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Features of Federation
A Federation is a union of government. It has the following features;
1) Sets of governments:
Federation comprises two sets of governments, federal and federating governments.
2) Division of supreme powers:
The supreme powers are divided on the principle that matters of common interest or of national importance are entrusted to the central government, while local matters and interests are entrusted to the unit governments.
3) Dual government:
Federation envisages a union rather than unity. It creates a dual government and not s Unitary one. The federating units preserve their separate, autonomous, distinct entity and exercise supreme and original authority within their spheres of powers. They are not reduced to non-entity as are the administrative units of a Unitary State. They are no mere agents of the central government, and do not exist on its discretion. They have their own separate and autonomous existence, guaranteed by the constitution,on which also depends the existence of the central government.
4) Sovereignty:
The State which federate into a union lose their former sovereignty because their union creates a new State which now becomes sovereign.
5) Federation is made:
A federation is made, it does not grow.
6) Written constitution:
It has a written constitution so as to prevent any doubt or dispute on the distribution of powers between the federal and federating governments. Neither the federal nor the unit government can amend the constitution with a view to redistributing the supreme powers.
7) Amendment:
The constitution clearly prescribes the process of amending it. The constitution is supreme. Sovereignty lies with the body or bodies which have the power to amend the constitution.
Permanent union:
Federation is a permanent union. This feature distinguishes it
a) from a confederation which is a loose and limited union of State, and
b) from alliances of sovereign State such as N.A.T.O or the U.N.O -
Features of Federation
A Federation is a union of government. It has the following features;
1) Sets of governments:
Federation comprises two sets of governments, federal and federating governments.
2) Division of supreme powers:
The supreme powers are divided on the principle that matters of common interest or of national importance are entrusted to the central government, while local matters and interests are entrusted to the unit governments.
3) Dual government:
Federation envisages a union rather than unity. It creates a dual government and not s Unitary one. The federating units preserve their separate, autonomous, distinct entity and exercise supreme and original authority within their spheres of powers. They are not reduced to non-entity as are the administrative units of a Unitary State. They are no mere agents of the central government, and do not exist on its discretion. They have their own separate and autonomous existence, guaranteed by the constitution,on which also depends the existence of the central government.
4) Sovereignty:
The State which federate into a union lose their former sovereignty because their union creates a new State which now becomes sovereign.
5) Federation is made:
A federation is made, it does not grow.
6) Written constitution:
It has a written constitution so as to prevent any doubt or dispute on the distribution of powers between the federal and federating governments. Neither the federal nor the unit government can amend the constitution with a view to redistributing the supreme powers.
7) Amendment:
The constitution clearly prescribes the process of amending it. The constitution is supreme. Sovereignty lies with the body or bodies which have the power to amend the constitution.
Permanent union:
Federation is a permanent union. This feature distinguishes it
a) from a confederation which is a loose and limited union of State, and
b) from alliances of sovereign State such as N.A.T.O or the U.N.O -
Nature of Federation
Federation is a device to harmonize the need for local autonomy with the necessity of preserving the unity of the State. This requires that there should be government for the country as a whole to administer national affairs and other governments to look after the needs and interests of local areas in such a way that both sets of governments are supreme within their own affairs. Hence, the most important characteristic of a federation in the formal distribution of sovereign powers between the Federal government at the centre and governments of the federating units.
"A Federal constitution attempts to reconcile,
the apparently irreconcilable claims of nation sovereignty and state sovereignt." -
Formation of Federation
The formation of Federation as a government is actually coupled with the evolution of modern national state. With the extension of the natural territorial boundaries of the modern state, there emerged two basic principles, affecting the organisation of policy.
Firstly, different political entities voluntarily organized themselves into bigger political organisations.
Secondly, the territorial nationalism paved the way for the emergence of a wider union. Wars and conquests, however, played the role in this respect.
Federal system is comparatively a recent development in the present civilisation and it came into existence due to the promotion of political consciousness and development of political institutions. -
Federal State
Hamitton defines it as:
Introduction:
In case r
The powers of the government are constitutionally divided between the Central government and the regional governments ( federating units), the system will be called Federation. The pattern of division of powers is also also explicitly divided in the constitution. Generally, the matters of importance on which uniformity in laws and policies is required, are allocated to the Central government, while the Federating units are assigned, the matters of regional importance on which their respective governments exercise government authority.
