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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   2367 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 4, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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How many federal countries are there / have there been in history when the federal element had the ability to control the states but refused to do so?

Does fucking around so hard that they completely fail at their responsibilities and the Provinces take over international diplomacy and trade count? That was Canada under Trudeau for a while. Same with Saskatchewan unilaterally deciding it wouldn't pay the Carbon Tax on home heating.

I'm trying to tease out the difference between a powerful, confident country deliberately deciding not to exert control over its provinces in a formal manner vs. failing to keep them in line, so no it doesn't count.

The former I think is almost unique to Anglo countries (America historically, Canada historically?, maybe devolution in the UK) and rare within those. I'm looking for examples proving that theory wrong. If the theory is right then you cannot get to more intensive federalism by integrating other countries into the USA as per @FiveHourMarathon's proposal, unless it weakens America so much that federal government collapses.

EDIT: the main counterexample is probably Switzerland. GPT suggests also modern Germany (which doesn't sound right to me, plus their constitution was heavily influenced by America rather than arising from native proclivities) and Austria.

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