4.2: Systems of Government

Most countries consist of multiple subnational regions. In America, these regions are called states; in other countries, they may be called provinces, cantons, departments, prefectures, parishes, or oblasts. Subdividing a country in this way has many advantages, but it also raises the question of how the subdivisions should be integrated into the country’s political system.

The most common system of government in the world today is a unitary system in which power is concentrated at the national level and most decisions are made by a strong national government. Subnational governments, if they exist, are much weaker and have far fewer responsibilities than the national government. Unitary systems benefit from uniform, centralized decision-making but tend to enact “one-size-fits-all” policies that allow for little regional variation. Because of this, unitary systems are best suited to small, culturally homogeneous countries. Chile, France, and Japan are examples of countries with unitary systems.

The opposite of a unitary system is a confederal system in which power is concentrated at the subnational level and the national government is comparably weak. The United States had a confederal structure under the Articles of Confederation, as did the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Although both had national governments, their subnational governments wielded most of the power. Confederal systems give broad discretion to their regions at the expense of national unity. No modern country operates under a truly confederal system, but some international organizations (such as the United Nations and the European Union) are confederal, with countries acting as the “subnational” units within the larger structure.

In contrast to unitary and confederal systems, a federal system divides power roughly evenly between national and subnational governments. Although they have different abilities and jurisdictions, the national and subnational levels are approximately equal in power. The modern United States has a federal system, as do Brazil, Germany, and India, among others.

These systems are not pure types. They exist on a spectrum of centralization, with unitary systems at one end, confederal systems at the other end, and federal systems in the middle. Countries can be placed at different points along this spectrum. For example, the United States and Canada both have federal systems, but the United States’ is less centralized than Canada’s. Countries can also centralize or decentralize over time. The United States has gradually centralized since the Constitution was ratified, although it remains a federal system.

In the United States, the term federal often means “national.” When someone says federal government or federal law, they usually mean “national government” or “national law,” as contrasted with state government or state law.