sent by Bill Ouko

Sunday October 28, 2007
       
Is majimbo an idea whose time has come?

By Njeri Kabeberi-Kanene

There is never a dull moment in politics, but for the first time the debate is based on a political ideology as opposed to insults.

Is majimbo or federalism an idea whose time has come or are we being taken back to the dark ages?

The Wikipedia dictionary describes political federalism as a political philosophy in which members of a group are bound by a governing representative head. The term federalism is also used to describe a system of government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units (like states or provinces). Federalism is the system in which the power to govern is shared between the national and state governments, creating what is often called a federation.

There is a San-Francisco-based civil society organisation with supporters worldwide referred to as Democratic World Federalists, and which advocates a democratic federal system of world government to end war and crimes against humanity and to promote a just world and preservation of a healthful global environment through development of enforceable world law. It is affiliated to among others the Community of World Citizens, and the World Federalist Movement; an international citizen?s movement working for justice, peace, and sustainable prosperity.

There has therefore existed an argument worldwide that federalism secures democracy and human rights. It has been argued that in smaller political units, individuals can participate more directly than in a monolithic unitary Government. Moreover; individuals dissatisfied with conditions in one state have the option of moving to another, this argument assumes that a freedom of movement between states is equally secured by a federal system.

In Australia, the capacity of a federal system to protect civil liberties has been disputed. There has often been confusion between the rights of individuals with those of states. It has been argued that some of the major inter-governmental conflicts in recent decades have been the direct result of federal intervention to secure the rights of minority groups vis a viz the powers of state governments.

In Canada, it is argued that to avoid the cession of Quebec, they settled for federalism, which can be interpreted to mean they were opposed to the sovereignty of Quebec. In Germany during the first part of the twentieth century, Adolf Hitler viewed federalism as an obstacle, and he wrote in Mein Kampf as follows: "National Socialism must claim the right to impose its principles on the whole German nation, without regard to what were hitherto the confines of federal states." The rest is history. In Britain, federalism has long been proposed as a solution to the "Irish Problem".

Compromise between states South Africa is the only nation in the world with three capital cities. Cape Town, the largest of the three, is the legislative capital; Pretoria is the administrative-executive capital; and Bloemfontein is the judicial capital.

South Africa, like the US, has what is called a bicameral parliament.

Bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. As part of the "Great Compromise" between large states and small states, the US invented a new rationale for bicameralism in which the upper house would have states represented equally and the lower house would have them represented by population.

In subsequent constitution making, federal states have often adopted bicameralism, and the solution remains popular when regional differences or sensitivities require more explicit representation, with the second chamber representing the constituent states. Nevertheless, the older justification for second chambers, of providing opportunities for second thoughts about legislation has survived.

A constitutional amendment requiring two thirds majority in Parliament and clear process would be required prior to the adoption of any federal system. Interestingly, federalism also finds expression in the doctrine of the Church, perfected by the Presbyterian Church governance, which resembles parliamentary republicanism (a form of political federalism) to a large extent. In Presbyterian denominations, elected elders rule the local church, some of which are ministerial. Each church then sends representatives or commissioners to presbyteries and further to a general assembly. Some Christians argue that the earliest source of political federalism (or federalism in human institutions; in contrast to theological federalism) is the ecclesiastical federalism found in the Bible.

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