Federal homogeneity from the bottom up: Provincial shaping of national HIV/AIDS policy in South Africa

Abstract

The focus of uniform policy making in federal systems is usually on enforcing homogeneity on units within a federation, based often on the implicit premise that the center is "right," enlightened, or modern and that one or more of the constituent units are "wrong." Sub national units are perceived as pandering to local interests that may be backward, out of step with the national normative framework, or not sympathetic to national interests. The question is then the extent of the units' right to be "wrong" or out of line. Questions of democracy, autonomy, and the overall normative framework of a federal system are thus pertinent.