Executive federalism is "the processes of intergovernmental negotiation that are dominated by the executives of the different governments within the

federal system Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments ( provincial, state, cantonal, territorial, or other sub-unit governments) in a single p ...

." Alternatively, Donald Smiley defined Executive federalism as “the relation between elected and appointed officials of the two orders of government.”

Canada

In Canada, the most publicized aspect of Executive federalism is the

First Ministers Conference In Canada, a First Ministers' conference is a meeting of the provincial and territorial premiers and the Prime Minister. These events are held at the call of the prime minister. They are usually held in Ottawa. Though known as "First Minister ...

; however, in the first decade of the 21st century, the

Council of the Federation The Council of the Federation (french: Conseil de la fédération) is a congress that meets twice annually and comprises the premiers of each of Canada's 13 provinces and territories, the main function of which is to provide a united front among ...

became the important bi-annual meeting between the Premiers of Canada. Notable efforts at the

include the attempt by former Premier of Ontario,

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...

, to promote the idea that the provinces should take primary responsibility to set the national standards in social policy and

Premier of Alberta The premier of Alberta is the first minister for the Canadian province of Alberta, and the province's head of government. The current premier is Danielle Smith, leader of the United Conservative Party, who was sworn in on October 11, 2022. The ...

Ralph Klein Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 20 ...

, calling on other premiers to join him in opposing Ottawa's signing of the Kyoto protocol.

Australia

During the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 Januar ...

, the National Cabinet, consisting of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

and the

premiers and chief ministers of the Australian states and territories The premiers and chief ministers of the Australian states and territories are the head of government, heads of the executive governments in the six states and two self-governing territories of Australia. They perform the same function at the s ...

, in order to help guide the country through the crisis. It has been described as akin to Australia's war cabinet during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. As a special intergovernmental decision-making forum, its power is that which the leaders of all Australian jurisdictions bring to negotiate on behalf of their people, and to implement the decisions reached, a model which

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

expert Jennifer Menzies calls executive federalism. In this model, the citizens of each state or territory are represented by their elected heads, and the smaller states have equal representation

References

Federalism {{polisci-stub