Research on fiscal policymaking in federal states during the recent crisis shows that concerning government reactions there are differences in the degree of centralization between federal states. The contribution of this paper is to deepen our understanding of these differences. Employing QCA analysis, we explore the effects of EU-membership, federal constitutional history, party congruence and safeguards on federal dynamics in eleven federations. We argue that EU membership, holding-together federalism, high party congruence between the federal government and the member states as well as little safeguards should lead to more centralization. Our results show similarities and differences between two crises periods. EU membership has a positive effect on centralization, whereas holding-together federalism leads to more centralization when it comes to consolidation policies.
