020: This explainer describes and compares how the three devolved legislatures (Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland) of the UK have responded to the challenge of operating during the lockdown.
• Jim Gallagher, “Coronavirus and the Constitution”, Centre on Constitutional Change, 27 May 2020: In this blog post, Jim Gallagher provides an overview of the UK and devolved governments' approach to COVID-19 and discusses how the pandemic is likely to impact upon devolution in the UK.
• Richard Parry, “Scotland, the last in line to relax lockdown”, Centre on Constitutional Change, 22 May 2020: Richard Parry discusses how the tide has turned throughout the UK in favour of relaxations as governments try to control future events while being forced to justify their earlier decisions.
• James Mitchell, “Leadership, learning and knowledge: lessons from COVID-19”, Centre on Constitutional Change, 17 May 2020: Mitchell argues that rather than focusing on whether devolved policies are designed to undermine or sustain the Union, refocusing on some of the basic policy-making questions and issues are more necessary.
• “The Guardian view on UK Covid-19 coordination: work together, save lives”, The Guardian, 17 May 2020: The Guardian’s editors advocate for coordination of devolved governments’ exit strategies.
• Nick Timothy, “Coronavirus has exposed British devolution as a dangerous mess”, The Telegraph, 17 May 2020: Timothy argues that the pandemic exposed how and why the devolution is not functioning.
• Darren McCaffrey, “Is COVID-19 further dividing the 'United' Kingdom?”, Euronews, 14 May 2020: Author discusses the effect of devolution on the Union through devolved governments’ responses to the crisis and their exit strategies.
• Richard Parry, “Johnson gives an opening to covid policy dealignment”, Centre on Constitutional Change, 12 May 2020: Author reviews the developments on devolved governments’ responses to the pandemic and Johnson’s reactions.
• Jack Sheldon, Michael Kenny, “Why have the UK's governments diverged on easing lockdown?”, Centre on Constitutional Change, 11 May 2020: Authors explain why Boris Johnson’s televised address on a phased approach to easing lockdown has sparked public disagreements with the devolved governments, and the implications these differences might have for future relations between the governments of the UK.
• Richard Parry, “Contrasting responses to a common virus”, Centre on Constitutional Change, 4 May 2020: Parry discusses the varied responses to the pandemic between the devolved nations in the UK and beyond, and what this tells about the relationship between the political system and expert advice.
• Michael Kenny, Jack Sheldon, “Territorial governance and the coronavirus crisis”, Centre on Constitutional Change, 8 April 2020: Authors discuss the seemingly coordinated approach from governments throughout the UK in response to the coronavirus and argue that the response may not be as harmonious as it seems.
• Laura Webster, “UK wrongly tells Scots civil servants told to go back to work”, The National, 12 May 2020: The journalist reports on differences between England and Scotland regarding the lifting of lockdown.
• Kathleen Nutt, “Devolved nations reject Westminster's new 'stay alert' slogan”, The National, 11 May 2020: Kathleen Nutt reports on devolved governments’ resistance to Westminster’s exit strategy from the lockdown.
• Akash Paun, Jess Sargeant, Alex Nice, “A four-nation exit strategy”, Institute for Government, 06 May 2020: Authors explain why differentiated exit strategies are necessary and offer suggestions about how to avoid confusion.
• Paul Anderson, “Territorial Politics, Coronavirus and the UK: Cooperation amidst Crisis”, UACES Territorial Politics, 8 May 2020: Anderson focuses on the divergence from UK-wide approaches, mainly the debate on exit strategy.
• Clive Grace, “Devolution and the COVID-19 crisis: A View From the UK”, Forum of Federations Blog, April 2020: Author explores the unifying effect of the crisis as well the differences that arose within the UK.
• Duncan Fairgrieve, “The U.K. Races to Catch Up on COVID-19”, The Regulatory Review, 30 April 2020: Fairgrieve discusses the measures taken by the UK government and mentions the challenges that have arisen due to devolved powers.
• Kate Proctor, “Wales could lift coronavirus lockdown before rest of UK, says first minister”, The Guardian, 27 April 2020: Journalist presents the possibility of a different lockdown lifting plan for Wales and discusses how this can fit into a coordinated UK plan.
• Paul F. Scott, “Fighting COVID 19 – Legal Powers and Risks: The United Kingdom”, Verfassungsblog, 21 March 2020: Scott discusses the early responses to the pandemic in the UK and the challenges that the devolution may cause to this response.

United States / États-Unis

• Lawrence O. Gostin, Meryl Justin Chertoff, “Lockdowns, Quarantines, And Travel Restrictions, During COVID And Beyond: What’s The Law, And How Should We Decide?”, Health Affairs Blog, 24 March 2021: This article generally presents the international and inter-state travel restrictions in the US and their legal basis.
• Sevion DaCosta, Tara Mehra, Marshall Bessey, “Federalism 2021: COVID-19 Mandates”, Rose Institute, 19 March 2021: This paper explores, using a theoretical approach based on current circumstances, the questions regarding the constitutionality of a national mask and vaccinations mandate.
• Chandra Bozelko, “Hyperfederalism, science can't easily co-exist”, Empire Tribune, 19 March 2021: The author argues that the federal division of powers disempowers science.
• Nancy J. Knauer, “The Federal Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic - A Study in Maladministration”, SSRN, 16 March 2021: This article argues that the US federal response was not so much a failure of policy per se, but rather a failure of political will.
• Colin Gordon, “Federalism Is Killing Us”, Dissent, 15 March 2021: Gordon argues that the US federalism is inherently insufficient to effectively respond to a public health crisis.
• Ellen Barry, “‘It’s Totally Ad Hoc’: Why America’s Virus Response Looks Like a Patchwork”, The New York Times, 15 March 2020.
• Jacek Rothert, “Strategic Inefficiencies and Federal Redistribution during Uncoordinated Response to Pandemic Waves”, SSRN, 2 March 2021: This article proposes a strategic system of taxes and transfers that rewards states which depress their economies more than average to impose effective restrictions.
• Alan H. Kennedy, “Federalism and Its Discontents: Guns, Germs and Insurrection”, PA Times, 28 February 2021: In this article, the author presents the evidence of failures of federalism not only in the context of COVID-19, but also in how federal inaction on guns caused jurisdictional externalities and how Electoral College flaws underpinned the insurrection of January 6.
• Noah Feldman, “Opinion: Federalism shows its age fighting COVID-19, climate change”, The Virginian Pilot, 26 February 2021: In this op-ed, Feldman argues that the pandemic demonstrated the US federalism is outdated.
