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by Meghan Cloonan ’10
As senior editor of the Global Dialogue on Federalism series, which is published by McGill-Queen’s University Press, Professor John Kincaid has overseen publication of a new book exploring the role of local government in countries with federal political systems.
The book, Local Government and Metropolitan Regions in Federal Systems, was edited by Nico Steytler, director of the Community Law Centre at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa, and was released in July as the seventh volume in the Global Dialogue series. Kincaid has served as senior editor of all seven publications.
The series offers accessible information and contrasts theoretical and practical perspectives regarding federal governance through case studies of countries that illustrate federalism’s diversity, strengths, and weaknesses. The Global Dialogue is a joint program of the Forum of Federations and the International Association of Centers for Federal Studies. The program was created by Kincaid when he was president of the association. It was then adopted by the forum as one of its major initiatives.
An internationally recognized expert, Kincaid, Meyner Professor of Government and Public Service and director of The Robert B. and Helen S. Meyner Center for the Study of State and Local Government, has lectured and consulted on issues of federalism, intergovernmental relations, constitutionalism, and regional and local governance in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Maldives, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. Kincaid served as executive director of the bipartisan U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations in Washington, D.C., from 1987-94.
He is the author of various works on federalism and intergovernmental relations and served from 1981-2005 as editor of Publius: The Journal of Federalism, a quarterly scholarly journal with a worldwide readership. His books include Political Culture, Public Policy and the American States (1981), Competition among States and Local Governments: Efficiency and Equity in American Federalism (1991), The Covenant Connection: From Federal Theology to Modern Federalism (2000), and Constitutional Origins, Structure, and Change in Federal Countries (2005).
Written by political science experts from across the globe, this newest release challenges scholars, students, and public officials alike to examine the role of local governments in the governance of federal countries. Each chapter focuses on the widely divergent functions of various local institutions, ranging from metropolitan municipalities of mega-cities to counties, small-town councils, and villages. Case studies examine local governments in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Switzerland, Spain, South Africa, and the United States.
As an EXCEL Scholar, government and law graduate David Stamm ’08 played an important role in the book’s publication. He was responsible for the review process of individual chapters, sending each article to several critics for assessment and commentary, as well as some editing responsibilities. Stamm is now a student at Rutgers School of Law.