I have tried to develop a simple point, namely that without trust, governing is more difficult, because it requires greater use of force. I have suggested that in a heterogeneous federal state the conditions for trust accumulation are more difficult to devise with regard to the national...

In unitary states--states in which constitutional powers are owned by the central government--vertical competition can generate stable outcomes, that is outcomes that do not unravel through arbitrary repossessions by the center. Stability is a product of institutional commitment devices. Through...