Comparison of Federalism and Unitary Systems

There are two different types of systems of government, federalism and unitary. Federalism is part of our government’s lay out, it is a vertical sharing power between the national and states government. The Constitution outlines a separation of powers between the three branches of government. While a unitary system is composed of one central government and is responsible for all power. Federalism is a good fit for our country due to the division of power.

In a unitary government the power is largely one-sided, with the central government holding all the power.

It has almost complete control over smaller local governments. In the modern world, many nations utilize a unitary systems, such as the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom, the parliament is what controls all supreme political power. The legislator of that nation is held in Great Britain, the other park of the nation have their own local government. However they cannot make laws that affect the part of the nations or reduce to enforce laws the Parliament set in place. As any government systems, there are advantage and disadvantages. One major advantage of a unitary system is that in a time of crisis the responsibility and power of the government tend to be precise, and a clear division of power often results in more swift actions. A major disadvantage of having a unitary government would essentially be having an oligarchy. The unitary system consolidates all of its power within a handful of individuals. The average person has little to no influence on what happens in their society. It is a government system that gives an abundant amount of power to a few people or one individual.

Federalism and Federal system defines the basic structure of the American government. It is system of government in which the power is divided among the federal government and states. States have their own legislative, executive, and judicial branch. The states are authorized to pass, enforce, and interpret laws as long as they don’t disobey the Constitution. Many people feared that the national government would have too much power, so the Constitution created a federal system government. A major advantage of having a federal system government is that the power is limited and tyranny is more easily avoided. Each individual state was the ability to deal and handle their own unique problems that are local to each of them. We are not a “one size fits all” nation.  Local governments tend to have a higher response rate to citizen issues which makes it more manageable and efficient. The United States is one of the most diversified nations in the world and having integrate policies for the entire nation wouldn’t necessarily benefit the citizens as well as the Federal government.

Some disadvantages to having a federal system is the authorization of the benefits and costs of government to be unevenly spread. Some states spend twice as much as other states on education, leaving schools with different learning environments. The in some states taxes are also substantially high compared to others, five states have no income tax at all. This creates a disadvantage in impoverished states and communities, this usually results in lower levels of welfare, health, and education.

While there is a substantial difference federalism and unitary governments, federalism is the best fit for our country. The division of powers allows diversity amongst the nation and doesn’t allow a complete uniform policy.

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