Central Government and Unitary State
In: Culture
In political science, they often distinguish between a *federal* state and a [*unitary* state](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_state).
A federal state is one where there is a separation of powers and responsibilities between the central government and lower levels of government, sometimes called states or provinces. The USA is an example of a federal state. According to the Constitution, the central government has certain powers, and the 50 US states have certain powers. And in those particular matters, a state cannot be overruled by the central government. In those matters, it can do what it wants no matter what the central government wants.
In a unitary state, all the power rests with the central government. The lower levels of government cannot ultimately overrule something that the central government orders them to do. The central government gets the last word on everything. Now that doesn’t mean the lower levels of government never have any autonomy. Sometimes the central government *lets* them have their own policies. But in the end, the central government has the decision over whether or not to let them.
Well… here is an easy and non complicated way of describing the difference.
Unitary means you have multiple “states”, “countries” , “counties” etc. who vote collectively empower a movement requested by a CENTRAL government.
Central government controls, almost, it all. A central government controls all as if a single body.
Central Government:
Each country normally has a central government and a variety of local bodies (authorities), because this way of addressing problems is more efficient. Local bodies are better aware of the needs of local populace and various details. Central government, however is better aware of the wider context. The share of responsibilities between the central government and local bodies differ depending on country’s legal system.
Unitary State: it is such a country where Central Government has the majority of power, with local bodies having much less of it, often being subordinated in a big part (sometimes counting just as territorial branches of the central government) and quite dependent financially and politically. One example of such countries is France.
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