Abstract
The paper endeavors to revise and reframe the traditional categories established in the studies on fiscal federalism. It does so by embracing a comparative constitutional law viewpoint and a comprehensive approach to (fiscal) federalism.
Against the wake of an escalating recentralization, a renewed understanding of fiscal decentralization is adopted. This perspective integrates the institutional framework and the dynamics of intergovernmental relations within federal systems. It appreciates both the self-rule and shared-rule dimensions, with the latter serving as an architectural strategy to offset the centralizing drift, in search of a renewed federal equilibrium.