Skip to main content
  • Book
  • © 2014

Federalism and Legal Unification

A Comparative Empirical Investigation of Twenty Systems

  • The first comprehensive study of federalism and legal unification
  • Includes surprising findings that should make scholars rethink their abandonment of the civil/law common/law distinction in comparative law
  • Endorsed by the International Academy of Comparative Law, the world's premier association for the study of comparative law?

Part of the book series: Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice (IUSGENT, volume 28)

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (20 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-x
  2. Comparative Analysis

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
  3. National Reports

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 69-69
    2. The Argentine Federal Legislative System

      • Alfredo M. Vítolo
      Pages 71-85
    3. The Australian Federation: A Story of the Centralization of Power

      • Cheryl Saunders, Michelle Foster
      Pages 87-102
    4. Federalism and Legal Unification in Austria

      • Anna M. Gamper, Bernhard A. Koch
      Pages 103-119
    5. Belgium: A Broken Marriage?

      • Alain-Laurent Verbeke, Alain-Laurent Verbeke, Alain-Laurent Verbeke
      Pages 121-151
    6. Federalism and Legal Unification in Brazil

      • Jacob Dolinger, Luís Roberto Barroso
      Pages 153-167
    7. The European Union: A Federation in All but Name

      • Jan Wouters, Hanne Cuyckens, Thomas Ramopoulos
      Pages 191-235
    8. Unification of Laws in the Federal System of Germany

      • Jürgen Adam, Christoph Möllers
      Pages 237-254
    9. Federalism and Legal Unification in Malaysia

      • Hean Leng Ang, Amanda Whiting
      Pages 295-337
    10. Federalism and Legal Unification in Mexico

      • Oscar Echenique Quintana, Nadja Dorothea Ruíz Euler, Ricardo Carrasco Varona
      Pages 339-353
    11. How Federal Is the Russian Federation?

      • Jeffrey Kahn, Alexei Trochev, Nikolay Balayan
      Pages 355-390
    12. Federalism and Legal Unification in South Africa

      • Karthy Govender
      Pages 391-416
    13. Federalism and Legal Unification in Switzerland

      • Eleanor Cashin Ritaine, Anne-Sophie Papeil
      Pages 439-460

About this book

How and to what degree do federations produce uniform law within their system?  This comparative empirical study addresses these questions comprehensively for the first time.  Originally produced under the auspices of the International Academy of Comparative Law, this volume examines legal unification in twenty federations around the world. 

Each of the successive chapters presents the forces of unification through the lens of a particular federal system.  A comparative overview chapter provides a detailed analysis of the overall results with compelling visual illustrations of legal unification along different dimensions (e.g. by area of law; by federation; by civil vs common law system).  The overview chapter summarizes and analyzes the means and methods of legal unification and the degree of legal unification of each system, and explains the driving forces of legal unity and diversity in federations more generally. 

The volume presents surprising findings that should make scholars rethink their abandonment of the civil law vs. common law distinction in comparative law. ​


This book is a milestone in the study of federalism. It is a rare and welcome melding of comparative law and comparative politics using both original data and qualitative analysis. Wide-ranging, probing, and definitive, this book is an invaluable resource for students of law, politics, and multi-level governance.

Gary Marks, Burton Craige Professor, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Chair in Multilevel Governance, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Editors and Affiliations

  • Eric Stein Collegiate Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, USA

    Daniel Halberstam

  • Hessel E. Yntema Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, USA

    Mathias Reimann

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access