• Blandine Chelini-Pont, « Quand la Cour Suprême des États-Unis panthéonise la ‘free-exercice clause’ à l’occasion de la pandémie », COVID-AM, 25 février 2021 : L’auteure explique comment certaines organisations religieuses ont contesté les restrictions sur les rassemblements dans les lieux de culte que les gouverneurs ont imposé au près des tribunaux fédéraux.
• John Kincaid, J. Wesley Leckrone, “Partisan Fractures in U.S. Federalism’s COVID-19 Policy Responses”, State and Local Government Review, 9 February 2021: The paper argues that the comparatively poor U.S. response to COVID-19 was not due to federal inaction or a flawed federal system per se but to party polarization and presidential and gubernatorial preferences that frustrated federalism’s capacity to respond more effectively.
• Amy Howe, “Divided court allows indoor worship services to resume in California”, SCOTUSBlog, 6 February 2021: This blog post discusses Supreme Court’s order (South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom) to allow indoor worship places to resume in California.
• Amy Howe, “Divided court allows indoor worship services to resume in California”, SCOTUSBlog, 6 February 2021: This blog post discusses Supreme Court’s order (South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom) to allow indoor worship places to resume in California.
• Claire Anchordoqui, « L’impact sanitaire et culturel de la covid-19 sur les réserves sioux du Dakota du Sud », COVIDAM Blog, 4 février 2021 : L’article explique les mesures prises par les gouvernements tribaux des différentes réserves amérindiennes situées au sein du Dakota du Nord et du Sud face au refus des deux gouverneurs républicains des deux états de mettre des mesures en place.
• Susan Estrich, “Coronavirus response in United States is the new federalism”, Lowell Sun, 1 February 2021: The article argues that federalism adds up to the confusion caused by COVID-19 measures.
• John Agnew, “Anti-Federalist Federalism: American “Populism” and the Spatial Contradictions of US Government in the Time of Covid-19”, Geographical Review, 1 February 2021: The article explains that rather than command and coordination across tiers of government, the states have been left to cope as best they can without much of anything in terms of coherent and consistent national/federal leadership during the pandemic.
• Paul C. Erwin, Kenneth W. Mucheck, and Ross C. Brownson, “Different Responses to COVID-19 in Four US States: Washington, New York, Missouri, and Alabama”, American Journal of Public Health, 28 January 2021: The article explains how CDC played a major role in the pandemic response even though the public health–related powers granted to the federal government are substantially less.
• Trish Riley, “Restoring Federalism to Win the War against COVID-19”, National Academy for State Health Policy, 26 January 2021: This article reflects state variations in priorities and capacities, with many developing comprehensive approaches while others resisted a more fulsome approach to COVID-19 prevention. It is written based on interviews of a diverse group of state officials from a cross section of states.
• William A. Galston, “COVID-19 vaccinations: Why are some states and localities so much more successful?”, Brookings, 25 January 2021: Through a comparison of West Virginia and Maryland, Galston explains the reason for different success rates of vaccination amongst states.
• Alejandro E. Camacho, Robert L. Glicksman, “Structured to Fail: Lessons from the Trump Administration's Faulty Pandemic Planning and Response”, SSRN, 22 January 2021: The article identifies numerous valuable lessons about government organization from the COVID-19 experience that should guide policymakers’ deliberations in the likely event that they embark upon an effort to address the mistakes plaguing the Trump Administration’s dismal response.
• “National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness”, White House, 21 January 2021: The report outlines an actionable plan across the federal government to address the COVID-19 pandemic, including twelve initial executive actions issued by President Biden on his first two days in office.
• Gerald Benjamin, Scott Minkoff, “Why We Need to Strengthen Federalism from the Bottom Up”, Governing, 21 January 2021: Authors argue that distributed power remains critical in the face of governance crises and federal assaults on liberal democracy.
• Stephanie Cooper Blum, “Federalism: Fault or Feature -- An Analysis of Whether the United States Should Implement a Federal Pandemic Statute”, Washburn Law Journal, Vol. 60 No.1, 2020: This article addresses the legal and policy questions of enacting a federal pandemic statute. It provides guidance to public health experts and lawmakers should they decide that a national and more coordinated response would be helpful as the United States confronts COVID-19 and other pandemics.
• Klaus Desmet, Romain Wacziarg, “Understanding Spatial Variation in COVID-19 Across the United States”, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No 27329, June 2020: Authors analyze the correlates of COVID-19 cases and deaths across US counties and they consider a wide range of correlates - population density, public transportation, age structure, nursing home residents, connectedness to source countries, etc. - finding that these variables are important predictors of variation in disease severity.
• James G. Hodge, “Nationalizing Public Health Emergency Legal Responses”, Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Vol. 49, No. 2, 2021: The fight for public health primacy in U.S. emergency preparedness and response to COVID-19 centers on which level of government—federal or state—should “call the shots” to quell national emergencies? Competing and conflicting priorities have contributed to a year-long federalism firestorm. As the melee subsides, a more dominant federal role is a predictable, long-term consequence in the battle plan for the next major public health threat.
• Ruthnande Kessa, Abdul-Akeem Sadiq, Jungwon Yeo, “The Importance of Vertical and Horizontal Collaboration: United States’ Response to COVID-19 Pandemic”, Chinese Public Administration Review, 2021: In this commentary, drawing on the literature on collaboration, authors discuss the importance of vertical and horizontal collaboration by examining the U.S. response to COVID-19.
• William A. Galston, “The Blessings (and Curses) of Federalism”, Wall Street Journal, 5 January 2021: Galston explains how federalism might slow down the vaccine rollout.
• Ashish K. Jha, “Vaccination is going slowly because nobody is in charge”, The Washington Post, 31 December 2020: Jha argues that the lack of intergovernmental coordination is the reason for the slow vaccine rollout.
• Jacob Sullum, “Is Anthony Fauci Right That Federalism Undermined the U.S. Response to COVID-19?”, Reason, 28 December 2020: Sullum argues that centralization is not the right response to the pandemic and that many errors in the US pandemic response occurred on the federal level.
• Zack Budryk, “Fauci: Differing state responses a 'major weakness' in fighting coronavirus”, The Hill, 28 December 2020: The article reports Fauci’s remarks on the lack of a federal standardized coronavirus response across states.
