Comparative Government and Politics by Rod Hague Martin Harrop John McCormick

Author:Rod Hague,Martin Harrop,John McCormick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.

FIGURE 11.1: Multilevel governance in the European Union

Unitary systems

Most states in the world have a unitary form of government, meaning that while they have regional and local political institutions, sovereignty lies exclusively with the national government. Sub-national administrations, whether regional or local, can make and implement policy, but they do so by leave of the centre. And while sub-national government can adopt local laws and regulations, it can only do so on topics that are not the preserve of national government. Reflecting this central supremacy, the national legislature in most unitary states has only one chamber, since there is no need for a second house to represent entrenched provinces.

Unitary systems have emerged naturally in societies with a history of rule by sovereign monarchs and emperors, such as Britain, France, and Japan. In such circumstances, authority radiates from a historic core. Unitary structures are also the norm in smaller democracies, particularly those without strong ethnic divisions. In Latin America, nearly all the smaller countries (but neither of the two giants, Argentina and Brazil) are unitary. The countries of Eastern Europe have also chosen a unitary structure for their post-communist constitutions, viewing federalism as a spurious device through which Russia tried to obscure its dominance of the Soviet Union.

In contrast to the complexities of federalism (discussed later in this chapter), a unitary structure may seem straightforward and efficient: there is one central government that holds all the cards that matter, other levels doing only what they are allowed to do by the centre. However, the location of sovereignty is rarely an adequate guide to political realities, because unitary government is often decentralized. Indeed, there has been an effort in recent decades in many unitary states to push responsibility for more functions to lower levels.

There are three ways in which this can happen (see Figure 11.2). The first is deconcentration, through which central government tasks are relocated from the capital to other parts of the country. Deconcentration spreads the work around, can help bring jobs and new income to poorer parts of the country, reduces costs by allowing activities to move to cheaper areas, and frees central departments to focus on policy-making rather than execution. So, for example, routine tasks such as issuing passports can be deconcentrated to an area with higher unemployment and lower costs. Deconcentration is made easier by the internet, because so much government work can be done online that geographical location has become less important.

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