The Center for State Constitutional Studies participated in a major collaborative project entitled “Global Dialogues on Federalism in the Twenty-first Century: Practices, Perspectives and Prospects.” Under the auspices of the Canada-based Forum of Federations and the International Association of Centers for Federal Studies (IACFS), this unique program was born out of the need for a comparative examination of a wide range of issues in federal governance. The Center for State Constitutional Studies and the Meyner Center for the Study of State and Local Government at Lafayette College, Pennsylvania, served jointly as Theme Coordinators for “Constitutional Origins, Structure, and Change in Federal Democracies.” As part of this project, the Center hosted an international conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in late March, 2003. Scholars and officials from 12 federal democracies attended and participated in discussions to identify common concerns and identify best practices for dealing with those concerns.
One major publication from this project was Constitutional Origins, Structure, and Change in Federal Countries (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2005), co-edited by Alan Tarr, Director of the Center for State Constitutional Studies.
For further information on this project, consult Forum of Federations.