POG 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Multi-Level Governance, European Monetary System, European Central Bank
20 Jun 2018
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Lecture 4: Political systems: unitary, federal and confederal government
Unitary systems- definition and prevalence
- “a single, central authority that makes, interprets, and enforces laws and represents the
political community abroad.”
- Central authority is supreme
Sub-national administrative units exercise powers delegated by central authority
Central authority can remove sub-national authority unilaterally
- Most prevalent state-type organization
- Pressure for unitary states to share governments
- Most countries are unitary, few are federal
- 169 Unitary states
- Unitary system has a central government that dictates what rule will be around the
territory
Pros of unitary states
- Makes governance easier
- Eliminates debate with other levels of government
- More consistent delivery of services
Cons of unitary states
- Less democratic power
- National government dictates everything
- Government out of touch with citizens
- May be less reflective of cultural diversity, local preferences, local habits
Devolution in unitary systems
- Devolution system: “Political arrangements that give power to regional authorities but are
not constitutionally or legally bound.”
- Enormous pressure in unitary systems to decentralize
- E.g. the UK government’s decision to give Itd authority to the Scottish and Welsh
legislatures
Growth of multilevel governance- why?
Why growing decentralization worldwide?
1. Bottom-up demand;
- Reaction against perceived failures of the central state
- E.g. post-Communist Europe
2. Post-conflict Peacebuilding
3. Nationalist Movements
E.g. United Kingdom
Created legislatures in
- Northern Ireland
- Wales
- Scotland
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Why growing decentralization worldwide?
4. Role of international development agencies
- Post colonialism
- 1970s: developing countries borrowed due to rise in oil prices.
- Interest rates increased.
- Developing countries unable to repay debt
- IMF and WB insisted on neo-liberal policies also referred to as “Washington Consensus”
- American revolutionaries did not want to have London governing USA
- Tremendous pressure for London to let go of its powers
- Strike partnerships with non-profit organizations because it works for cheaper
Decentralization
Pros
- Increased public participation
- Increased accountability
- Test new policies
- More efficiency; smaller units
- Service delivery tailored to local needs
- Cultural autonomy
Cons
- Where does the buck stop?
- Reinforces geographic inequality
- Maximizes opportunities for corruption
- Managerial duplication
- Multiple veto points; slowness to respond
- Can encourage secession (people can get used to autonomy and say were doing well, why
do we need national authority?)
Designing decentralization
1. Size of units and number of levels
- Impact on administrative costs and citizen participation
2. Structure of political accountability
- Single or plural executive, type of electoral system, use of reserved seats
3. Mechanisms for citizen engagement
- Periodic elections, citizen consultation, local audits, direct citizen decision-making eg.
budgets (next class)
4. Financial structure
- Local taxes: property, income, business, vehicles
- Weak expenditure management unequal resources in districts
5. Center-local relations
- Tensions between local accountability and central grants
6. Impact on service delivery, poverty and corruption
- Varied impacts; mixed evidence; depends on above factors “What matters is how that
system is designed and implemented.”
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Federal Systems
- Power divided between central and regional governments guaranteed constitutionally
- Only a few states are organized this way
- Regions often marked by linguistic or cultural differences
- Helpful in territorially large states
- USA: Revolutionaries who were designing constitution said not only do we not trust the
idea of a god given team, we don’t trust the idea of a national government
- Americans brought up idea of splitting power between governments- power is split
- National government has some jurisdiction, provincial has some, local has some
- E.g. Canada, USA, Germany, Australia
- Federal countries (24/193 States)
India
- Fairly decentralized
Mexico
- Relatively centralized
- 31 states
- population: 125, 000, 000
USA
- formed by union of British colonies
- states powers protected in constitutional and senate
- added strong element of constitution
Federal Systems-Types
1. Peripheralized/Decentralized Federalism
a. Regional governments very powerful
2. Centralized Federalism
b. Regional governments less powerful
Federal Systems-Formation
Political expediency
- Guarantees of security
- Economies of scale
Federal System- Pros and Cons
Pros
- Regional governments more sensitive to citizens’ needs
- Allows smaller jurisdictions to upload some responsibilities to national government
- Allows smaller jurisdictions to take advantage of larger economies
Cons
- Difficult to maintain equality between regions
- Difficult to maintain political stability
- Duplication of function in some issue areas
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Lecture 4: political systems: unitary, federal and confederal government. A single, central authority that makes, interprets, and enforces laws and represents the political community abroad. Sub-national administrative units exercise powers delegated by central authority. Most countries are unitary, few are federal. Unitary system has a central government that dictates what rule will be around the. Eliminates debate with other levels of government. May be less reflective of cultural diversity, local preferences, local habits. Devolution system: political arrangements that give power to regional authorities but are not constitutionally or legally bound. Enormous pressure in unitary systems to decentralize. E. g. the uk government"s decision to give itd authority to the scottish and welsh legislatures. Reaction against perceived failures of the central state. E. g. post-communist europe: post-conflict peacebuilding, nationalist movements. 1970s: developing countries borrowed due to rise in oil prices. Interest rates increased: role of international development agencies. American revolutionaries did not want to have london governing usa.
