Ronald L. Watts is principal emeritus and professor emeritus, political studies, and fellow and former director of the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations at Queen's University, and fellow of the international Forum of Federations. From 1991 to 1998

• 1. INTRODUCTION; 2. OVERVIEW OF CONTEMPORARY FEDERATIONS; 3. THE FORMATION OF FEDERATIONS; 4. THE CONSTITUENT UNITS; 5. THE DISTRIBUTION OF AUTHORITY IN FEDERATIONS; 6. THE DISTRIBUTION OF FINANCES; 7. INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS; 8. SYMMETRY AND ASYMMETRY IN FEDERATIONS; 9. MULTILEVEL FEDERAL SYSTEMS; 10. THE REPRESENTATIVE INSTITUTIONS OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS; 11. CONSTITUTIONAL SUPREMACY IN FEDERATIONS; 12. DEGREES OF DECENTRALIZATION AND NON-CENTRALIZATION IN FEDERATIONS; 13. THE PATHOLOGY OF FEDERATIONS; 14. CONCLUSIONS

"He has produced a masterful synthesis, a kind of basic comparative handbook which reflects dedicated study of, long experience with, and penetrating insights into the formal and procedural manifestation of federalism n the world today." Daniel J. Elazar, Publius: The Journal of Federalism. "This is a work I recommend without reservation to al those who are interested in Canadian comparative federalism and who especially wish to relate to the Canadian experience to those of other federations." Réjean Pelletier, Politique et societés du Québec.