The Origins of Holding-Together Federalism: Nepal, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka
Theories on the origin of federalism generally only apply to coming-together federalism. In Asia, some states introduced federalism following decolonization to hold together multiethnic communities, but others centralized and pursued a nation-building agenda. Federalism was not established in Asia a...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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2017
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/82302 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/43504 |
| _version_ | 1824454207860637696 |
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| author | Breen, Michael G. |
| author2 | School of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| author_facet | School of Humanities and Social Sciences Breen, Michael G. |
| author_sort | Breen, Michael G. |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Theories on the origin of federalism generally only apply to coming-together federalism. In Asia, some states introduced federalism following decolonization to hold together multiethnic communities, but others centralized and pursued a nation-building agenda. Federalism was not established in Asia again until Nepal’s new constitution of 2015. Why has federalism been resisted and what causes its institutionalization? Using the cases of Nepal, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, I show that a moderate secession risk, together with a substantive peripheral infrastructural capacity, are necessary conditions for the establishment of holding-together federalism. A high secession risk prevents the formation of an alliance between minority ethnic groups and regime change agents from the dominant ethnic group, which I argue is the key mechanism for federalization in these contexts. A bargain with the core results in quasi-federalism for regime maintenance. Conversely, demands for federalism are too easily repressed when secession risk is low. |
| first_indexed | 2025-02-19T03:18:39Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/82302 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T03:18:39Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/823022020-03-07T12:10:37Z The Origins of Holding-Together Federalism: Nepal, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka Breen, Michael G. School of Humanities and Social Sciences Federalism Secession risk Theories on the origin of federalism generally only apply to coming-together federalism. In Asia, some states introduced federalism following decolonization to hold together multiethnic communities, but others centralized and pursued a nation-building agenda. Federalism was not established in Asia again until Nepal’s new constitution of 2015. Why has federalism been resisted and what causes its institutionalization? Using the cases of Nepal, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, I show that a moderate secession risk, together with a substantive peripheral infrastructural capacity, are necessary conditions for the establishment of holding-together federalism. A high secession risk prevents the formation of an alliance between minority ethnic groups and regime change agents from the dominant ethnic group, which I argue is the key mechanism for federalization in these contexts. A bargain with the core results in quasi-federalism for regime maintenance. Conversely, demands for federalism are too easily repressed when secession risk is low. MOE (Min. of Education, S’pore) Accepted version 2017-07-31T07:01:57Z 2019-12-06T14:52:52Z 2017-07-31T07:01:57Z 2019-12-06T14:52:52Z 2017 Journal Article Breen, M. G. (2017). The Origins of Holding-Together Federalism: Nepal, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, in press. 0048-5950 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/82302 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/43504 10.1093/publius/pjx027 en Publius: The Journal of Federalism © 2017 The Author (published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CSF Associates: Publius, Inc.). This is the author created version of a work that has been peer reviewed and accepted for publication in Publius: The Journal of Federalism, published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CSF Associates: Publius, Inc. It incorporates referee’s comments but changes resulting from the publishing process, such as copyediting, structural formatting, may not be reflected in this document. The published version is available at: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/publius/pjx027]. 37 p. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Federalism Secession risk Breen, Michael G. The Origins of Holding-Together Federalism: Nepal, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka |
| title | The Origins of Holding-Together Federalism: Nepal, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka |
| title_full | The Origins of Holding-Together Federalism: Nepal, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka |
| title_fullStr | The Origins of Holding-Together Federalism: Nepal, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Origins of Holding-Together Federalism: Nepal, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka |
| title_short | The Origins of Holding-Together Federalism: Nepal, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka |
| title_sort | origins of holding together federalism nepal myanmar and sri lanka |
| topic | Federalism Secession risk |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/82302 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/43504 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT breenmichaelg theoriginsofholdingtogetherfederalismnepalmyanmarandsrilanka AT breenmichaelg originsofholdingtogetherfederalismnepalmyanmarandsrilanka |