See the Competition's main page for the details of each edition.

Created in 2016, the Baxter Family Competition on Federalism has been made possible through the generous support of Rachel Baxter, BSc鈥�84, BCL鈥�88 and Colin Baxter, BCL鈥�90, LLB鈥�90, who both practice law in Ottawa.

The overarching goal of the Baxter Family Competition on Federalism is to advance research and foster informed debate on federalism, in Canada and abroad. The competition is open to鈥痓oth to law鈥痑nd political science鈥痵tudents and young practitioners from around the world.

The first three editions鈥痳eceived over 100 entries, from 22 countries (in addition to Canada, we鈥痟ad participants from Germany, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Spain, the United States, Ethiopia, France, Hungary, India, Ireland, Indonesia, Kenya, Morocco, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Zimbabwe!)听

2023 edition 鈥撎�Federalism: What Makes it Work (or not!)

The Faculty of Law and the Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism are proud to announce the return of the prestigious Baxter Family Competition on Federalism for a fourth edition in 2023. This edition鈥檚 overall theme is Federalism: What makes it work (or not!). The Competition is open both to law and political science students/PhD candidates, as well as junior scholars and practitioners from around the world.

Winners of the Baxter Family Competition on Federalism 2023:听Federalism: What Makes it Work (or not!)听

平特五不中鈥檚 Faculty of Law and the Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism are delighted to announce the winners of the 2022-2023 Baxter Family Competition on Federalism. Organized by Professor Johanne Poirier, this essay competition was open to students and recent graduates in law and political science.听听听听

We received numerous submissions of an exceptional quality from scholars and junior practitioners from 13 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Haiti, India, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Amongst those, the international jury attributed the following prizes:听

• First Prize:听Shahal Khoso听(Pakistani PhD candidate in Political Science, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain) 鈥� 5,000$ . 鈥淧ostcolonial Federalism: Tracing Colonial State-Formation in the Global South鈥澨鼺or its original and ground-breaking argument challenging Western-centric approaches to federalism, through a skillful comparative and historical angle.
• Second Prize:听Arnaud Hoste听补苍诲听Ashley Saad听(LLM candidates, 平特五不中, Montreal, Canada) 鈥� 3,000$. 鈥淐anadian Federalism and Environmental Protection: What Makes it Work (or Not!)鈥澨� For its important insights into a complex and relevant area of Canadian federalism, supported by a rich diversity of sources.听
• Third Prize:听Nadine Dahou听补苍诲听Anne-Fr茅d茅rique Naud听(MA candidates in Applied Political Studies, Universit茅 de Sherbrooke, Canada). 鈥淭he Evolution of Intergovernmental Relations in Immigration: Cooperative Federalism in Canada and Australia鈥�. For its skillful comparative approach to a crucial issue of facing federal states, supported by a profound analysis of secondary sources.听听
• Special Mention from the Jury:听Andreas Samartzis听(Greek PhD candidate in Law, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom). 鈥淛udicial Supremacy in the European Federal Union鈥�. For its novel perspective and instructive overview of theoretical approaches to the legitimacy of judicial power in this complex polity.听
• Special Mention from the Jury:听Olivier Jacques听(Assistant Professor in Public Health, Universit茅 de Montr茅al, Canada). 鈥淩茅gler le d茅s茅quilibre fiscal ? Les contraintes politiques et institutionnelles 脿 deux solutions id茅ales鈥�. For its strong theoretical and practical contribution to the global debate on a crucial issue of redistribution and balance in the Canadian federal system.听听

We are deeply grateful to the distinguished members of our international jury, who thoroughly considered the submissions for the 2023 Competition:听听

• The Honourable鈥�Marie Deschamps, former Justice at the Supreme Court of Canada鈥�听
• The Honourable鈥�Cl茅ment Gascon, former Justice at the Supreme Court of Canada鈥�听
• 笔谤辞蹿.鈥�Maria Jesus Garcia Morales, Professor of Constitutional Law at the Autonomous University of Barcelona听
• 笔谤辞蹿.鈥�Rekha Saxena, Professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Delhi听
• 笔谤辞蹿.鈥�Sabine Kropp, Professor of German Politics at the Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science at the Free University of Berlin鈥�听
• 笔谤辞蹿.鈥�Yonatan T. Fessha, Professor of Law and Research Chair in constitutional design in divided societies at the University of the Western Cape听
• 笔谤辞蹿.鈥�Guy Laforest, Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Laval University; Member of the Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire sur la diversit茅 et la d茅mocratie (CRIDAQ); and independent scholar.鈥�听
• Josiah Wamwere-Njoroge, winner of the 2021 edition of the Baxter Family Competition on Federalism, post-graduate student at the Kenya School of Law.鈥�听

Winners will present their paper at the Baxter Family Symposium on Federalism, which will be held at 平特五不中鈥檚 Faculty Club on Friday, May 5th, 2023, from 12:00 to 2:30 PM. More information will soon be shared on the Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism鈥檚听website听补苍诲听听.听听

To attend the Symposium, please RSVP at听baxter-competition.law [at] mcgill.ca. A light lunch will be served.听听

Baxter Family Symposium on Federalism on 15 May^听2021 - Federalism, Identity and Public Policy in Challenging Times

The MacKell Chair welcomed the three winners and the recipient of the honourable mention of the 2021 edition of the Baxter Family Competition on Federalism to present their papers. See the听 Symposium poster.

The Symposium was held online on Saturday, 15 May 2022.

