امیر ارفع رحیمیان

Understanding countries’ governance systems and their role and influence on their national power and sovereignty are among issues that have always been of interest to international relations researchers, particularly those researching regional studies. One of the governance systems of countries is federalism, which has been implemented in different regions of the world regardless of its roots. But depending on the demographic context, location, and historical background, the experience of federalism has been different in every part of the world. In some regions, federalism has caused divergence, disunity, and conflict, and sometimes it has provided the basis for independence and separatism in some countries. On the other hand, in some other countries, federalism seems to be the only option to preserve and continue their sovereignty and territorial integrity. Therefore, the use of federalism in different countries depends on the causes and contexts that have been different in different regions, and it may be considered an undesirable method for one country, while it may be the best method for governance and managing the political system for another country. Ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and historical disharmony are among the prominent reasons for choosing federalism as a form of government. On the other hand, these components are also part of the components of nation-state building. Therefore, examining the nation-state in a country, namely Canada, which has chosen the federal government for ethnic, cultural, linguistic, historical, and even religious reasons, is a way to show the reasons for separatism. These differences, which are part of the essence of today’s Canada, have caused independence movements in the province of Quebec. The results of this research showed that although the French mentality of Quebec province and as a result the desire for independence has not changed, the processes and the federal-provincial cooperation between Quebec and the central government have controlled the desire for independence in this province.