The Conference is financially and organizationally supported by:

• Federal Department of Foreign Affaires of the Swiss Confederation
• Embassy of Switzerland in the Russian Federation
• Institute of Federalism in Fribourg (Switzerland)
• Institute for History of the Academy of Sciences in Tatarstan (Russia)
• International Public Foundation "For Survival and Development
• of Humanity" (Russia)

The organizers extend their appreciation to the John and Catherine McArthur Foundation (USA) for its complementary financial support.

Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan, Doctor of Political Science, Farid Mukhametshin and Ambassador of Switzerland in the RF Walter Fetscherin made a welcoming speech greeting the participants of the conference. 

Scholars and experts from Tatarstan, Switzerland, Moscow, Nijniy Novgorod, deputes of the Republic of Tatarstan, representatives of several international organizations with a great interest discussed the real aspects of federalism dealing with problems of delimitation of authorities between federal, regional and municipal authority, with problems of legal and tax systems.

The materials of this conference were published in Russian and English. 

• List of participants of the Conference
  
• 22th of June
  • Session 1
    Subsidiarity as a Principle of Federalism
    • Switzerland: Subsidiarity, Ethnic and Cultural diversity
      Авторы:Thomas Fleiner, Switzerland
      Modern Switzerland has been constituted out of 25 sovereign (6 half cantons) cantons with the first Federal Constitution of 1848. With regard to its cultural diversity Switzerland is composed of 17 Cantons, which are German speaking, four Cantons, which are French speaking, and one Canton, which is Italian speaking. Three Cantons are bilingual (German – French) and one Canton has three languages (German, Romansh and Italian).
    • On Interrelation between Democratization and Good Governance
      Авторы:Alexander Gorelik
      "Good governance comprises the supremacy of the law, effectiveness of the state institutions, transparency and accountability within official structures, respect for human rights and practical participation of people in all the political processes happening in their county as well as decision making processes which can affect their lives".
    • Problems of subsidiarity of Russian federalism on the example of the Republic of Tatarstan
      Авторы:Shakir Yagudin
      Modern Russian federalism is a new, developing phenomenon, and thus it is open for perfection and operational development in view of accrued domestic and foreign experience. This thesis, which reflects one of the important aspects of subsidiarity, in our view is natural, obvious and indisputable.
  • Session 2
    Judicial System
    • A Perspective from Switzerland: Judical System for a Federal State
      Авторы:Rainer J. Schweizer
      The 26 Swiss cantons, that all are liberated even though their different greatness, enjoy a constitutionally protected sphere of material autonomy and they participate in federal decisions, since the Constitution guarantees their right to participate together with the people of the country in decisions concerning their spheres of competence.
    • Topical Problems to Modernise the Federal Structure of Russia (legal aspects)
      Авторы:Milena Gligich-Zolotareva
      The legislative initiatives of the Russian President, aimed at strengthening the state, evoked a disputable reaction and justified criticism, because of the absence of a single concept concerning the perfection of the state structure. Simultaneously several reforms, that touch the main spheres of state and public life, are carried out (federal, administrative, judicial, legal, land, labor, pension, communal, tax, reform of political parties, electoral system, reform of rail transport, gas branch, power engineering are among them, and it is not the entire list), but still they turn out to be rather superficial and contradictory.
    • Federalism and International Interregional Cooperation
      Авторы:Elbrus Kargiev
      The Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993 has provided conditions for developing regional foreign contacts. For the first time in the Russian history real federalism was included into the sphere of the state international activities.
    • Judicial System in Russia: a Perspective from Tatarstan
      Авторы:Midkhat Kurmanov
      
• 23th of June
  • Session 3
    Fiscal System
    • Fiscal Federalism in Switzerland
      Авторы:Thomas Stauffer, Switzerland
      The fiscal constitution of the Swiss Confederation comprises on the one hand the basic rules pertaining to the federal budget, and on the other hand the rules governing the intergovernmental fiscal relations between the federal government and the cantons.
    • Problems and Prospects in the Development of the Federative Situation in Russia
      Авторы:Sergey Valentey
      Two problems are essential to foreign federations: perfection of the legislation and perfection of the inter-budgetary relations (transfer of a part of the incomes of one region to the others, increase or reduction of the taxable base etc.).
    • The Inter-budgetary Relations in the Russian Concept of Federalism
      Авторы:Gouzel Singatullina
      The usual pattern of interrelation of the budgets of the subjects of the Russian Federation with the federal center covers: 1) the distribution of taxes at the levels of the budgets; 2) budgetary flattening; 3) loan-administrative relations; 4) address-target relations.
  • Session 4
    Local Autonomy
    • The Swiss Municipal System: Heterogeneity, Complexity, Topicality
      Авторы:Nicolas Schmitt, Switzerland
      Swiss municipal system fully corresponds to the love of Switzerland for diversity and democracy. It is why its description allows for a certain enlightenment of the Swiss system as a whole. In particular, it reminds of the "fight" in Switzerland between identity and efficiency, and the popular will of preserving identity.
    • Main Characteristics of the Federal Legislation on Local Self-Government and its Realization in the Nizhni Novgorod Region
      Авторы:Vjacheslav Kronskiy
      Characterizing the quoted provisions in brief, we want to stress the existence of objective circumstances demanding the exercise of self-government, in particular when solving the questions directly concerning human rights, economic expediency, and cutting of bureaucratic aspirations of the state power bodies.
    • Problems and Prospects of the Development of Local Government in the RT in View of the European Charter of Local Government
      Авторы:Vasiliy Loginov
      Local self-government in Tatarstan is inseparably connected with the current Tatarstan Constitution. Its whole part (V) is dedicated to local self-government as one of the main signs of the civil society.