Abstract
This encyclopedia entry seeks to explore constitutional phenomena that have emerged in recent decades concerning the relationship between federalism and the courts and does so from a global comparative perspective by presenting evidence from federal countries worldwide. A first key phenomenon is the impact of federalism on the design of the courts. Most relevant questions of such design include the organization of the judiciary as a dual or integrated system, judicial appointments, and the composition of the courts. The entry then goes on to analyze the impact of the courts on federalism. It argues that the general rule of the judiciary playing a crucial role in federal systems has only few exceptions and explains both why courts have a strong impact in most countries and how they achieve that. In the latter regard, the entry argues that the traditional reductionist view focused on cases concerning the distribution of powers provides a distorted picture. Therefore, a broader understanding of federalism jurisprudence is needed in order to fully grasp how the judiciary affects the relations between the national and subnational levels of government.