Unitary, Confederate, and Federal Systems of Government

Unitary Systems of Government

• In a unitary system, the national or central government is significantly more powerful than the state or sub-national governments.

• The central authority maintains supreme power over all other political subdivisions.

• A primary example of a unitary system in contemporary governance is the United Kingdom.

Confederations and the European Union Model

• A confederation consists of individual, smaller states joined together to form a common body.

• In this system, the individual member states retain the vast majority of power, while the central government remains weak.

• The individual member states have more authority than the central authority, which often serves primarily as a coordination body.

• The European Union (EU) serves as a modern example of a confederate structure:

  • It is composed of $27$ member states.

  • These countries send delegates to form a governing body.

  • The central governing body makes suggestions and recommendations to the member states.

  • Member states are not obligated to follow these recommendations and possess the power to ignore the EU's suggestions.

Historical Context: The Articles of Confederation

• The Articles of Confederation represented the first attempt at a national government in the United States.

• Under this system, state governments were more powerful than the weak central government they created.

• The central government could pass laws and make recommendations, but the member states held the ultimate authority and could effectively dictate terms to the central authority.

Federal Systems and Power Division

• A federal system is characterized by the division of power between a national (central) government and state (member) governments.

• The framers of the United States government created a federal system to balance authority between these levels.

• Power in a federal system is categorized into three areas:

  • National Matters: Issues that are exclusively handled by the national government where states are prohibited from intervening. An example is immigration policy.

  • Reserved Powers: Matters that are specifically reserved for the individual states.

  • Concurrent Powers: Functions and responsibilites that both the national and state governments are able to perform.

• The necessity for centralized control on specific issues is illustrated by hypothetical immigration discrepancies. If every state established its own immigration policy, some states like California might be very open, while others like Texas might be highly restrictive, leading to national instability.

Regional and International Examples of Governance

• Nigeria: Utilizes a federal system where power is divided between the central authority and its member states.

• Russia: Described as a "quasi-federal" system, meaning it is somewhat federal but does not fully adhere to the strict definition of power division between national and state levels.

• Mexico: Also categorized as a "quasi-federal" system, similar to Russia in its partial or inconsistent application of federal principles.

• United States: A primary example of a federal government where power is structured according to the constitutional division between the national government and state entities.

Rule by Law

• In a rule by law system, top government officials like $Xi Jinping$ are above the law and exempt from imprisonment for corruption.

• While individual citizens, such as the garment owner or the Chinese developer mentioned in today's $Wall Street Journal$, can be sentenced to prison for life for corruption, authorities remain above such accountability.

Rule of Law

• The rule of law ensures that all individuals, including a high-ranking government official or any $house of representative member$, are subject to the legal system and can be convicted or removed from office.

• Under this principle, figures like $Trump$ are held to the same legal standards as private citizens such as $Paula Brady$.