In sovereignty’s shadow: The limitations of decentralisation under federalism and multilevel approaches to governance
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30722/anzjes.vol16.iss1/2.20146Abstract
The focus of this paper is to outline how the foundational approach of decentralisation inherent in federalist and multilevel governance (MLG) systems is incompatible with the indivisible nature of sovereign authority. Via an examination of the structural elements of these systems, their strengths and weaknesses, and an evaluation of the concept of sovereignty, this paper posits that the requirement for an identifiable central sovereign power in governance remains immovable, despite attempts to diffuse this power across multiple actors and governing levels. It further posits that attempts to divide this sovereign power ultimately destroy it, creating governing crises by delegitimising and undermining governmental authority across all levels. An evaluation of the evidence presented supports this contention and raises numerous questions that bear further consideration.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Irini Vasilakakos
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Submission of an original manuscript to ANZJES will be taken to mean that it is an original work not previously published.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 Licence that allows others, including the author, to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the original author and initial publication in this journal.