• Jamison Chung, “How Federalism Has Harmed Public Health”, The Regulatory Review, 23 December 2020: Chung provides an overview of several articles arguing that federalism complicated the response to the pandemic.
• Christopher F. Koller, “A Federalism Reset”, Milbank Memorial Fund President’s Blog, 21 December 2020: Koller calls for a reset of federalism around three principles: wise leadership at state and federal level, judicious use of federal authority, reliable intergovernmental communication.
• Stephanie Cooper Blum, “Federalism: Fault or Feature -- An Analysis of Whether the United States Should Implement a Federal Pandemic Statute”, Washburn Law Journal, Vol. 60, 2020: This article addresses the legal and policy questions of enacting a federal pandemic statute. It provides guidance to public health experts and lawmakers should they decide that a national and more coordinated response would be helpful as the United States confronts COVID-19 and other pandemics.
• Jean-Paul Renne, Guillaume Roussellet, Gustavo Schwenkler, “Preventing COVID-19 Fatalities: State versus Federal Policies”, SSRN, 27 October 2020: Based on their SIRD epidemiological model and data from the United States, authors demonstrate the benefits of a stronger federal response.
• Donald F. Kettl, “7 Steps to the Resurgent Federalism Biden Will Need”, Governing, 9 December 2020: Kettl lists seven steps to create an effective intergovernmental cooperation to a shattered crisis.
• Jeffrey Clemens, Benedic. N. Ippolito, Stan Veuger, “US fiscal federalism during the COVID-19 pandemic”, AEI Economic Policy Working Paper Series, No. 2020-16 December 2020: The likely impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on state and local government revenues is increasingly well understood. The condition of state and local government finances depends further, however, on the pandemic’s effects on expenditure needs, which have received less attention. Confusion also remains regarding both the quantity and purpose of federal support that has been and ought to be directed to state and local governments. In this paper, we attempt to have a unified discussion of these issues, with an emphasis on health spending needs and the role of the Medicaid program.
• Nicole Huberfeld, Sarah H. Gordon, David K. Jones, “Federalism Complicates the Response to the COVID-19 Health and Economic Crisis: What Can Be Done?”, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, Vol. 45, No, 6, 2020: Authors argue that Federalism has complicated the US response to the novel coronavirus and explore near-, middle-, and long-term policy options to mitigate federalism's harmful side effects.
• Donald F. Kettl, “The Big Federalism Challenges Facing a Biden Administration”, Governing, 9 November 2020: Kettl explains five key issues that will determine Biden’s approach to federalism.
• Alan Tarr, “Covid-19, the USA and the Generation of Constitutional Conflict”, 50 Shades of Federalism: This article examines the scope of power granted to the federal government by the U.S. Constitution and the legislative power available to states under state constitutions, concluding that these powers are adequate to deal with the pandemic and other emergencies. It also considers whether having multiple governments confronting the crisis has precluded a coordinated response.
• Ryan D. Williamson, John C. Morris, “Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic for Federalism and Infrastructure: A Call to Action”, Public Works Management & Policy, November 9, 2020: Authors argue that the Trump administration’s approach to federalism (“transactional federalism”) —highlighted by the pandemic—is incapable of efficiently and effectively addressing state needs and those needs are only going to grow as a result, further exacerbating the problem.
• Luke Fowler, Jaclyn J. Kettler, Stephanie L. Witt, “Pandemics and Partisanship: Following Old Paths into Uncharted Territory”, American Politics Research, October 2020: The authors show that the timing of gubernatorial actions in response to COVID-19 is telling about how partisanship is shaping the way elected officials are reacting to this pandemic.
• Michael A. Hansen, Isabelle Johansson, Kalie Sadowski, Joseph Blaszcynski, Sarah Meyer, “The Partisan Impact on Local Government Dissemination of COVID-19 Information: Assessing U.S. County Government Websites”, Canadian Journal of Political Science, October 2020: This study explores the relationship between local government dissemination of COVID-19. information and partisanship through an analysis of official county government websites in the US.
• Donald F. Kettl, “3 Keys to Getting the Federalism Conversation Going Again”, Governing, 15 October 2020: Kettl argues that the current pandemic showed why the US needs to revive its ability to sort out the roles of the federal government and the states and shows how to achieve that goal.
• Cynthia J. Bowling, Jonathan M. Fisk, John C. Morris, “Seeking Patterns in Chaos: Transactional Federalism in the Trump Administration’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic”, The American Review of Public Administration, Vol. 50, No. 6-7, 2020: Authors contend that the actions of the Trump administration, and its relationships with states and local governments, can best be understood through a lens of what they refer to as “transactional federalism,” in which federalism relationships are governed by a set of exchanges between the president and states, and between states.
• Meilee Bridges, “Scholarly Perspectives on COVID-19, Part 5: The Politics of a Pandemic”, Southwestern University Series, 29 September 2020: In this interview with Emily Syndor, Professor Syndor explains how this pandemic changed citizen’s perspective on politics, including their understanding of local governments.
• Jeffrey Clemens, Stan Veuger, “Fiscal federalism and the COVID-19 shock in the US”, Vox Eu & CEPR, 28 September 2020: The article uses Congressional Budget Office projections of consumption and personal income to explain the shock and to forecast sales and income tax bases and revenue for all of the states.
• J. Kevin Corder, Matthew S. Mingus, Daria Blinova, “Factors motivating the timing of COVID-19 shelter in place orders by U.S. Governors”, Policy Design and Practice, September 2020: This article attempts to isolate and estimate the impact of political party control of state government on the length of time it took U.S. states to issue shelter-in-place orders (SIPOs) in an effort to control the spread of COVID-19.
• Ashish Jha, “One Virus, Two Americas”, Foreign Affairs, 22 September 2020: Jha explains how the divergence of state responses reveals the strengths as well as the weaknesses of the U.S. federal system in the midst of the pandemic.
• James R. Maxeiner, “America’s Covid-19 preexisting vulnerability: a government of men, not laws”, The Theory and Practice of Legislation, Vol. 8, No. 1-2, 2020: This article summarises the legislative-like responses to covid-19 and identifies systemic failures, including the lack of cooperation amongst constituent units.
• Tara Riggs, Michael Catalano, “(S)He who acts first: gendered gubernatorial response to pandemic in divided government", Binghampton University-SUNY Working Paper Series, September 2020: Authors examine how responses of female governors to COVID-19 differ from their male counterparts.
• Donald F. Kettl, “A Forum for Federalism That’s Sorely Missed”, Governing, 15 September 2020: Kettl argues that the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations should be brought back to life.
