Every sovereign state has to decide how power is spread between the national government and the regions. There are two main designs. You may know the U.S. version from Federalism Basics in the Civics course.
Key idea
In a unitary state, power is concentrated in the central government; regions carry out its decisions and have only the powers it gives them (France, Japan). In a federal state, the constitution divides power between the national government and states or provinces, and each level has authority of its own (the United States, India, Germany).
| Unitary | Federal | |
|---|---|---|
| Where power sits | Mostly in the national government | Divided by the constitution between national and regional governments |
| Can the center change the regions' powers by itself? | Usually yes | Usually no; it takes a constitutional change |
| Often found in | Smaller or more culturally uniform states | Large states, or states with distinct regional peoples |
| Examples | France, Japan, China, Ghana | The United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, India, Australia, Nigeria |
Why it works
Why choose federalism? It lets a large country, or one with very different regions, keep national unity while letting regions run schools, police and roads in their own way. Canada's provinces let French-speaking Québec keep its own civil law, for example. Why choose a unitary system? It can make laws the same everywhere and decisions faster. Both designs work; each has trade-offs.
Many unitary states have handed some power to regions, a process called devolution. The United Kingdom stays a unitary state, but since the late 1990s Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have had their own elected bodies. Forces That Unite and Divide explores why.
Worked example: Which design?
In Country X, the national parliament can abolish a province's council by passing an ordinary law. Is X unitary or federal?
- Ask whether regional power is protected by the constitution.
- Here the center can take it away by ordinary law.
- So regional power is on loan from the center.
Answer: Unitary.
Worked example: A federal check
In the United States, can Congress abolish the state of Ohio's legislature by passing a law?
- The U.S. Constitution guarantees the states and reserves powers to them.
- Changing that would take a constitutional amendment, not an ordinary law.
Answer: No. That is the mark of a federal state.
Common mistake
Thinking a federal state has a weak center. Federal systems divide powers by law; both levels have real authority. The U.S. national government runs the military, money and foreign policy, while states run much of education and policing.