The Federal and Unitary Form of Governance - Essay Example

POLITICAL SCIENCE QUESTION THE FEDERAL AND UNITARY FORM OF GOVERNANCE There has been transformation of the method of territorial governance in the recent past.Ordinarilly, there are two forms of governance that are to be compared and contrasted so that to make a binding conclusion regarding the system that is better. This will be vital as nations need to comprehend these systems so that they may choose a model of governance that will suit that nation-state. Currently,the modern state systems are full of complexities and therefore it is imperative to compare and contrast the unitary governance and the federal government so as to understand how the complexities of modern states require certain systematic changes in the political setup. A federal state can be defined as one that involves the sharing of sovereignty across a number of levels of government whereas a unitary state, on the other hand, involves the concentration of sovereignty at the level of a single central government. These states may be centralized, decentralized, or regionalized. Federalism may be found in unitary states such as France and Italy The unitary form of government was introduced after the French revolution while federal governance was first experimented in US after the American Revolution. This was followed by the confederate form of government. France integrated the unitary form of government after the French revolution. This was followed by Netherlands, Portugal and then Spain. Unitary form of government constituted nationalization which meant that the people of those nations were to be kept united under one common flag and one political government. There was also the involvement of a centralized government to ensure that there was order in the states. On the other hand the federal state is one formed by the association of various states which are usually formed for a common purpose. This will ensures that the member states maintain a huge measure of autonomy and independence. This implies therefore, both unitary and federal systems differ on the basis of autonomy. There is no much autonomy in unitary form of governance as compared to the federal form of governance, where there is considerable intensity of autonomy. However, the unitary and federal form of governments exists in varying forms and therefore they revolve in the extent of central regulation of affairs. The unitary form of government has sub-national governments that exist having strict functions of welfare governance regulated by the center. Both forms of governance involve a field over which they take shifts and since both are not wholly separated, a few states are regarded as being between complete federalism and complete unitary form of governance. The two forms of governance can also be differentiated by the degree of regionalization and decentralization. Normally, regionalization is the top-bottom approach of governance involving hierarchy in the regions and central states. Decentralization on the other hand is the autonomy of sub-national states in management of fiscal, administrative and political affairs of the state. Therefore, when there is the decision that involves the power to legislate is transferred from center to the regional or sub-national government, federal system will be encouraged. Regionalism is a bottom-up approach which advocates for the control of the regional affairs by regional populations through the setting up regional government while regionalization involves a top-down system consisting of policies developed by central government for the regional territories without letting the regional political organization exercise autonomy over it. A state may also work in a manner where the central designs policies and administrative procedures for the sub-national administrative units or governments, therefore establishment of regional administrative units become a necessity in order to implement these procedures. The federal governance is based on based political systems and Unions, Constitutionally decentralized Confederations, Federations, Unions, Associated States, Federecies, Condominiums, Hybrids and Joint Functional Authorities while in unitary system all, the powers of administration are usually left in the custody of the central government, which is the main administrative body in a state. This includes decentralization and centralization. Decentralization can either be political or administrative. Political decentralization means transferring of the administrative authority and mandate from the national government to the local government. On the other hand administrative decentralization is defined as the introduction of administrative responsibilities to the local government by the national government Normally, the federal political systems differ from unitary systems in that they have two or more levels of government which combine elements of shared-rule through common institutions and regional self-rule for the governments of the constitutional units. This means that the federal political system will allow the multiple political organizations to exercise power not in a conflicting manner. On the other hand, unitary form of government does not allow for such a freedom and there is usually one sole political authority in charge. Therefore, there is constitutional division of labor in federal form of government which is not present in a unitary system. The outstanding difference in the unitary and federal forms of government is that unitary system has a direct relation in the activities of the local and national government while the federal system involves no direct relation in the administrative activities since the local states operate independently and offer their administrative services directly to the citizens. Federal governance is seen in the United States of America where the United States of America forms other political organizations and institutions on the basis of bringing out the distribution of authority and mandate between two different political units. This means that some mandates and authorities are certain to the federal government and some in the custody of the member states. Normally, the individual states are supreme in their boundaries and no state or other authority has the mandate to interfere with the affairs of the other not even the federal government. The constitution usually gives the supreme authorities and mandate to the federal government and the remaining authorities and mandates are assured to the states’ administrative bodies. There is also the concept off political localism which is commonly applied by the southern European nations and legal localism by the northern European nations. These states put into consideration the functional relationship implying that the authorities and responsibilities are given to the sub-national governments by the national governments especially the degree of self-governance is given to the sub-national administrative units. In a political formation where there is the use of political localism, the sub-national administrative units are guaranteed all the powers of dealing with matters of local concern but the units are allowed less degree of self-governance. On the other hand, in the political formations where the legal localism is applied especially in northern European nations, the degree of control of the sub-national administrative units by the national government is usually high. It is imperative to note that the federal system will strengthens a good democracy in the states in which it is applied. This system strengthens good democracy by equal representation of the citizens in the administration body. This is done through electing the leaders of their choice who attend to the welfare of the citizens and take part in decision-making on the matters of importance of national