• Donald F. Kettl, “The Federalism Partnership That Is No More”, Governing, 18 August 2020: Kettl sheds light on the disconnect between the federal government and the states.
• Michael Ollove, “How Misinformation, Federalism and Selfishness Hampered America’s Virus Response”, PEW Stateline, 18 August 2020: Ollove blames the lack of coordinated response for the USA’s failure to handle the pandemic.
• Lindsay F. Wiley, “Federalism in Pandemic Prevention and Response”, in S. Burris, S. de Guia, L. Gable, D.E. Levin, W.E. Parmet, N.P. Terry (eds), Assessing Legal Responses to COVID-19 (Boston: Public Health Law Watch), August 2020: Wiley examines the tensions between federal and state responses to the pandemic and makes recommendations to each level of government to fix the problems.
• Ross R. Baker, “Donald Trump's laissez-faire federalism is as toxic as Covid-19”, USA Today, 14 July 2020: Baker criticizes Trump’s understanding of federalism because the lack of any coordination for States’ responses.
• Emily Berman, “The Roles of the State and Federal Government in a Pandemic”, SSRN, 2 June 2020: This essay briefly outlines the respective roles of the state and federal governments and lays out the powers and authorities they each bring to bear in a pandemic situation. It then considers whether the federal response reflected these previously understood roles.
• David Schleicher, “Hands On! Part I: The Trilemma Facing the Federal Government During State and Local Budget Crises”, SSRN, 28 July 2020: This article argues that U.S. federal government does not have a history of “hands off” approaches to state and local defaults even though bailouts have been rare.
• Maryam Jamshidi, “The Federal Government Probably Can’t Order Statewide Quarantines”, The University of Chicago Law Review Online, 20 April 2020: The article explains the limits on federal authority over mandatory, statewide quarantines.
• Barry Sullivan, “COVID-19 and American Democracy”, Il diritto dell’economia, Year 66, No. 102 (2/2020): The article examines the impact of the sanitary emergency caused by the diffusion of Covid-19 in the United States under a political, constitutional and administrative perspective. It also includes a section dedicated to the American federalism and presidential leadership.
• Alan Greenblatt, “America's Governments Are at War with Each Other”, Governing, 24 July 2020: Greenblatt explains how the pandemic has stressed the federalist system to the point of open conflict between different levels of government.
• J. Edwin Benton, “Challenges to Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations and Takeaways Amid the COVID-19 Experience”, The American Review of Public Administration, 15 July 2020: Benton provides an early assessment of how national, state, and local governments have worked together since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently a “report card” of sorts on the functioning of intergovernmental relations in the US.
• Daniel J. Mallinson, “Cooperation and Conflict in State and Local Innovation During COVID-19”, The American Review of Public Administration, 13 July 2020: Mallinson discusses how scholarship on state politics and policy, intergovernmental relations, and federalism provides necessary context for understanding governmental responses to COVID-19.
• Greg Goelzhauser, David M Konisky, “The State of American Federalism 2019–2020: Polarized and Punitive Intergovernmental Relations”, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Volume 50, Issue 3, Summer 2020: the authors introduce the concept of punitive federalism and discuss its application to contemporary public policy. They also highlight federalism implications surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Maresa Strano, “A Coronavirus Treatment for U.S. Democracy”, Democracy Journal, 10 July 2020: Strano explains three major steps (including strengthening cities within the federal structure) to be taken so that the US survives the crisis.
• Kirsten H. Engel, “Climate Federalism in the Time of COVID-19: Can the States “Save” American Climate Policy?”, Northern Kentucky Law Review, Vol. 47 (26 Jun 2020): Author discusses the role that state and local authorities can play in the climate policy, and discusses the effect of the pandemic on this role.
• Philip Rocco, Daniel Béland, Alex Waddan, “Stuck in neutral? Federalism, policy instruments, and counter-cyclical responses to COVID-19 in the United States”, Policy and Society, Vol. 29, No. 3 (24 Jun 2020): Authors discuss why it is necessary to change the intergovernmental fiscal policy to tackle the problems raised by the pandemic.
• Bruce McDonald, Christopher Goodman, Megan Hatch, “Tensions in State-Local Intergovernmental Response to Emergencies: The Case of COVID-19”, OSF Preprints, 8 June 2020: Authors examine how the US intergovernmental system of emergency response is designed, how state and local governments have responded to the COVID-19 crisis thus far, and how this crisis has further exposed tensions in the state-local intergovernmental system.
• Sara Alajbegovic, Maya Bordwell, Madison Frazee, Jonisha Nolan, and Nadia Ozone, “The Pattern of Federalism in the United States: Unchanged by the COVID-19 Pandemic”, A Journal of The Plague Year, 15 May 2020: The essay argues that the federalism is constantly evolving in the United States and that the way the pandemic is handled is the proof of this constant evolution.
• James G. Hodge, Jr, “Federal vs. State Powers in Rush to Reopen Amid Coronavirus Pandemic”, Just Security, 27 April 2020: Author discusses the tension between states and the federal government and calls for cooperative, collaborative federalism.
• Kyle J. Connors, “Federalism and Contagion: Reevaluating the Role of the CDC”, ConLawNOW, No. 12 (18 March 2020): Connors argues for greater federal leadership and involvement to mount the most effective response to a pandemic in the United States.
• Kent Syler and John Vile, “The risks and rewards of COVID-19 federalism”, Tennessean, 18 June 2020: Authors explain how COVID-19 highlighted the importance of US federalism and showed the need for cooperation.
• Leonardo Baccini, Abel Brodeur, “Explaining Governors' Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic in the United States”, IZA Discussion Paper Series, April 2020: Authors present their findings regarding the determinants of governors’ responses to the pandemic.
• Jennifer Selin, “How the Constitution’s federalist framework is being tested by COVID-19”, Brookings FixGov Blog, 8 June 2020: Selin explains four major developments in the US federal system of government illuminated by COVID-19.
• Marion Marchet, « Voter par correspondance à l'heure de la Covid-19 : le cas de l'Ohio », COVIDAM : la Covid-19 dans les Amériques, 3 juin 2020 : Marchet explique comment la compétence des États en matière d’élection influence le débat sur le vote par correspondance pour les élections présidentielles.
• Caroline Chang, Scott Moore, and Ali Wyne, “Federalism in the Time of Coronavirus: A Comparative US Advantage”, The Diplomat, 29 May 2020: Authors explain how the US compensated its weak national response with decisive action on state and local level thanks to federalism.
