Concurrent mutualism

The concept of concurrent mutualism is a Fratanican federalist principle, defined as the idea of asymmetric balance between every level of government and cooperation between all levels of governments to benefit all people governed under its system. The concept was first introduced in the Portier doctrine written by Charles-Édouard Portier. He argued that while subunit governments must possess exclusive powers over its territory in order to ensure a more accountable system to the people, the national government's position as a representation of the state merits them to possess a voice over affairs within its territory.

As a result, Portier proposes an intricate working partnership building on the standard notions of federalism, understanding the federation and its states to be equal status. Rather than other forms of federalism, he argues for the concurrence of other unlisted powers within the system, rather than leaving them up to either the federation or its states. Furthermore, he talks about a system of government which intertwines the state and its second-level administrative divisions, through working groups and federal-provincial negotiations.

This line of thinking became popular among the architects of the current constitution, however, many also deemed this concept to be too extremist or too conflicting. Ultimately, the Constitution of Fratanica encourages or acknowledges some of these notions, yet some of the concerns and proposals from Portier were intentionally left out. The most notable of these being left out is the assignment of concurrent powers for those that are not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution. The Constitution informally talks about federal-provincial relationships and emphasizes their importance, but no concrete framework or enforcement besides the establishment of liaisons is inscribed within the document.