Question

what is Federal and unitary?

Answer 1

Put simply, the difference between a unitary and a federal government is that a unitary government puts its power in one central government while in a federal system the governing power is divided into federal and local governing bodies that connect to the national government.

The Unitary governing system:

• Places its power in one central governing system

• Very little political power exists outside the central government

• The powers of this governing system are uniformly applied throughout

• All major government decisions are made by the central government

• If smaller government units are established they are controlled by the central government and can be abolished by such without their consent

• Many unitary governments are either dictatorships or totalitarian

• France, although Democratic, is governed by a Unitarian body

• Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Barbados, Morocco, and Spain are examples of unitary monarchy government

• China, Afghanistan, Italy, Zambia, and the Ukraine are examples of unitary republic government

The Federal Governing System:

• Distributes power from the national government to local/state governments to adopt laws that are reasonable to the country as a whole and the localities

• Power may be diffused in the federal system

• Multi-national states often have a federal system

• Larger countries often adopt the federal system since constituents may live in areas remote to the location of the central government

• Ethnicities with in a country may lead to a federal system as their rules and laws may vary. An example of this is the small country of Belgium which balances the needs two distinct ethnic groups

• The United States has a federal governing system with a national government and Constitution, in conjunction with states governments and constitutions

Answer 2

Federal govt

pertaining to or of the nature of a union of states under a central government distinct from the individual governments of the separate states, as in federal government; federal system.



unitary government


The definition of a unitary government or unitary state is a system of political organization with a central supreme government which holds the authority over and makes the decisions for subordinate local governments.