With the participation of:

1. First prize:听Josiah Wamwere-Njoroge听(LLB candidate, Riara University, Nairobi, Kenya): 鈥�The Utility of a Decentralized Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic (abstract)鈥�. For its well-developed, thoughtful and theoretically grounded argument, and its comparative focus, allowing an analysis relevant to the fundamentals of federalism.
2. Second prize:听Kelty McKerracher听(JD/JID candidate, University of Victoria, Canada): 鈥�Relational Legal Pluralism and Indigenous Legal Orders in Canada". For its topical, novel and mature argument, tackling both the theoretical roots and practical possibilities of legal pluralism as a path toward reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
3. Third prize:听Beno卯t Delerue听(PhD candidate in political science, Universit茅 Jean Moulin Lyon 3, Lyon, France): 鈥�Le r茅gime f茅d茅ratif face au triptyque structure-conjoncture-fracture: 茅volution structurelle des f茅d茅rations canadienne et 茅tats-unienne sous l鈥檈ffet des crises conjoncturelles et des fractures politiques鈥�. For its originality, the depth of its research in primary historical sources, and its comparative approach, providing a rich reflection on the evolution of federations.

• Honourable mention:听Philipp Renninger听(PhD candidate in law, University of Lucerne and University of Freiburg, Switzerland and Germany): 鈥�鈥楩ederalism, Chinese Style鈥�? or: How to Contain COVID-19 Through a Central-Local Chess Game鈥�. For its novel study of China through the lens of federalism and the metaphor of the chess game, thus engaging with the complexity of the federal phenomenon.

We thank the many participants who submitted papers and our most distinguished jury for the difficult task of selecting winning papers from the many excellent contributions.

Find out more.

View the 2021 Baxter Family Symposium on Federalism听here: 听

2021 edition: Federalism, Identity and Public Policy in Challenging Times

The Faculty of Law and the Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism were proud to announce the return of the prestigious Baxter Family Competition on Federalism for a third edition in 2021.听This edition鈥檚 overall theme was Federalism, Identity and Public Policy in Challenging Times.听For the first time, the Competition was open both to law and political science students/PhD candidates, as well as junior scholars and practitioners from around the world.

The three winners had the unique opportunity to present their papers during the 2021 Baxter Symposium, held online in May 2021. The winning texts听were selected by a stellar international jury:

• The Right Hon. Beverley McLachlin, former Chief Justice at the Supreme Court of Canada.
• The Honourable Cl茅ment Gascon, former Justice at the Supreme Court of Canada.
• Prof. Francesco Palermo, President of the International Association of Centres for the Study of Federalism; Head of the Institute for Comparative Federalism at EURAC Research; and Professor of Comparative Public Law at University of Verona鈥檚 Faculty of Law (Italy).
• Prof. Nicola McEwen, Professor of Territorial Politics at University of Edinburgh鈥檚 School of Social and Political Science; and Co-Director of the Centre on Constitutional Change (United Kingdom).
• Prof. Yasmeen Abu-Laban, Professor of Political Science at the University of Alberta; Canada Research Chair in the Politics of Citizenship and Human Rights; and Vice-President of International Political Science Association (Canada).
• Prof. Nico Steytler, Professor at the University of the Western Cape鈥檚 Faculty of Law; and South African Research Chairs Initiative Chair in Multilevel Government, Law and Policy (South Africa).
• Prof. Jaclyn L. Neo, Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore鈥檚 Faculty of Law; Director of Centre for Asian Legal Studies; and Co-Chair of International Society for Public Law (ICON-S)鈥檚 Singapore Chapter (Singapore).
• Jan Raeimon Nato, BCL/LLB (2019), assistant legal counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, and winner of the 2019 Baxter Competition (Canada).

2019 Edition

On April 2, 2019, the 平特五不中 Faculty of Law and the Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism were delighted to announce the winners of the 2018-2019 Baxter Family Competition. The winners, Jan Raeimon Nato,听Berihun Gebeye, Catherine Mathieu and Rafael Viotti Schlobach, presented their works at the Baxter Symposium on May 11, 2019. See pictures of the Symposium.

We received numerous high-quality submissions from a total of 13 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Ethiopia, Germany,鈥疕ungary, India, 鈥疘taly,鈥疭cotland, Spain, the United States, and Zimbabwe. From these, the international jury selected the following:

1. First Prize: Jan Raeimon Nato (BCL/LLB candidate, 平特五不中, Montreal) - $5,000
   鈥� 鈥�
2. Second Prize: Berihun Gebeye (SJD Candidate, Central European University, Budapest) - $3,000
   鈥� 鈥�
3. Third Prize (ex-aequo) 鈥� $1000, to be shared:
   • Rafael Viotti Schlobach (BCL, University of S茫o Paulo, S茫o Paulo)
     鈥� Homogeneity Clauses in Federal Countries: A Comparative Analysis鈥�
   • Catherine Mathieu (DCL candidate, 平特五不中, Montreal)
     鈥� "
4. Special jury mention: Breanne Lavallee-Heckert (BCL/LLB candidate, 平特五不中, Montreal)
   鈥� 鈥�

Find out more.

2017 edition

Here are the winners of the inaugural Baxter Family Competition, picked from nearly 40 entries:

1. First Prize:听Asha Kaushal听(Assistant Professor, University of British-Columbia)
   听Constitutional Jurisdictions听- $5,000
2. Second Prize:听Erika Arban听(Lecturer, University of Antwerp)
   听Exploring the Principle of (Federal) Solidarity听- $3,000
3. Third Prize:听Eleonore Gauthier听(Articling Student, Toronto)
   听Spending Power, Social Policy, and the Principle of Subsidiarity听- $1,000