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Date: 2024-07-27 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00021343

Government
Systems of Government

The different characteristics of Federal and Unitary systems of government

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Original article:
Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess
These are two important questions:
  1. What is a Federal system of government?

    Federalism is a system of government in which the same territory is controlled by two levels of government. ... Both the national government and the smaller political subdivisions have the power to make laws and both have a certain level of autonomy from each other.
  2. What is a Unitary system of government?

    A unitary government is often described as a centralized government. All powers held by the government belong to a single, central agency. The central (national) government creates local units of government for its convenience.
As in so many other big questions, it is not easy to conclude that one is better than the other all the time. Sometimes a more Federalist government is going to be better, and sometime it is going to be that a Unitary government will be better. There are many aspects of the socio-enviro-economic system where a 'unitary' approach is going to be the best. One area is to do with Climate Change where political boundaries have no meaning. The global climate is not going to pay any attention to the 'rule of law' as defined by legal jurisdictions but will follow a universal natural law which is going to apply everywhere.
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