Unitary state
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A unitary state is a state governed as a single power in which the central government is ultimately supreme and any administrative divisions (sub-national units) exercise only the powers that the central government chooses to delegate. The majority of states in the world have a unitary system of government. Of the 193 UN member states, 165 of them are governed as unitary states.
Unitary states are contrasted with federal states (federations).
In a unitary state, sub-national units are created and abolished, and their powers may be broadened and narrowed, by the central government. Although political power may be delegated through devolution to local governments by statute, the central government remains supreme; it may abrogate the acts of devolved governments or curtail their powers.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is an example of a unitary state. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have a degree of autonomous devolved power, but such power is delegated by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which may enact laws unilaterally altering or abolishing devolution (England does not have any devolved power).[1] Many unitary states have no areas possessing a degree of autonomy. In such countries, sub-national regions cannot decide their own laws. Examples are the Republic of Ireland and the Kingdom of Norway.[2] In federal states, the sub-national governments share powers with the central government as equal actors through a written constitution, to which the consent of both is required to make amendments. This means that the sub-national units have a right of existence and powers that cannot be unilaterally changed by the central government.
The United States of America is an example of a federal state. Under the U.S. Constitution, powers are shared between the federal government and the states. Its Article V states that the approval of three-quarters of the states, in either their legislatures or state ratifying conventions, must be attained for an amendment to take effect, giving the states a strong degree of protection from domination by the centre.[3]
Contents
List of unitary states[edit]
Italics: States with limited recognition
Unitary republics[edit]
Abkhazia
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bangladesh
Belarus
Benin
Bolivia
Botswana
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China, People's Republic of[4] (federation before 1949)
China, Republic of (Taiwan) (federation before 1949)
Colombia
Congo
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Donetsk People's Republic
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Ghana
Greece
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Iran
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Ivory Coast
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Liberia
Libya
Lithuania
Luhansk People's Republic
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Moldova
Mongolia
Montenegro
Mozambique
Myanmar
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Namibia
Nauru
Nicaragua
Niger
North Korea
Northern Cyprus
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Rwanda
Samoa
San Marino
São Tomé and Príncipe
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Somaliland
South Africa
South Korea (federation before 1960)
South Ossetia
Sri Lanka
Suriname
Syria
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Togo
Transnistria
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Uganda
Ukraine
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Unitary monarchies[edit]
Andorra
Antigua and Barbuda
Bahrain
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bhutan
Brunei
Cambodia
Denmark
Grenada
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kuwait
Lesotho
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Monaco
Morocco
Netherlands
New Zealand[5]
Norway
Oman
Papua New Guinea
Qatar
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saudi Arabia
Solomon Islands
Spain
Sweden
Thailand
Tonga
Tuvalu
United Kingdom[6]
Vatican City
5 largest unitary states by nominal GDP[edit]
5 largest unitary states by population[edit]
5 largest unitary states by area[edit]
See also[edit]
- Centralized government
- Constitutional economics
- Political economy
- Regional state
- Rule according to higher law
- Unitary authority
References[edit]
- ^ Devolution within a unitary state, like federalism, may be symmetrical, with all sub-national units having the same powers and status, or asymmetric, with sub-national units varying in their powers and status.
- ^ Svalbard has even less autonomy than the mainland. It is directly controlled by the government and has no local rule.
- ^ Many federal states also have unitary lower levels of government; while the United States is federal, the states themselves are unitary under Dillon's Rule – counties and municipalities have only the authority granted to them by the state governments under their state constitution or by legislative acts. For example, in the state of Connecticut, county government was abolished in 1960.
- ^ Roy Bin Wong. China Transformed: Historical Change and the Limits of European Experience. Cornell University Press.
- ^ "Story: Nation and government – From colony to nation". The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
- ^ "Social policy in the UK". An introduction to Social Policy. Robert Gordon University - Aberdeen Business School. Retrieved 19 April 2014.