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Around the world there are many different relationships between federal governments and regional or state governments. Much of the time the federal government has so much power that it is difficult for certain regions or states to gain power and advantage for themselves. A country that has a unique structure of power is Germany. They have a federal government, the Bundesrat, that have more power than many and most second chambers in the world. Although they have this great amount of power, the regions in Germany, or Lander, have a relationship that grants them the ability to gain the resources that are needed for their region to become prosperous and truly reap the benefits of federalism. To illustrate this point it is important to compare the German federal structure to that of a less fair federal system. Canada is a centralized country that does not give the necessary power and resource to their individual provinces. The Lander have power through jurisdiction and law making, while Canada’s provinces are unable to affect laws in a significant way. Both countries have representation in their federal government based on population, but Canada has such a large margin in the portion of the country that houses the federal government, that it causes disproportional regionalization. As well, funding in the Lander is distributed equally with poorer Lander receiving financial help from the Bundesrat, while Canadian provinces struggle to attain resources and are in a constant fight with the federal government. In regards to cooperative politics, the mediation committee in Germany is represented equally with one member of each Lander, while Canada’s House of Commons is regionally misrepresented. Finally, Germany is united and has a strong federal system, while Canada is centralized and has problems with provinces, which is illustrated by the problems with Quebec wanting to separate. In all, Germany’s Federal system is fairer and more dependable than Canada’s is. First, the Bundesrat has more power than most second chambers, there is a great deal of power that the 16 Lander posses. Prior to the Bundesrat being created the Lander was already in existence as a political structure. This means that they were already established as a structural power and were fully capable of maintaining there own political system. For example, the regions that made up the all encompassing Lander had already dealt in a responsible way with issues such as policing, education and local government. As well, the Lander representatives have power to administer federal laws, (Roberts 2000, pg. 100). This is unlike most countries. Most regions that are inferior to the higher governmental power, in this case the Bundesrat, do not have any such a prominent role in deciding what will be law federally. They would usually have a minor say as a part of the country and not a full fledged initiator of laws.
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