Regional Consequences

Abstract

Abstract This chapter investigates the effects of the use of shared rule for the regional level. It combines quantitative analyses using data on federal transfers in the USA and Switzerland with an in-depth investigation of party politics in Belgium. In mono-national states, shared rule has both a remedial and a reinforcing effect on existing inter-regional inequalities. For political minorities in Switzerland and spatially distant states and territories in the USA, relying on shared rule pays off financially. However, shared rule also multiplies the benefits for large Swiss cantons and already wealthy US states. At the same time, where cultural, ideological, and economic cleavages overlap with regional governments as in Belgium, shared rule has a centrifugal effect. Where that is not the case and consequently regional actors are more numerous and diverse, the use of shared rule has a centripetal effect.