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unitary state, a system of political organization in which most or all of the governing power resides in a centralized government, in contrast to a federal state. A brief treatment of the unitary state follows.
- Federalism
The United States and Canada provide examples of the forms...
- Federation
A contrast between federation and confederation—words...
- Federalism
- 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.
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In contrast to federalism, a unitary system makes subnational governments dependent on the national government, where significant authority is concentrated. Before the late 1990s, the United Kingdom’s unitary system was centralized to the extent that the national government held the most important levers of power.
In a unitary system of government, the central government holds most of the power. The unitary state still has local and regional governmental offices, but these are under the direct control or authority of the central government.
Modern democracies divide governmental power in two general ways; some, like the United States, use a combination of both structures. The first and more common mechanism shares power among three branches of government—the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. The second, federalism, apportions power between two levels of government ...
- OpenStax
- 2016
Government in the United States is shared between local, state, and federal governments. The distribution of power between state and national governments has changed over time in response to societal needs. Map of the United States, including state and county boundaries. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Federal and semifederal states. Classifying a particular state as federal or unitary is usually straightforward, though in some cases it can be more difficult. The United States and Switzerland are clearly federal states; all of the above-mentioned characteristics of the federal state are present in their constitutional systems.
