Learning Across Federations: Best Practices in Comparative Federalism and Multilevel Governance examines how federal and multilevel political systems develop, adapt, and learn from one another in responding to the complex challenges of contemporary governance. Federalism is not a uniform institutional model; rather, federations differ significantly in the distribution of powers, intergovernmental relations, fiscal arrangements, mechanisms of territorial representation, and approaches to managing diversity. Comparative analysis therefore provides an important avenue for identifying institutional practices that can strengthen cooperation, accountability, autonomy, and effective governance across levels.
The panel invites contributions that explore best practices, innovative institutional arrangements, and transferable lessons from different federal and multilevel systems. It seeks to move beyond conventional comparisons of federal structures by examining how institutions function in practice and how governments at different levels negotiate authority, resources, responsibilities, and policy priorities. Particular attention may be given to mechanisms of intergovernmental coordination, fiscal federalism, decentralisation, territorial autonomy, asymmetric federalism, dispute resolution, regional representation, and collaborative governance.
The panel also considers how federal systems respond to emerging challenges, including political polarisation, regional inequalities, migration, climate change, public health emergencies, technological transformation, and demands for greater territorial autonomy. Contributions may examine both established federations and evolving multilevel systems, allowing for comparisons across different regions, political traditions, and constitutional contexts.
A central objective is to explore what federations can learn from one another. Rather than treating best practices as universally transferable models, the panel encourages critical discussion of the conditions under which particular institutional arrangements succeed, the limitations of policy transfer, and the role of historical, political, social, and constitutional contexts in shaping outcomes.
The panel welcomes theoretical, comparative, and empirically grounded papers that contribute to a broader understanding of learning, adaptation, and innovation in federal and multilevel governance. By bringing diverse federal experiences into dialogue, the panel seeks to identify lessons that can inform both comparative scholarship and contemporary debates on effective territorial governance.