This article illustrates the challenges involved in preparing a systematic comparison of two federal countries. It examines questions as to what explains similarities and differences in federal systems. It rejects any single-variable approach to explaining federalism but gives primacy to ideas...

After considerable debate about whether a democratic South Africa should be constituted on federal lines, the 1996 Constitution adopted three “distinctive, interdependent and interrelated” spheres of government. “Co-operative government” followed the German model, emphasizing...