Central government

Short description: Type of government found in unitary states

A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or delegated to it by the federation and mutually agreed upon by each of the federated states.

The structure of central governments varies. Many countries have created autonomous regions by delegating powers from the central government to governments on a sub-national level, such as regional, state, provincial, local and other instances. Based on a broad definition of a basic political system, there are two or more levels of government that exist within an established territory and government through common institutions with overlapping or shared powers as prescribed by a constitution or other law.

Common responsibilities of this level of government which are not granted to lower levels are maintaining national security and exercising international diplomacy, including the right to sign binding treaties. Essentially, the central government has the power to make laws for the whole country, in contrast with local governments.

The difference between a central government and a federal government is that the autonomous status of self-governing regions exists by the sufferance of the central government^[1] and are often created through a process of devolution. As such they may be unilaterally revoked with a simple change in the law. An example of this was done in 1973 when the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 abolished the government of Northern Ireland which had been created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It is common for a federal government to be brought into being by agreement between a number of formally independent states and therefore its powers to affect the status of the balance of powers is significantly smaller (as in the United States). Thus federal governments are often established voluntarily from 'below' whereas devolution grants self-government from above.

Examples

Unitary states

There are, and have been, many countries which have delegated powers, some include:

Bangladesh
China, People's Republic of (Mainland China) – see the autonomous administrative divisions of China
China, Republic of (Taiwan Area)
Denmark – see the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland
Finland – devolved powers to the government of Åland
France – see the sui generis collectivity of New Caledonia
Georgia – see the autonomous republics of Georgia
Indonesia
Italy – see the autonomous province of Italy
Japan
Korea, Republic of (South Korea)
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines - see the provinces of the Philippines and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao
Portugal – see the Autonomous Regions of Portugal
Spain – see the autonomous communities of Spain
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom – devolved powers to the governments of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
Vietnam

Federations

A federal government is the common or national government of a federation. The United States is considered the first modern federation. After declaring independence from Britain, the United States adopted its first constitution, the Articles of Confederation in 1781. This was the first step towards federalism by establishing the confederal Congress. However, Congress was limited as to its ability to pursue economic, military, and judiciary reform. In 1787, a Constitutional Convention drafted the Constitution of the United States during the Philadelphia Convention. After the ratification of the Constitution by nine states in 1788, the United States was officially a federation, putting the United States in a unique position where the central government exists by the sufferance of the individual states rather than the reverse.

Other states followed suit in establishing federal governments: Switzerland (1848); Canada (1867); Germany (1871 and again 1949); Brazil (1891); Australia (1901); Russia (1917); Austria (1920 and again 1945) and India (1947 and again 1950).^[2] Examples include:

Argentina
Australia – see the states and territories of Australia
Austria
Belgium – see the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium
Brazil – see the federative units of Brazil
Canada – see the provinces and territories of Canada
Germany – see states of Germany
India - see the states and union territories of India
Malaysia
Mexico – see the states of Mexico
Nepal
Nigeria
Pakistan – see the administrative units of Pakistan
Russia – see the federal districts of Russia and the federal subjects of Russia
Sudan
Switzerland – see the cantons of Switzerland
Template:Country data Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Soviet Union – see the republics of the Soviet Union
United States – see the U.S. states
Venezuela – see the states of Venezuela