• Victoria Gonzales Maltes, « L’épidémie propulse les gouverneurs américains sur la scène nationale », COVIDAM : la Covid-19 dans les Amériques, 28 mai 2020 : L’auteur explique les conflits entre les gouverneurs et Président Trump et s’interroge sur les conséquences de ces conflits.
• Donald F. Kettle, “States Divided: The Implications of American Federalism for Covid‐19”, Public Administration Review, 22 May 2020: Kettle discusses fundamental questions about the role of the federal government's leadership in an issue that was truly national in scope. He asks whether varied state reactions were in the public interest.
• Anand Devaiah, Michael Wijaranakula, Chinmay Kommuru, and Rena M. Conti, “Medical Product Procurement in A Time Of Federalism: The COVID-19 Challenge”, Health Affairs, 18 May 2020: Authors review the current US medical product purchasing and distribution model and discuss the current federal response to challenges raised by the COVID-19 crisis.
• Alexander W. Salter, “How the Fed’s COVID-19 Response Undermines Federalism”, American Institute for Economic Research, 13 May 2020: Authors criticize the Federal Reserve’s interventions into state and local debt markets as they threaten the efficacy and independence of these lower, more local governments.
• Nancy J. Knauer, “The COVID-19 Pandemic and Federalism”, SSRN, 13 May 2020: Knauer’s essay thoroughly examines the role of federalism in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
• David Marion, “COVID-19 pandemic threatens federalism, human freedom and a dignified existence”, The Washington Times, 11 May 2020: Author explains why federalism remains relevant and necessary to tackle the threats posed by this crisis.
• Sarah H. Gordon, Nicole Huberfeld, David K. Jones, “What Federalism Means for the US Response to Coronavirus Disease 2019”, JAMA Health Forum, 8 May 2020: Authors explain why the public health federalism needs to be adjusted.
• Gary Gerstle, “The New Federalism”, The Atlantic, 6 May 2020: Gerstle discusses the US response to the crisis with a historical approach to US federalism.
• Zhu Zhang, “Federalism can't explain America's failure in its response to COVID-19”, CGTN, 04 May 2020: Zhang explains why federalism should not be blamed for the USA’s failure to respond to COVID-19 crisis.
• Danielle Allen, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Josh Simons, and Carmel Shachar, “Federalism Is an Asset”, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics White Papers, 28 April 2020: Authors argue that a balanced federal system between a centralized and decentralized response is precisely what the US needs to tackle COVID-19 crisis.
• William Arthur, “US federalism complicates cooperation on COVID-19”, Oxford Analytica, 21 April 2020: Arthur points out the challenges that US federalism creates for a coordinated response.
• Jay Cost, “Pandemic proves the wisdom of federalism”, Washington Examiner, 02 April 2020: Cost argues that federalism has been one of the strengths of the government’s response to the coronavirus, not one of its weaknesses.
• Emmanuelle Perez Tisserand, « La Californie est-elle un « État-nation »? », COVIDAM : la Covid-19 dans les Amériques, 15 Mai 2020 : L’auteure explique comment la COVID-19 a accentué les tensions entre la Californie et le gouvernement fédéral. (For the English version, click here.)
• John Kincaid, “U.S. Federalism and the Covid-19 Pandemic”, UACES Territorial Politics, 15 May 2020: Kincaid explains how the US response “has been hampered by partisan polarization and misunderstood federalism”.
• Ben Berwick, John Langford, Erica Newland, Kristy Parker, “Trump Can’t Reopen the Country Over State Objections”, Lawfare Blog, 27 March 2020: Authors argue that the US President does not have authority to reopen the country if states resist.
• Robert Chesney, “Can the Federal Government Override State Government Rules on Social Distancing to Promote the Economy?”, Lawfare Blog, 24 March 2020: Chesney discusses if the President has the power to force the state and local officials’ to change their decisions.
• Leila Barraza, Sarah A. Wetter, “Fighting COVID 19 – Navigating Protections for Businesses and Workers in the United States”, Verfassungsblog, 22 March 2020: Authors discuss economic measures that the federal government can take to fight this crisis while underlining the fracture between states and the federal government.
• Alexandra Cockerham, Robert E. Crew Jr, “The Covid-19 pandemic shows the power and limits of American federalism.” LSE US Centre Blog: Authors explain how the crisis shed light on American federalism.
• Charles C. W. Cooke, “COVID Federalism”, National Review, 16 April 2020: Charles C. W. Cooke praises federalism as a system for a better response to the pandemic in the US.
• J. Wesley Leckrone, John Kincaid, “Federalism and the COVID-19 Crisis in the United States of America”, Forum of Federations Blog: Professors explain how state governments and the US federal government use distinct constitutional powers to manage this crisis.
• Jennifer Selin, “Trump vs. the States: What Federalism means for the corona virus Response”, The Conversation, 17 April 2020: Selin discusses how division of powers within US federalism affects the response to COVID-19 crisis.
• Justin Ross, Victoria Perez, “ Federalism and Polycentric Government in a Pandemic”, Mercatus Center COVID-19 Policy Brief Series, 3 April 2020: Writers propose policy solutions for local governments on intergovernmental cooperation and local finances in the US context.
• Laurence H. Tribe, “Don’t let coronavirus failures shake your faith in federalism”, Boston Globe, 29 April 2020: Professor Tribe explains why federalism should not be blamed for the ineffectiveness against COVID-19 in the US by giving examples of effective policies of several states.
• Mathilde Laporte et Maud Michaut, « Crise du Covid-19 et fédéralisme aux États-Unis », Jus Politicum Blog, 14 avril 2020 : Les doctorantes expliquent les effets des mesures sur la libre circulation au sein de l’Union et s’interrogent sur leur conformité à la constitution fédérale en se concentrant sur les relations intergouvernementales.
• Noah Feldman, “U.S. Federalism Isn’t Great at Handling Pandemics”, Bloomberg, 19 March 2020: Author argues that a stronger federal government would be preferable to the current division of powers.
• Rebecca L. Haffajee, Michelle M. Mello, “Thinking Globally, Acting Locally — The U.S. Response to Covid-19”, The New England Journal of Medicine, 2 April 2020: Authors discuss the weaknesses of federalist system of public health governance in the US as it surfaced during this pandemic.
