One of the important characteristics of any country of the federal system is its symmetry or asymmetry. Equality between individual subjects of the federation has a greater impact on the development of the country as a whole and individual regions in particular. In the material presented below, we consider in detail these two types of federations. We will discuss how they differ, what the inequality is, and why Russia is an asymmetric federation.
Signs of the Federation
A federation is an association of several state entities called entities. They do not have state sovereignty, but they have rather high powers to create their charters and laws. Individual counties and regions are also subject to the constitution of the country in which they are located. Moreover, they may have their own institutions of citizenship, the capital, coat of arms and other elements of the legal status of the state. It is important to understand that an individual entity cannot become a participant in international relations without leaving the federation. Each of them represents a state, province, region, region or land (in the manner of Germany or Austria).
So, the federation has the following characteristic features:
- the territory of the federation is divided into separate territories (subjects);
- legislative and judicial power is vested in state bodies;
- in such states there are two houses of parliament.
There are symmetric and asymmetric federations.
Symmetric Federation
First, let's talk about the first type. A symmetric federation is a federation whose main feature is the equal rights of all districts located on its territory. Separate regions and republics are homogeneous in nature and have equal status with each other. Typically, entities in a country have the same name, for example, county or province. They have the same system of power, without any regional differences. The level of development of subjects is approximately at the same level, as are individual spheres of life. Medicine and education function throughout the federation in a similar way. Most modern states follow the path of introducing asymmetric elements, since even extremely symmetrical federations cannot exist in this form for a long time.
Asymmetric Federation
There is an opposite type of country. Asymmetric federation - a form of government, in which unequal rights apply to different republics, districts or lands. Individual entities in such countries differ in their status. For example, republics, as part of a federation, can grant people unique citizenship. They have their own constitution, different from that adopted in the country. At the same time, other entities, smaller ones, can only create their own charters. Some republics proclaim themselves sovereign states, clearly indicating this in legal documents. All land and resources are the property of citizens living within its borders. These are not all the signs that are worth considering. Asymmetry also manifests itself in the tax payment system. All subjects of the federation replenish the federal budget and receive a certain share of deductions. Nevertheless, some districts may be donors of the state and give much more than they receive, while others - receive constant subsidies and exist only thanks to them. Some entities even agree to reduce tax payments and leave a part of the funds with them.
Symmetric Federation Examples
There are not so many examples of purely symmetric federations that exist today. One of these is Ethiopia. The country proclaimed itself a symmetrical federation in 1994, documenting this in its own constitution. In this form, the state can exist only for some time, since each individual region of the federation cannot develop on an equal footing with others. Because of this, some changes are introduced into the political system, giving the country signs of asymmetry. Thus did in Austria and Germany.
Austria
In Austria, there is an administrative division of the country into 9 feudal lands, including the city of Vienna, which is the capital of the federation. Lands, in turn, consist of individual districts, statutory cities and communities. The legislative bodies of all lands are elected by popular vote. Land governors are elected by the land assembly. At the same time, administrative bodies of government are appointed by the state from above. These rules apply throughout the country, but each district has a separate judicial system, which, although connected with the federal one, still has its own differences. Some areas of life, such as medicine, for example, are universal for the whole country and countries that are part of the European Union. Nevertheless, even here there is some decentralization (as in the USA). Each province in Austria has its own separate functions in the health care system, as well as a number of restrictions. The same slight differences can be observed in the fields of education, energy or mining.
Germany
In Germany, a similar system works. The Federation has 16 lands. Of these, 13 are state regions, and 3 three are cities. Capital cities include Hamburg, Berlin and Bremen. Parts of Germany are called parts of Germany as federal states, but this is not entirely correct, since according to official documents they are all united in one state and are not considered independent administrative units. The legislative body - the lagdat - of each district is elected by the people, after which the executive bodies, the prime minister of the district and others are appointed by the Landtag. The only thing that gives out the elements of asymmetry in Germany is the unequal representation of lands in the lower house of parliament, but legally they still have equal status.
Asymmetric Federation Examples
Typical examples of asymmetric federations are countries such as India, Tanzania, Brazil, and Canada. The individual lands and counties of these countries are significantly different from each other in their status and rights. These include the United States of America and Russia. In fact, both countries are federations with multilevel symmetry of the federal structure. At least that's what the constitutions say.
United States of America
If you look more deeply at the US government system, the answer to the question of why this federation is considered asymmetric becomes more than obvious. So, the United States is divided into 55 states. Each of them has equal rights, the inhabitants of these states are American citizens without any exceptions. People living in the country have identical rights and obligations. The catch is that in addition to the main states, America unites several more entities with them. District of Columbia, for example. This region is not included in any state, and people living on its territory have less rights. At the same time, no one represents Colombia in the Senate, and the delegate in the House of Congress does not even have the right to vote. The same category includes island territories belonging to the United States. These are the Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Guam. Some of these facilities are under the full control of the state, and some have certain freedoms in terms of self-government. Moreover, the inhabitants of the islands are not even US citizens, they are their subjects, therefore, they can not even participate in the presidential elections.
Canada
Canada is divided into 10 provinces and 3 territories. These types of subjects differ in a number of factors. The provinces have higher powers, which were attributed to them by the constitution as early as 1867. Their rights are unshakable. You can change them only by changing the constitution itself.
The provinces are independent of the
federal government and of each other. This means that even if changes are made to constitutional law, they will not act on the constituency that expresses its disagreement with the adopted amendments. Moreover, they can change their provincial constitution at any time. Canada’s independent territories can also enact laws that relate to their field of activity, be it medicine, education, or commerce, but the Federal Government, for its part, can arrange a program to test a particular county for competency in a given area. Provincial governing bodies in this case may also refuse this program.
Russia as an asymmetric federation
Russia is an asymmetric federation, despite the fact that the state’s constitution says otherwise. Based on the information that is specified in article 5 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, all subjects of the state (autonomous okrugs, territories, republics) are absolutely equal. Regardless of territorial features. However, in order to prove that Russia is an asymmetric federation, it is enough to consider how some subjects, in particular republics, function.
Some of them have their own constitutions, elect presidents (for example, the
Chechen Republic is a de facto separate state). The peoples living in these territories have their own nationality, despite the fact that they still live within Russia. Other subjects of the federation do not have such privileges. Some autonomous okrugs are completely part of separate territories, which provokes the subordination of one subject to another. Representatives of the country conclude agreements with representatives of individual districts, republics and territories. In most cases, these contracts are no different from each other, but some entities are given broader powers.
Russia's struggle with asymmetry
The Russian Federation is asymmetric, but attempts to abolish the state system by this system were made in the last century. The Chairman of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR Boris Yeltsin in 1990 proposed uniting all subordinate districts and territories into the Russian Republic, but this project did not receive further development.
Later, in 1995, some changes did occur. The heads of districts were equated with the presidents of the republics. Previously, governors were appointed by government bodies, and from 1995 until today they are elected by the people.