The Case for Decentralized Federalism and its sister volume The Case for Centralized Federalism are the outcome of the Federalism Redux Project, created to stimulate a serious and useful conversation on federalism in Canada. They provide the vocabulary and arguments needed to articulate the case for a centralized or a decentralized Canadian federalism.
The Case for Decentralized Federalism brings together experts who believe decentralized federalism is the optimal arrangement for governing the contextual diversity and cultural pluralism in Canada. Using different approaches, they argue that by dividing the work of public governance among different levels of government, it is easier to address the needs and aspirations of the diverse groups that make up Canada.
Ruth Hubbard is a former federal deputy minister and a senior fellow of the University of Ottawa. She is the author of Profession: Public Servant (Invenire Books, 2009).
Gilles Paquet is professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa. He has authored or edited 40 books, including The New Geo-Governance (University of Ottawa Press, 2005).
The editors bring together expertise that covers the history, theory, policy analysis, legal, and empirical approaches that comprehensively review the major issues and arguments for centralized and decentralized federalism in Canada. This two-volume work (The Case for Decentralized Federalism and The Case for Centralized Federalism) is an outstanding collection of essays of great interest and importance to federalism scholars. - Michael W. Hail, Publius (Winter 2013) 43(1)