Good morning ahwang and thank you for your question. Please find
below an explanation of a unitary state and a federation and the
difference between the two,
UNITARY STATE:
The UK, as a "unitary state" is a county that is governed
constitutionally as one single unit, with one constitutionally created
parliament.
The UK government can transfer powers to lower levels (i.e., to
regionally or locally elected assemblies, governors and mayors) and
can, at any time, recall the delegated powers. In other words, any
sub-governmental unit can be created or abolished, and have their
powers varied, by the central government without formal agreement from
the affected bodies. The process in which sub-government units and/or
regional parliaments are created by a central government is known as
devolution.
The United Kingdom created a series of parliament-created assemblies,
for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland between 1998 and 1999.
The following is a list of other unitary states : Afghanistan,
Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize,
Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso,
Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic,
Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa),
Costa Rica, 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,
Iraq, 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, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal,
Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, North Korea, Norway, Oman,
Pakistan, 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, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South
Korea, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Syria, Taiwan,
Tajikistan, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia,
Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan,
Vanuatu, Vatican City, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
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FEDERATION:
A federation is a government comprised of a number of self-governing
regions united by a central ("federal") government. These
self-governing regions are often referred to as "states". Unlike a
unitary state, the self-governing status of the component states may
not be altered by the decision of the central government.
A federation is often formed via an agreement between a number of
separate states which come together in order to solve mutual problems,
or provide for mutual defense. Some examples would be the United
States, Switzerland, Canada and Australia.
"Federalism is most commonly perceived to be a matter of governmental
structure involving two or more "units," "arenas," "planes," "tiers,"
or "levels" of government, each endowed with a substantial degree of
independence, full legitimacy, and a constitutionally guaranteed place
in the overall system and possessing its own set of institutions,
powers, and responsibilities, constitutionally linked within a common
governing framework for specified purposes. Proponents of federalism
properly argue that this structural dimension is a key to the utility
of the federal principle, because it creates a firm institutional
framework for the achievement of the goals for which federalism was
instituted in the first place."
Source: What are Federal Solutions
( http://www.jcpa.org/dje/articles3/fs3.htm )
Some examples of federations include Australia, Brazil, Canada, India,
Russia and the United States.
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The main difference between a unitary state and a federation is that a
federation cannot take the powers away from the individual states that
are part of the federation, however, in a unitary state, the central
governing body can assign and take away any power given to the smaller
governmental bodies at any time
"In a unitary state, sovereignty originates in the center and remains
its exclusive prerogative throughout the territory. In a federation,
power is shared between the center and the regional subdivisions.?
Source: Institute for the Study of Conflict, Ideology and Policy
( http://www.bu.edu/iscip/vol5/Teague.html )
I hope this answers your question. If you need any further
clarification before rating, please do not hesitate to ask!
Nenna-GA
Google Researcher
Sources:
Dictionary.Labortalk.com
( http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/Unitary_state )
Wikipedia
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation ) |
