With the end of the Cold War well behind us, humankind faces new challenges and opportunities. In many ways issues which we thought were resolved by history are re-appearing. Ethnic & tribal nationalism, regional differences, and religious strife are now the major challenges to creating viable states able to meet the needs of citizens while protecting human rights, including minority rights.
A good example is Afghanistan where a dozen ethnic groups indigenous to that country find themselves sharing the same legal and political space due to political boundaries drawn by an ex-colonial power, in this case, the UK, a former imperial power that gave no serious thought as to how ethnic and religious groups with a history of mutual antagonism could possibly live together. Worse still, many of these states adopted a unitary model, reflecting the political structure of their colonial masters. Other states with similar problems include Pakistan, Iraq, and the former Belgian Congo. What they all have in common is division based on ethnicity and tribalism. In Iraq, the issue is even more complicated when we consider the religious divisions existing between Shiites and Sunnis.
There are thousands of ethnic and tribal societies in the world speaking an equal number of languages, yet the United Nations has fewer than two hundred members. Like much of today’s reality, this all stems from decisions made by European colonial powers to create states where ethnic, tribal, religious, and ethnic divisions would not be addressed in any meaningful matter. Interestingly, these same European states were based on ethnic and linguistic unity. To take one example, France was conceived as a state speaking one language and practicing (for the most part) one religion, Catholicism. Other European States like Britain, Germany, Austria, and Italy also reflect political divisions based on language and ethnicity.
The question we need to ask ourselves is how federalism can be used to create viable states while protecting the rights of minorities. As we proceed into the 21st century we see the same type of conflict appearing all over the world: ethnic, tribal, religious, and linguistic groups are fighting for their survival and are demanding either their own state within a federal system or outright independence. Obviously, the world cannot have hundreds of states join the UN, thus it is unrealistic to think that the answer is to create countless new countries based on ethnicity.
This is where Federalism enters the picture. Federalism can be used to promote liberty and good governance. The majority of states are currently either unitary or federal in name only, with an overpowering central state usually dominated by a dominant ethnic group that gives little thought to minority rights and needs. The question that arises is whether there exist states that we can use as models. Fortunately, there are several federal states from which we can borrow certain legal principles. Canada is one important example.,
Canada is said by the British to be a boring country. But this fairly new country has two features to offer struggling states: a division of powers arrangement that grants its provinces a fair amount of control over local matters, and provincial boundaries that were originally conceived to give its French speaking minority their own state or territory where they would have control over legal, religious, and cultural matters like education. Had the French Canadians who saw themselves as an ethnic group, with their own religion and language, not been provided with their own territory, French speaking society as we know it today in Canada would likely have disappeared, with Old Montreal resembling the French quarter in New Orleans as the only manifestation of any French speaking reality in North America. Having a province or a state also means having a Legislature or Parliament and there again the French Canadians in Quebec have used it to protect linguistic rights in the province, and while Quebec nationalists may complain about alleged Federal encroachment emanating from Ottawa, Canada’s capital, the reality is that the average Quebecor is greatly more exposed to provincial law than to Federal laws which tend to be national in nature.
Of course Canada is not the only country with a federal system. Other examples include the United States, Switzerland and Germany. Politicians in the developing world seeking to adopt federalism should consequently take good ideas regarding federalism wherever they can get them. But in doing so, Canada should be kept in mind, especially for countries in the Commonwealth.
