Understanding Federalism
Summer School on Federalism, Conflict Resolution and Good Governance

Canterbury Christ Church University

As discussions on the possible ‘federalisation’ of the Philippines continues in the country, two representatives from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in the Philippines joined twenty fellow participants from other countries in the Politics Summer School, "Federalism, Conflict Resolution and Good Governance." Held from 10–24 August 2019 in Canterbury Christ Church University's (CCCU) in Canterbury, Kent, the two-week program was jointly organised by CCCU’s Politics and International Relations programme and the Centre for European Studies (CEFEUS). 

Lecturers included leading international academics, who have years of experience in their subject and have often been involved in policy advice as well.  Participants were introduced to different theories of federalism, its use in different countries around the world, the ways in which federalism and other forms of territorial autonomy can help mitigate conflict, and how federalism can contribute to good governance and democratization.

“The Summer School is great opportunity for learning key concepts and perspectives on Federalism and Conflict Resolution from an outstanding array of experts on these topics from some of Europe's leading universities.  This experience is even enhanced by the presence and subsequent interaction with both British and other international students who have generously shared nuanced insights on these issues as well.” remakred one of the Filipino participants who serves as Chief of the CHR’s Research and Knowledge Management Division.  “If there is one lesson that must be remembered from this summer school, it is that federalism should not be seen as a panacea for addressing the maladies that beset and continues to hamper our political and economic development. It can help usher in peace especially if it can be arranged that groups share power, respect autonomy, and are willing to live and work together.”

Canterbury Christ Church University

“[…] the program was designed to enable the participants to learn technical concepts and theories on federalism, conflict resolution and good governance and ensured that the participants would demonstrate such knowledge through observable behaviors during the practical exercises.  Applying a comparative approach, examples from different countries were also discussed during the lectures for the participants to further analyze the application of the concepts,” commented the other Filipino participant who serves as Chief of the CHR’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) Center.  “I plan to conduct research on aspects of governance under the current scheme of government in the Philippines that could be identified as manifesting federal values and behaviors,” he said.  Another one of the plans he mentioned was, “to identify what competences are yet to be institutionalized, some of which are stated in the Draft Bayanihan Constitution as of 9 July 2018.”

Amongst their fellow participants were young researchers and academics, post-graduate students, civil servants from a local, regional or national government as well as employees of international organisations or NGOs who have a keen interest in the topic and whose participation was expected to further strengthen their academic and/or professional career.

The programme comprised lectures, group activities, and practical exercises that culminated with a simulation where participants assumed roles as officials both at the federal and state levels of government of a fictitious federation and deliberated on trade deal negotiations between federal states.

Canterbury Christ Church University

In addition to the interesting and challenging academic programme, participants were offered a social programme, which included a pub quiz on federalism and a guided tour of the City of Canterbury.  The programme also included a visit to London and the Houses of Parliament.  Participants were billeted in university campus for the duration of the program.

The participation of the two representatives from the Philippines was made possible through the support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in partnership with the Pimentel Institute for Leadership and Governance (PILG) as part of the PILG-HSF partnership on the project “Increasing Awareness of the General Public on Federalism as a System of Government.”