Includes bibliographical references and index.

Advanced industrial democracies -- Switzerland: territorial cleavage management as paragon and paradox -- Belgium: hollowing the center -- Canada: federalism, language, and regional conflict -- Spain: unfulfilled federalism (1978-1996) -- The United Kingdom: political institutions and territorial cleavages -- Italy: political institutions and the mobilization of territorial differences -- France: challenging the unitary state -- Electoral rules and party systems in federations -- Federalism and the quality of democracy in plurinational contexts: present shortcomings and possible improvements -- Developing democracies and post-communist regimes -- India: federalism and the accommodation of ethnic nationalism -- Russia: managing territorial cleavages under dual transitions -- Turkey: roots of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict and prospects for constructive reform -- Mexico: the political foundations of ethnic mobilization and ethnic autonomy (1974-2000) -- Nigeria: dilemmas of federalism in the post-military era -- Federalism and democracy: beyond the U.S. model.