"Strong movements are afoot in Canada to decentralize the design and delivery of many programs, and to clarify federal and provincial responsibilities. This volume presents contributions from practitioners and observers of this trend. It includes sweeping papers on the comparative evolution of federations, and on the question of whether decentralization is inherently conservative. There are also chapters on decentralization in health care, possible reallocations of programs and tax revenues, the extent of overlap and duplication in service delivery, and fiscal decentralization. Each paper is followed by a commentary."--BOOK JACKET.