Definitions:
“An organisation of states that gives birth to a new union”. In the words of Montesqieu:
“It is a convention through different states organize themselves into a wider union”. In the words of Dicey:
“It is a political contrivance intended to reconcile national unity with the maintenance of state rights”.
Uniformity of terminology:
There is no uniformity of terminology applicable to federating units. In Pakistan these are called provinces, in America they are called states and in Switzerland, Cantons.the Federal System has been adopted in America, India, Pakistan, Latin America, Switzerland, Canada and Australia. -
Demerits of Unitart State
Following are the demerits or disadvantages of the Unitart State:
1) Absence of unity in diversity:
There is every possibility that the absence of regional autonomy and too much centralization in the structure of a Unitary government, may establish destabilizing effects on the political system. Central government may not frame policies in line with local conditions, creating frustration in a people.
2) Can lack infrastructure:
Unitary governments may able to take the decisions quickly, but sometimes to implement the decisions they lack the infrastructure. During an emergency condition when there is not enough
local support available for communities this centralized administration may leave the resolution upto local decision makers instead of intervening. Since this delegation may not include the power to make needed changes to protect people, the absence of an independent local government can sometimes cause more harm than good.
3) Can ignore local needs:
The benefit of having a government at local, county and state level is that it can concentrate on local needs without interfering on the national level. So local governments can focus on thier micro-economy, create solutions for thier needs that occur in thier community and support the national government with thier actions simultaneously.
The Unitary government functions through a centralized structure, it is not usually for it to fail to meet the local needs. But, due to slow development of resources for responding to arising situations, Unitary government tends to focus on foreign affairs while keeping domestic needs on the back burner.
4) Can encourage abuse of power:
In Unitary State, a single person or legislative body holds most, if not all, governmental power. History has shown that power, when placed in too few hands, is easily abused.
5) Easily occurrence of manipulation:
Due to lack of bureaucracy, a Unitary government can improve efficiencies, the structure also makes it possible for individuals in the government to manipulate the system. When someone in power decides to pursue more wealth or governing opportunities for themselves, then there are very few ways to stop that activity. By creating a system that offers a chance to manipulate the system for personal needs, the majority of the population must pay for the boost in power and the wealth that one person receives.
6) Protecting the Central body first:
Because the goal of the government is self-preservation, the various ‘arm’ that work at the local level are usually the first resources cut when they are in budgetary issues. The needs at the national government will always outweigh what local needs are with this government. That means the decisions it makes are typically based on it’s own survival first, instead of taking the interests of the population under consideration.
In severe conditions, it can even lead to local communities becoming ungoverned with lack of resource access,even though they are still expected to pledge support to the government who isn’t supporting them.
7) Not allowing areas of autonomy:
When there is a Unitary government which offers no degree of autonomy to the areas under its control, then the sub-national regions are not allowed to decide their own laws at any time. Even where the government permits the presence of sub-national governments in this structure, there is not a sharing of power. Their right to existence is at the leisure of the government, and the authority of these divisions can change at any time.
The purpose of having the few control to many:
People are just patriotic under a Unitary system of government as they are with the federal system. The disadvantage of the centralized State is that there are few opportunities to get involved with the legislative process. People are rarely given an opportunity to interact with thier governing officials unless they have a specific need to fill, such as the creation of official identification materials. If their is a shift in policy that takes right away from selected groups of people, there may not be anything that the general population can do not stop that process from happening
9) Slow national process:
The decision making process of the Unitary government may be fast, but the decision of thier resources means that the response can be very slow. Every authorization for resistance must come through the centralized government. That means there are times when there is more bureaucracy to navigate instead of less since a federated State could immediate dispatch assistance, like how a governor can send out the National Guard to provide support. -
***Examples
Out of the 193 member countries of the United State, 165 are Unitary States.
France, England, Turkey, etc are Unitary States. ***
What is nature of federation?
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Nature of Federation
Federation is a device to harmonize the need for local autonomy with the necessity of preserving the unity of the State. This requires that there should be government for the country as a whole to administer national affairs and other governments to look after the needs and interests of local areas in such a way that both sets of governments are supreme within their own affairs. Hence, the most important characteristic of a federation in the formal distribution of sovereign powers between the Federal government at the centre and governments of the federating units.
"A Federal constitution attempts to reconcile,
the apparently irreconcilable claims of nation sovereignty and state sovereignt."
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