• Richard Kreitner, “How Would You Like to Live in the Nation of New England?”, The New York Times, 23 April 2020: Kreitner offers regional alliances developed by several states in the US for responding to COVID-19 crisis as an alternative to an outdated US federalism.
• Stephen M. Griffin, “American Federalism, the Coronavirus Pandemic, and the Legacy of Hurricane Katrina”, IDEA - Voices From the Field, 22 April 2020: Griffin questions if a national emergency regime with a more centralized governance is a better response to this type of emergency situations.
• Walter Olson, “Federalism and the Coronavirus Lockdown”, Wall Street Journal, 30 March 2020: Author argues that the relaxation of the lockdown will depend on state governments.

5. Comparing federations
Les fédérations comparées

• Arvind Ashta, “It is time to seriously consider the advantages of a world federal government”, LSE EUROPP Blog, 18 March 2021: Ashta lists seven reasons why we should now consider moving toward a world federal government.
• Multiple Countries: Sean Molloy, Christine Bell, Asanga Welikala, Erin Houlihan, Kimana Zulueta-Fülscher, “Emergency Law Responses and Conflict-Affected States in Transition”, Verfassungsblog, 13 March 2021: This post looks at emergency law responses to the Covid-19 pandemic in conflict-affected states in transition and it underlines the impact on relationships between the central state and divided groups in sub-state regions as a main area of concern.
• Allemagne, Italie & Espagne (Germany, Italy & Spain): Ludovic Piedtenu, Marie-Hélène Ballestero, Olivier Tosseri, « Covid-19 : comment sont prises les décisions dans les pays décentralisés, comme l'Allemagne, l'Italie ou l'Espagne ? », France Info, 3 mars 2021 : Les auteurs expliquent les procédures de décisions dans ces trois pays décentralisés.
• Australia & Canada (Australie & Canada) : Steven Lewis, “What Canada can learn from Australia’s COVID response”, Policy Options, 10 February 2021: The article briefly explains how Australia’s strong and coordinated response to the pandemic could be a lesson for Canada.
• Australia & Canada (Australie & Canada): Stephen Van Dine, “A tale of two federations and their (mis)handling of the pandemic”, iPolitics, 5 February 2021: The article offers another comparison of two federal systems.
• France & Allemagne (France & Germany): Vincent Glad, « Covid-19 : le fédéralisme allemand n'est guère plus efficace que le centralisme français », L’Express, 5 février 2021 : L’article compare la France et l’Allemagne pour songer s’il existe un argument à faire pour soutenir le fédéralisme dans la guerre contre COVID-19.
• Austria, Germany & Switzerland (Autriche, Allemagne & Suisse) : Yvonne Hegele, Johanna Schnabel, “Federalism and the management of the COVID-19 crisis: centralisation, decentralisation and (non-)coordination”, West European Politics, 2 February 2021: To shed light on how Austria, Germany, and Switzerland managed COVID-19, this paper distinguishes two dimensions of federal decision making: centralised/decentralised and unilateral/coordinated decision making. Drawing on official government documents and press reports, it examines decisions on the introduction of containment measures and their subsequent easing during the first wave.
• United States & Germany (États-Unis & Allemagne): Brandon Bohrn, “Federalism in Crisis: U.S and German Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic”, Bertelsmann Foundation, February 2021: This report is devoted to exploring the most pressing challenges facing the United States and Germany and presenting analysis to policymakers, professors, teachers, and students on both sides of the Atlantic. It provides readers with a better understanding of how the U.S. and Germany, through their different forms of federalism, have navigated this once-in-a-century public health crisis.
• Bangladesh, India & Pakistan (Bangladesh, Inde & Pakistan): Jean N.Lee, Mahreen Mahmud, Jonathan Morduch, Saravana Ravindran, Abu S. Shonchoy, “Migration, externalities, and the diffusion of COVID-19 in South Asia”, Journal of Public Economies, Vol. 193, January 2021: The article shows how migration data can be used to predict coronavirus hotspots.
• France & Allemagne (France & Germany): Ludovic Piedtenu, « Covid-19 et restrictions : et en Allemagne, comment annonce-t-on les mauvaises nouvelles ? », France Inter, 24 janvier 2021 : L’article compare la France et l’Allemagne en terme de communications des mesures contre COVID-19.
• Indonesia & Malaysia (Indonésie & Malaisie): Raine Sroge Johnson, “A comparison of Indonesia and Malaysia's COVID-19 public health policy response”, Birmingham Working Paper Series, 18 January 2021: This paper identifies and analyzes Indonesia and Malaysia’s public health policies from March to May of 2020. It argues that Indonesia’s political elites’ denial of the pandemic threat and incumbents’ economic and religious anxieties as well as the nation’s federal institutional design dictated its lackluster policy response. Comparatively, after the resolution of Malaysia’s political turmoil, the new incumbent was enabled by the country’s federal institutional design to create effective policies that prioritized health and safety over the short-term political concerns.
• United States & New Zealand ( États-Unis & Nouvelle Zélande): Richard W. Parker, “Why America’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic Failed: Lessons from New Zealand’s Success”, Administrative Law Review, Vol 73, No.1, 2021: The article offers an insight into NZ’s success and compares this response to the US.
• Countries of European Union (Pays de l’Union Européenne): Linda Hantrais, Marie-Thérèse Letablier, “Comparing and Contrasting the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the European Union” (New York: Routledge, 2021): This book offers a template for analyzing policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and for using evidence-based comparisons to inform and support policy development.
• OECD Countries: Pietrangelo de Biase and Sean Dougherty, “Federalism and public health decentralisation in the time of COVID-19”, OECD Working Papers on Fiscal Federalism, January 2021: The paper focuses on how countries made changes to the configuration of federalism during the first wave of the pandemic. The strengths, weaknesses and implementation risks of various approaches are analysed using country examples.
• Multiple Countries: Sheila Jasanof, Stephen Hilgartner, J. Benjamin Hurlbut, Onur Özgöde, Margarita Rayzberg et al., Comparative Covid Response: Crisis, Knowledge, Politics (Interim Report), 12 January 2021: This report provides a preliminary distillation of Comparative Covid Response: Crisis, Knowledge, Politics (CompCoRe) – a cross-national study of the policy responses of 16 countries across five continents. Led by a team based at Harvard, Cornell and Arizona State Universities, CompCoRe is a collaborative undertaking involving more than 60 researchers from around the world. The participating countries are Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Additionally, teams from Indonesia and Peru, as well as an Africa Group, are included as CompCoRe affiliates. Since the list contains federal countries, it also analyzes the effects of federal system where it is relevant.
