This project compares the patterns and consequences of reforms in Australia, Canada, Germany and Switzerland since the 1990s. The project starts from the hypothesis that institutional reforms in federal systems seek to realign self-rule and shared-rule mechanisms rather than to centralize or decentralize a federation, as is often suggested in mainstream comparative federalism scholarship.

Building on this hypothesis, the project examines how and why self-rule and shared-rule have guided reforms in the four case studies over time, how these reforms were conducted (constitutional or non-constitutional change) and the degree to which they changed the status quo.