Abstract

The conversations about fiscal federalism, decentralization and devolution have been evolving in the literature since the second half of the 20th century. In the United States and all around the world, the matter of governance and decentralization are on the agenda. This paper aims to find the routes of fiscal federalism by first understanding what is meant by federalism, as it does not simply refer to a form of governance, then laying out the classical foundations of this theory (trumped by Wallace Oates), and followed by some departures from the classical thoughts into some new streams of literature on the matter.

Key words: Public finance, fiscal federalism.