oses, and also federalism will help prevent an all powerful central government, such as the government in Hitlers Germany. Another advantage to federalism is its great flexibility with regards to asymmetrical federalism. Asymmetrical federalism allows certain regions to take on more responsibility if they want it. It is characterized as the uneven distribution of powers between the regional governments which allows some regional governments greater autonomy should they chose to do so (Federalism, 1999). This allows flexibility in accommodating regions with different needs. Asymmetrical governments can be contrasted by symmetrical federal governments which believe in an equal division of powers. Symmetrical governments can be further divided into two categories. They are interstate and intrastate governments. In interstate governments regional interests are left to be ruled upon by regional governments, while in the intrastate system regional interests are articulated by regional representatives at the federal level.While federalism is generally a good system there are many problems associated with centralizing government. One major concern is with the distribution of powers between the federal and provincial levels of the government. Disputes are certain to arise from this area because there will always be overlapping of jurisdictions to some degree. The overlapping of jurisdictions result in concurrent powers which are held by both levels of government. An example of a concurrent power in Canada are the powers relating to the issue of taxation or to the issue of transportation. Consequently there must be a forum for constitutional interpretation to help resolve these disputes as they arise. The forum for constitutional amendment in Canada is the Supreme Court of Canada. Another concern is with the amount of power the state wields in comparison to the amount of power the federal government has. This has resulted in a progr...
