Unitary state
|
A map showing the unitary states. |
A
unitary state is a
state or
country that is governed
constitutionally as one single unit, with one
constitutionally created
legislature. The
political power of
government in such states may well be transferred to lower levels, to regionally or locally elected assemblies, governors and mayors ("
devolved government"), but the
central government retains the principal right to recall such delegated power.
In
federal systems, assemblies in those
states composing the federation have a constitutional existence and a set of constitutional functions which cannot be unilaterally changed by the central government. In some such cases, such as in the
United States, it is the
federal government that has only those powers specifically delegated to it. In a unitary state, by contrast, any sub-governmental units can be created or abolished, and have their powers varied, by the central government. The process in which sub-government units and/or regional parliaments are created by a central government is known as
devolution. A unitary state can broaden and narrow the functions of such
devolved (sub-)governments without formal agreement from the affected bodies.
Most federal states also have unitary lower levels of government. Thus while the
United States itself is federal, most (if not all)
U.S. states are themselves unitary, with
counties and other
municipalities having only the authority given (devolved) to them by the state constitution or
legislature.
A majority of the world's countries are unitary states mainly because most of them are not large enough to warrant a separation into distinct internal territories. Thus many of the non-unitary states of the world are very large in size, particularly Russia, Canada, United States, Brazil, India and Australia. This does not imply that large size will invariably result in non-unitary government; China, for instance, due to its political and socio-cultural history, has not seen the rise of a non-unitary arrangement. Other counter-examples are
Belgium and
Switzerland, which despite a small territory have developed a complex federal system.
The
United Kingdom is a unitary state with a series of parliament-created devolved assemblies, for
Scotland,
Wales and
Northern Ireland, all of which were created in between
1998 and
1999. The
Republic of Ireland is a unitary state without
subnational governments.
Some countries are hybrids between the federal and unitary models. An example of this would be
Australia, which is federal with respect to the six states (
New South Wales,
Queensland,
South Australia,
Tasmania,
Victoria and
Western Australia) that have their own constitutional existence, but unitary with respect to the two mainland territories (the
Northern Territory and the
Australian Capital Territory), whose governments exercise similar powers to the states but by virtue of delegation of powers from the national government.
China is principally a unitary state formed with the central government having direct authority over the provinces and delegating authority to provincial governments. However the status of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) is open to debate, depending on one's interpretation of the
Hong Kong Basic Law. Most Chinese legal scholars argue that the Basic Law is purely domestic legislation deriving its authority from the
Constitution of the People's Republic of China, in which case the SAR is a devolved government entirely consistent with the view of China as a unitary state. However others argue that the Basic Law derives its authority directly from the
Sino-British Joint Declaration, in which case it is possible to regard it as a constitution, implying a federal relationship between China and Hong Kong and placing China in the hybrid category. Similar considerations affect the
Macau SAR.
India is mostly a federal state but under controversial
Article 367 of the
Indian Constitution, a governor can dismiss a state government.
*
Afghanistan*
Albania*
Algeria*
Bangladesh*
Benin*
Bhutan*
Bolivia*
Botswana*
Brunei*
Bulgaria*
Burkina Faso*
Burundi*
Cambodia*
Cameroon*
Cape Verde*
Central African Republic*
Chad*
Chile*
People's Republic of China*
Colombia*
Congo (Brazzaville)*
Congo (Kinshasa)*
Costa Rica*
Côte d'Ivoire*
Croatia*
Cuba*
Cyprus*
Czech Republic*
Denmark*
Djibouti*
Dominica*
Dominican Republic*
East Timor*
Ecuador*
Egypt*
El Salvador*
Equatorial Guinea*
Eritrea*
Estonia*
Fiji Islands*
Finland*
France*
Gabon*
Gambia*
Georgia*
Ghana*
Greece*
Grenada*
Guatemala*
Guinea*
Guinea-Bissau*
Guyana*
Haiti*
Honduras*
Hungary*
Iceland*
Indonesia*
Iran*
Ireland*
Israel*
Italy*
Jamaica*
Japan*
Jordan*
Kazakhstan*
Kenya*
Kiribati*
Kuwait*
Kyrgyzstan*
Laos*
Latvia*
Lebanon*
Lesotho*
Liberia*
Libya*
Liechtenstein*
Lithuania*
Luxembourg*
Macedonia*
Madagascar*
Malawi*
Maldives*
Mali*
Malta*
Marshall Islands*
Mauritania*
Mauritius*
Moldova*
Monaco*
Mongolia*
Montenegro*
Morocco*
Mozambique*
Myanmar (Country name claimed to adopt Federation, but in fact Unitary System under
military dictatorship)
*
Namibia*
Nauru*
Nepal*
Netherlands*
New Zealand*
Nicaragua*
Niger*
North Korea*
Norway*
Oman*
Palau*
Panama*
Papua New Guinea*
Paraguay*
Peru*
Philippines*
Poland*
Portugal*
Qatar*
Romania*
Rwanda*
Saint Kitts and Nevis*
Saint Lucia*
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines*
Samoa*
San Marino*
São Tomé and Príncipe*
Saudi Arabia*
Senegal*
Serbia*
Seychelles*
Sierra Leone*
Singapore*
Slovakia*
Slovenia*
Solomon Islands*
Somalia*
South Africa*
South Korea*
Spain*
Sri Lanka*
Suriname*
Swaziland*
Sweden*
Syria*
Republic of China (Taiwan)*
Tajikistan*
Tanzania*
Thailand*
Togo*
Tonga*
Trinidad and Tobago*
Tunisia*
Turkey*
Turkmenistan*
Tuvalu*
Uganda*
Ukraine*
United Kingdom*
Uruguay*
Uzbekistan*
Vanuatu*
Vatican City*
Vietnam*
Yemen*
Zambia*
Zimbabwe*
Regional state
