Thirty years of Regional and Federal Studies

Abstract

Regional and Federal Studies' 30th anniversary offers an opportunity to take stock of the state of the discipline and of the journal. We make four claims. First, the multi-level nature of the political world has intensified in the last 30 years. Second, the approaches to studying this changing world have evolved through a quantitative and comparative turn. Regional and Federal Studies has embraced these developments whilst remaining faithful to its tradition of rich conceptual and case-study work. Third, the journal has contributed to the 'territorialization' of mainstream political science as many fields of study have gradually recognized the limitations of national-or single-level analyses. Finally, the journal itself has diversified in terms of approaches, methods, geographical coverage, and gender balance of author profiles, although we recognize there is more to do. We view further comparative research on the Global South as a particularly important research avenue.

The territorial architecture of government

“…Central governments have played a pivotal role in orchestrating, mediating, and sometimes resisting the territorial transformation of governance. They are both actors and witnesses; sometimes taking a leading role in reform and at other times a reactive one (Harbers et al, 2021, pp. 1–5; Jensen et al, 2014, pp.…”