• Canada, United States, Mexico (Canada, États-Unis, Méxique): Daniel Béland, Gregory P. Marchildon, Anahely Medrano, Philip Rocco, “COVID-19, Federalism, and Health Care Financing in Canada, the United States, and Mexico”, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 2021: This paper argues that federal health financing regimes differ in ways that are shaping the agenda for post-pandemic reforms. The analysis, which focuses on health care financing in three federal countries (Canada, the United States, and Mexico), explores the current and potential future impact of COVID-19 on existing policy legacies.
• Germany & European Union (Allemagne & Union Européenne): Lucie Coatleven, François Hublet, Théophile Rospars, Covid-19 et gestion de crise subsidiaire : Perspectives transfrontalières à la lumière du fédéralisme allemande, Groupe d’études géopolitiques, Décembre 2020 : Ce rapport propose de s’inspirer de la réponse institutionnelle allemande, suisse ou belge pour imaginer une « gestion de crise subsidiaire » au service des citoyens et des territoires européens.
• Belgium & the Netherlands (Belgique & Pays-Bas): Toon Van Overbeke, Diederik Stadig, “High politics in the Low Countries: COVID‐19 and the politics of strained multi‐level policy cooperation in Belgium and the Netherlands”, European Policy Analysis, November 2020: We argue that efficient multi‐level policy cooperation in both countries has run up against the limits of existing institutions, leading to significant political grievances.
• Brazil, United States, India, Belgium, Germany and Australia: José Ma. Serna de la Garza (coordinatior), Covid-19 and Constitutional Law (Mexico: Instituto De Investigaciones Jurídicas, October 2020): This book is a collection of articles on how different constitutional orders responded to the pandemic and it includes many articles on federal systems such as Brazil, United States, India, Belgium, Germany and Australia.
• Canada & United States (Canada & États-Unis): Abdul Basit Adeel et al., “COVID-19 Policy Response and the Rise of the Sub-National Governments”, Canadian Public Policy, Vol. 46, No. 4, 2020: The article examines the roles of sub-national and national governments in Canada and the United States vis-à-vis the protective public health response in the onset phase of the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The article’s finding is that the sub-national contribution to policy is more important for both the United States and Canada than are their national-level policies, and that the institutional origin of the policies as evidenced by the COVID-19 response differs greatly between the two countries and has implications for the evolution of federalism in each.
• Latin America & Caribbean (Amérique Latine, & Les Caraïbes): OAS & Forum of Federations & University of Kent, Practical Guide for an Effective Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic at the Subnational Level, 2020: The Organization of American States, the Forum of Federations and the University of Kent organized a webinar on the occasion of the International Day of Peace (September 21) addressing the growing pivotal role of subnational governments in the current Latin American and Caribbean COVID-19 scenario. The information was reviewed and summarized to produce this practical guide as an important contribution to the hemispheric efforts underway to strengthen local democratic governance, and more specifically to respond effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic at the subnational levels.
• Nyasha Weinberg, Joelle Grogan, “Effective Pandemic Management Requires the Rule of Law and Good Governance”, Verfassungsblog, 4 November 2020: In this post, authors argue that the most effective action in response to global health emergency is guided by principles of the rule of law and good governance. They also focus on the benefits of collaboration for multi-level governance.
• Olga Shvetsova, Andrei Zhirnov, Julie VanDusky-Allen, Abdul Basit Adeel et al., “Institutional Origins of Protective COVID-19 Public Health Policy Responses: Informational and Authority Redundancies and Policy Stringency”, October 2020: This essay argues that institutional systems that allow redundancies in information channels and in policy-making (i.e. democracies and decentralized policies) are more likely to generate a rapid policy response to crises such as the onset of COVID-19 pandemic than more streamlined systems.
• EU & ASEAN: Maria Papageorgiou, Daniella Silva Nogueira Melo, “Regional responses to COVID-19: A comparative analysis of EU and ASEAN policies to counter the pandemic”, Perspectives on Federalism, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2020: This article aims to examine the initial responses to COVID-19 and the development of regional policies of the two most successful examples of regional organisations; EU and ASEAN and it accounts for the different forms of integration and the varying COVID-19 spread levels between them.
• Canada, France & Belgium / Canada, France & Belgique: Zachary Desson, Emmi Weller, Peter McMeekin, Mehdi Ammi, “An analysis of the policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in France, Belgium, and Canada”, Health Policy and Technology, September 2020: This paper presents an overview and comparative analysis of the epidemiological situation and the policy responses in France, Belgium, and Canada during the early stages of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. The decentralized structures in Canada and Belgium are compared with France’s centralized response.
• Australia, Canada, Germany & the United States / Australie, Canada, Allemagne & États-Unis: Mark J. Rozell, Clyde Wilcox, “Federalism in a Time of Plague: How Federal Systems Cope With Pandemic”, The American Review of Public Administration, Vol. 50, No. 5-6, July 2020: This article compares and contrasts the responses of Australia, Canada, Germany, and the United States to the COVID-19 outbreak and spread.
• Canada & USA: Abdul Basit Adeel, Michael Catalano, Olivia Catalano, Grant Gibson, Ezgi Muftuoglu, Tara Riggs, Mehmet Halit Sezgin, Olga Shvetsova, Naveed Tahir, Julie VanDusky-Allen, Tianyi Zhao, Andrei Zhirnov, “COVID-19 Policy Response and the Rise of the Sub-National Governments”, Canadian Public Policy, September 2020: Authors examine the roles of subnational and national governments in Canada and the USA vis-à-vis protective public health response in the onset phase of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The study shows that the institutional origin of the policies as evidenced by COVID-19 response differs greatly between the two countries and has implications for the evolution of federalism in each.
• Germany, Switzerland, France and Italy: Tim Buthe, Joan Barceló, Cindy Cheng, Paula Ganga, Luca Messerschmidt, Allison Spencer Hartnett, and Robert Kubinec, “Patterns of Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Federal vs. Unitary European Democracies”, SSRN, 14 September 2020: Authors argue that the extent to which federalist countries reap the benefits or suffer the costs of giving sub-national units greater autonomy depends on whether a given policy is itself more optimally implemented homogenously or heterogeneously across different regions. They analyze national and sub-national policy responses to COVID-19 in 2 federal (Germany and Switzerland) and 2 unitary countries (France and Italy).
