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Federalism, Unitary, And Confederation
Federalism: Federalism is a political system of governance in which powers are divided among two levels of government, i.e., a central government and governments based in smaller political units, usually called states, provinces, or territories. In this system of government, the smaller political units surrender some of their political power to the central government, relying on it to act for the common good. (Davidson, Encarta article)
Comparison of Federalist, Unitary and Confederation Governing Structures
Other types of government structure are Unitary and Confederation. In a Unitary system, virtually all powers are held by the central government, although it may delegate some of its powers to local or city governments but such delegation is discretionary and for administrative purposes only. A confederation is similar to a federation but with far less power given to the central government. In confederations, the local governments retain most of the powers and form a weak central government.
The United States, although founded as a confederation under the Articles of Confederation, became a federal republic when it adopted its constitution in 1789. Other countries that have a federal form of government include Canada, Australia, Brazil, Germany, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, and Switzerland. The division of the extent of power between the central and local governments varies from country to country but in most federal countries defense, foreign affairs and currency are controlled by the central government. ("Theories of..")
Britain is a notable example of a unitary form of government where, unlike the States in USA, local counties have little power. France, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Morocco, South Korea, Sweden, and Uruguay are other notable examples of unitary forms of government.
Confederations are relatively rare. A modern day example of "confederation" is the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) formed by some of the former republics of the Soviet Union after its dissolution in 1991. (Davidson; "Federal Government.")
Works Cited
Davidson, Roger H. "Federalism." Article in Encyclopedia Encarta. CD-ROM Version, 2003
Federal Government." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia University Press. New York, 2000.
Theories of Government." A More Perfect Union: An exploration of American Democracy. 1999. Thinkquest Website. February 25, 2004 http://library.thinkquest.org/26466/theories_of_government.html
The word federal comes from the Latin term fidere, meaning "to trust."
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