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A unitary state is a sovereign state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create or abolish administrative divisions (sub-national units). Such units exercise only the powers that the central government chooses to delegate.
Unitary state. A unitary state is a state whose three organs of state are ruled constitutionally as one unit, with central legislature. It differs from a federal state, in which the authority is divided between the head (for example the central government of a country) and the political units governed by it (for example the municipalities or ...
Unitary state, a system of political organization in which most or all of the governing power resides in a centralized government. In a unitary state, the central government commonly delegates authority to subnational units and channels policy decisions down to them for implementation.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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The majority of states in the world have a unitary system of government. Of the 193 UN member states, 126 are governed as centralized unitary states, and an additional 40 are regionalized unitary states. Centralized unitary states. States in which most power is exercised by the central government. What local authorities do exist have few powers.
NameConstitutional FormHead Of StateBasis Of Executive LegitimacyProvisionalN/ANo constitutionally-defined basis to ...RepublicCeremonialMinistry is subject to parliamentary ...RepublicExecutivePresidency independent of legislature;Constitutional monarchyCeremonialMinistry is subject to parliamentary ...- Examples of Unitary States
- Unitary States vs. Federations
- Unitary States vs. Authoritarian States
- Pros and Cons
Of the 193 member countries of the United Nations, 165 are unitary states. The United Kingdom and France are two well-recognized examples.
The opposite of a unitary state is a federation. A federation is a constitutionally organized union or alliance of partially self-governing states or other regions under a central federal government. Unlike the largely powerless local governments in a unitary state, the states of a federation enjoy some degree of independence in their internal affa...
Unitary states should not be confused with authoritarian states. In an authoritarian state, all governing and political power is vested in a single individual leader or small, elite group of individuals. The leader or leaders of an authoritarian state are not chosen by the people, nor are they constitutionally responsible to the people. Authoritari...
The unitary state is the most common form of government in the world. This system of government has its benefits, but as with all schemes of dividing power between government and the people, it also has drawbacks.
A unitary state is a sovereign state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create or abolish administrative divisions (sub-national units). Such units exercise only the powers that the central government chooses to delegate.
A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government , which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or delegated to it by the federation and mutually agreed upon by each of the federated states .