• Germany, Austria, and Switzerland: Zachary Desson, Lisa Lambertz, Jan Willem Peters, Michelle Falkenbach, Lukas Kauer, “Europe’s Covid-19 outliers: German, Austrian and Swiss policy responses during the early stages of the 2020 pandemic”, Health Policy and Technology, September 2020: This paper presents an overview of the policy responses in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (all federal states) during the early stages of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic.
• OECD Countries: OECD, “Building resilience to the Covid-19 pandemic: the role of centres of government”, OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19), 2 September 2020: This paper discusses the high-level institutional arrangements put in place by governments with a special focus on center of governments role in three main dimensions: co-ordination and strategic planning, the use of evidence to inform decision-making, and communicating decisions to the public. Even though the paper is not solely focused on federal systems, it also provides insights to how central governments coordinate subnational responses.
• France, Italy, United States (France, Italie, États-Unis): Isabel Perera, Sidney Tarrow, “What America Got Wrong About COVID-19–and What We Can Learn from France and Italy”, Public Seminar, 26 August 2020: This essay argues that institutional fragmentation and a lack of national solidarity have derailed the pandemic response in the US by comparing it to France and Italy.
• Various systems (Systèmes divers): Klaus Dodds, Vanesa Castan Broto, Klaus Detterbeck, Martin Jones, Virginie Mamadouh, Maano Ramutsindela, Monica Varsanyi, David Wachsmuth & Chih Yuan Woon, “The COVID-19 pandemic: territorial, political and governance dimensions of the crisis”, Territory, Politics, Governance, Vol. 8, No. 3, June 2020: This editorial briefly explains how territorial politics played a key role in the pandemic.
• Australia, India, and the United States: Niranjan Sahoo, “India and Australia’s federal systems have responded fairly well to COVID-19. But the US system hasn’t”, Melbourne Asia Review Blog, 14 July 2020: The article explains how the pandemic is exposing the strengths and weaknesses of different forms of federal systems by giving examples from these three federations.
• Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico: Julie VanDusky-Allen, Olga Shvestova, and Andrei Zhirnov, “COVID-19 Policy Response in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico: Three Different National-Subnational Approaches”, Duck of Minerva, 2 July 2020: The authors compare the responses of these three countries by taking into account both the national and subnational levels.
• United States, Brazil, Germany, European Union, Italy, Spain: Gian Luca Gardini (ed.), The World Before and After COVID-19: Intellectual Reflections on Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations, European of International Studies Press, 2020: The e-book includes articles on national and regional perspectives about COVID-19 crisis and deals with several federal/ quasi-federal systems.
• United States and European Union: Carlo Maria Palermo, “COVID-19: US and EU, Why the Outbreak Could Induce an Institutional Evolution”, CESPI, 22 March 2020: This policy brief tries to explain the situation for both Europe and the United States in the early days of the pandemic and discusses how to create more efficient, accountable institutions for the citizens.
• Several states. Olga Shvetsova, Andrey Zhirnov, Abdul Basit Adeel, Michael Catalano, Olivia Catalano, Hyoungrohk Chu, Garrett K. Dumond, Georgian-Marius Ghincea, Jason Means, Ezgi Muftuoglu, Tara Riggs, Almira Sadykova, Mehmet Halit Sezgin, Julie Vandusky Allen, and Tianyi Zhao, “Constitutional and Institutional Structural Determinants of Policy Responsiveness to Protect Citizens from Existential Threats: COVID-19 and Beyond”, Citizenship, Rights, and Cultural Belonging Working Paper Series, 12 May 2020: The article analyzes the contrast in the speed of policy response between more centralized and autocratic states versus democratic federations.
• USA & United Kingdom (États-Unis & Royaume Uni): Olga Shvetsova, Michael Catalano, Hyoungrohk Chu, Garrett K. Dumond, Ezgi Muftuoglu, Hasan Ozutemiz, Almira Sadykova, and Tara Riggs, “Policy Error and Policy Rescue in COVID-19 Responses in the United States and United Kingdom”, Citizenship, Rights, and Cultural Belonging Working Paper Series, 15 April 2020: This piece explains how democratic institutions, in particular federalism, can impact the speed and degree of policy responses protecting citizens, even when national leaders share similar public rhetoric that is non-conducive to speedy policy response through a comparison of the policies of United States and United Kingdom.
• Australia & USA / Australie & États-Unis: Julian R. Murphy, “Divided We Fall? – Division and Coordination in Federal Systems During A Time Of Crisis”, BACL Blog, 25 May 2020: Murphy compares the responses of the federal systems of Australia and the United States and suggests that it is as much the attitude of the actors within the federal system, as it is the system itself, which determines the success of a national response in a time of crisis.
• USA, India & EU / États-Unis, Inde & UE: Mihir Sharma, “Coronavirus Is Straining the Concept of Federalism”, Bloomberg News, 02 May 2020: Sharma explains how COVID-19 widen the fault lines existing within these federal systems.
• Davide Vampa, “The territorial politics of coronavirus: is this the hour of central government?”, Democratic Audit, 15 April 2020: In this piece, Vamps compares the territorial arrangements of countries facing the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and argues that centralising power in federal systems would be misguided, and instead we should look to examples of successful coordination within multi-level forms of governance.
• Luiz de Mello, João Tovar Jalles, “Intergovernmental relations: How the global crisis led to further decentralisation”, VOX CEPR Policy Portal, 8 April 2020: Authors describe how, in particular, the crisis was associated with an increase in the subnational shares of general government spending and revenue, which are conventional quantitative gauges of fiscal decentralisation.
• France, Allemagne & Belgique: Gérald Papy, « Avantage à l’Etat fédéral », Le Vif, Numéro 19, 7 Mai 2020.
• Francesco Palermo, “Is there a space for federalism in times of emergency?”, Verfassungblog, 13 May 2020: Palermo compares responses to the crisis in many different federal systems as well as reactions to those responses, and argues for the importance of federalism during this turbulent period to protect another principle related to federalism: pluralism.
• Canada & US: James McCarten, “Compared to U.S., Canada's COVID-19 response a case study in political civility”, National Post, 14 April 2020.
• Brazil & US: Wayne Madsen, “The Pandemic’s Toll on Federalism”, Strategic Culture Foundation, 28 March 2020.
• Argentina, Brazil & Mexico: Agustina Giraudy, Sara Niedzwiecki, and Jennifer Pribble “How Political Science Explains Countries’ Reactions to COVID-19”, Americas Quarterly, 30 April 2020.