Comparative constitutional federalism and transnational judicial discourse

Examines the advantages & disadvantages of a comparative constitutional study of some of the challenging legal problems associated with federalism. Federal systems are complex in that the interpretation of any one part is influenced by the characteristics of the whole. Federal systems are usually created from historically contingent compromises between different sources of power. Because of the variations in such compromises, their comparative interpretations of power allocation may not be applicable to other constitutions. A comparison may be helpful in questions of structural relations. However, the study of recent decisions concerning "commandeering" of subnational units & the right to secession, areas within the space of constitutional silences, provides opportunities for transnational learning & critique. L. A. Hoffman