Fiscal decentralization and equalization in plurinational federations: reconciling equality and autonomy?

François Boucher, KU Leuven, Center for ethics, social and political philosophy

In plurinational states with a federal structure, difficult questions of distributive justice that are rather understudied in political philosophy arise: which level of government should be responsible taxation and public spending? To which extent should there be redistribution between federated states, if such interregional redistribution is legitimate at all? It seems that sub-state nationalism and federalism, on one hand, and issues of distributive justice, on the other, are examined in separated political and philosophical discussions. Sub-state nationalism is often studied with regard to cultural and identity claims without reference to claims for fiscal autonomy and interregional redistribution. Multinational federalism, as a tool for the accommodation for sub-state nationalism, also often ignores issues related to territorial redistribution and the allocation of fiscal powers. In addition, theories of social or distributive justice often presuppose that redistribution occurs within a unitary state. When they question this assumption, it is to highlight cosmopolitan duties of distributive above and beyond the state. Finally, fiscal federalism as a topic in economics and public finances is disconnected from issues of sub-state nationalism and mostly concerned with efficiency. This paper tries to map the questions of distributive justice that arise in the context of plurinational federations. It claims that in those contexts, there is a tension between regional autonomy and equality. It tries to develop an egalitarian conception of fiscal federalism sensitive to the respect for autonomy and diversity that characterizes theories of plurinational federalism.