interest. The federal systems also strengthen the good democracy. This is because this system involves state governments who are not assistants of the federal government since the large measure of the policy of self-governance. Normally, no state is considered superior over the other. Therefore, federal government treats the demands of the states equally, and hence this brings out the sense of democracy among the citizens. On the other hand, the unitary system often weakens a better democracy in the nations that implore. This is because in this system the authority of self-governance is not left in the custody of the local government. In this system, the citizens are not fully represented in the administrative body since the sub-national governments are not involved in the decision making process. A few parties make the decisions concerning the national interests and this means that the decisions can be made regarding the interests of the few parties. The democracy is also weakened because the national government normally determines the laws given to the local administrative units. Some of the leaders in the national government may at times advocate for the amendment of laws in order to fit their interests. This will not reflect democracy in the long run. QUESTION 2 POLITICAL PARTIES, INTEREST GROUPS AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS Normally, this organizations work under the freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and free associations to influence a government either in political, social or economic ground.Ordinarilly, the individual group has no influence on politics unless it combines efforts. As it is known, democracy in a nation will only achieved when the freedom of association and expression are respected to the latter. In lieu of soliciting for the right and freedoms, the political parties, interest groups and the social movements must therefore show democracy. It is important to understand these groups through their definition and structure. It is imperative to note that the structures of power that brings issues affecting people with a belief that given a chance they can provide solutions to those problems. They aim to escalate to power and provide political governance to the people and the issues they touch on are much more general than those of interest groups, which are only about occupational issues. Social Movements can be defined as the collections of people with a clearly recognized opponent and there is usually a battle and share a central conviction and unified in practice. This definition involves the three key components i.e. the presence of an opponent, same beliefs and goals and lastly collective actions. This, therefore, distinguishes a social movement from any other movement or groups. On the other hand, interest groups involve pressure groups.Ordinarilly; these pressure groups are either cause groups or Interest Groups. These are the groups that aim to influence the government politically. Interest groups are different from cause groups as they focus on occupational aspects that affect their members. These interest groups deal with business, trading, and professional regulations among others vital issues in occupational capacities. This includes civil servants unions or the Teacher’s Union would raise teachers’ grievances to the Ministry of Education. The interest group is usually not part of government. A political party is a group of self-governing persons whose are mandated to compete in nominations and run for elections in order to rise to authority and have control of the government. Their main aim is usually to go up to power and capture government offices that give it a mandate for governance. Interest groups mainly focus on one area. The political parties on the other hand political parties will tend to cover a vast policy area. These political parties will often do campaign programs for a complete rebellion of social policies and other factors in a nation. The interest groups only go for what is of their interest. The political parties are political in nature and they seek to win an election and take control of the governance while interest groups and Social Movements are not As discussed, the differences are that the primary objective that Interest groups have differs from that of political parties. In political party, they aim to form a government and be part of it while an interest group fights for what it requires without being in control of the government issues and policies. The political parties usually conduct an election to nominate and battle in national elections to be in control of the resources and government offices while the social movements and interest groups are not interested in taking control of the government but to be part of change. Interest groups and political parties also differ with the social movements. Unlike the political parties and interest groups which are organized into single practical units, social movement consists of different organizations that come to work together with freedom. The formation of this group is not organized as that of political parties and interest groups, it usually has more area of interest that it focuses on compared to interest group but narrower area of focus compared to political parties. Interest groups can move through Social Movement and escalate to become political parties with a wide focus on various issues, but with specific political objectives. Union can emerge to promote for the lower class peoples rights within the society and later on after gaining fame turn to be a political party. This has been a common trend in the recent past and many have taken this political advantage in the unions. Political parties are core to maintaining the democratic atmosphere. This will ensure that the people’s rights are adhered to. This includes the rights from party nominations to contesting national elections. The political parties provide a forum in which citizens of any federal state exercise their democratic right of electing leaders they want thereby exercising their democratic rights. Social Movements will provide a forum for channeling grievances. This will ensure that citizens feel the nature of the democracy. Normally, the social movements that the human resources engage the government in ensuring that the voices of the minorities and other disadvantaged people in the society are heard. Otherwise there would be negligence in the minorities leading them to the peaks of unfairness. Political parties have also the mandate of overseeing the ruling government to ensure that there is accountability and proper use and allotment of resources. This means that it acts as a replacement to the ruling party in case it fails to deliver to the people who elected it. This is often achieved through the existence of the political parties especially the opposition party. The political parties, interest groups, and social movements ensure equitable distribution of resources to all, fight against discrimination stigmatization and favoritism. All these oversight duties and integrity vetting enhance democratic governance in socio-economic and political aspects. Ordinarily, democracy is a system that calls for people to join in the decisions regarding policy and laws of the country and making decisions through elections on who is to run the country. Normally, the political parties, interest groups, and social movements matter a lot in the democratic governance. This is because of their alertness to the trends that emanate in the political arena It is therefore imperative to note that the existence political parties, interest groups and social movements enhance effective and healthy democratic governance. This is especially when this groups active in performing their duties. Therefore there is need for these groups in any state for the enhancement of democracy. Read More