Department of Political Science
Raya Bhattacharya
CC-2, Module -1
Unitary State and salient features of the state
The Unitary State: i.e. state with a single government possessing all the powers in which the local
governments depend and operate in accordance with the will of the central government. There is a
single legislature, single executive and a single judiciary for the whole state. The UK, France,
Belgium and China are Unitary States.
In a Unitary State, the central government commonly delegates authority to subnational units and
channels policy decisions down to them for implementation. A majority of nation-states are
unitary systems.
Characteristics of Unitary Government
The following are the features, attributes, and characteristics of a unitary state or government :
1. Centralization of Powers: In a unitary system, all powers are centralized in the hands of the
central government and that centre is the reservoir of all state powers. In this system, there are
no provincial governments and the constitution empowers the central government to legislate,
execute and adjudicate with full might. There is no other institution to share governmental
powers with the central government has full powers to rule without any external pressure and
runs the state administration with confidence without any fear and terror. On the other hand,
the rulers exercise their powers in an absolute way without any check. Centralization of
powers itself an administrative problem. Although in many unitary states, there is a local
government system arrangement but powers are delegated to these units with strict central
control or supervision.
2. Single and Simple Government: A unitary government is very simple system. With the
exception of Britain, there are neither provincial assemblies and executives nor the upper
chambers at the center. There is a single central government at the center. There is a
Unicameral Legislature popularly elected. The central legislature is there to legislate,
executive to executive to execute and the judiciary to adjudicate without any share. Their
expenses are less and the state is run with a unified command. Upper chambers are usually
expensive and weak states cannot afford these expenses. So, it is a simple and understandable
system. The ordinary citizens easily, understand its structure and powers.
3. Unitary of laws: Another characteristic of a unitary government government is that the laws
of the unitary system, unlike in a federation, are uniform because laws are made only by a
single central government for the whole state. Laws made by the centre are equally enforced in
the rest of the state without any territorial distinction while in a federation, the nature of the
law varies from province to province. So, uniformity of laws in the unitary set up is according
to the principles of justice and nature of human beings. In a federation or federal system,
sometime, sharp contrasts are seen in the laws of the same nature, which complicates the
situation.
4. No Distribution of Powers: Constitutions of the federal form of the state distribute powers
between the centre and the provinces. However, in a unitary system, there is no list of
distribution of powers in the constitution. All powers belong to the central government. In this
system the government is not in the business of powers distribution. This shifts government
attention on development because government is free of this headache.
5. Flexible Constitutions: The constitutions of the unitary states are ever flexible in nature. A
rigid constitution is required only in federation in order to establish firm and safe relations
between the centre and the federating units. The constitution of a unitary system has an
advantage that it may be changed according to the needs of time and changing circumstances.
A constitution is a document necessary to run a state according to the changing orientations.
Peoples desires change with the passage of time and constitutions are amended accordingly. Its
flexibility paves way for its progressiveness. Constitutions of the unitary systems are
evolutionary and may face any immediate situation.
6. Potential for Despotism: It is one of the important characteristics of this system that it may
become despotic when the rulers are not faithful and patriotic. All powers are in the control of
the centre and there are no checks upon the exercise of these unlimited powers. It could
become absolute because it lacks an internal check system.
7. Responsibility: This system is arguably more responsible than federations. It is an important
feature of this form of state that responsibility is fixed in the defined institutions. A central
legislation, executive for implementation and judiciary for adjudication. These institutions are
accountable for their constitutional responsibilities and therefore they try their best to remain
within the circle of the law of the land.
