Which type of government is power divided between central and several local governments?

The relationship between the states and the federal government

States and the federal government have both exclusive powers and concurrent powers. There is an ongoing negotiation over the balance of power between the two levels.

The relationship between the states and the federal government

 

Which type of government is power divided between central and several local governments?

Government in the United States consists of three separate levels: the federal government, the state governments, and local governments. The Constitution, the fundamental legal authority for government in the United States, gives the federal government the power to undertake certain tasks - and assigns all other powers to the state governments. State governments each establish the local governments within their territory and delegate certain powers to them.

Each level of government is divided into three branches: the legislative branch (which makes the laws), the executive branch (which carries out the laws), and the judicial branch (which applies the laws to specific court cases, determines whether someone has broken the law, and evaluates laws to make certain that they are legitimate).

The following web pages provide additional information about the three levels of government in the United States:

  • National Government - the "United States Government" or the "Federal Government" 
     
  • State Governments - the United States is divided into 50 states, several territories, and the District of Columbia 
     
  • Local Governments - each state is divided into counties and municipalities, each of which has its own government

A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another type of distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorised or delegated to it by the federation and mutually agreed upon by each of the federated states. Though inappropriate, the adjective "central" is also sometimes used to describe the government of a federation.[1]

The structure of central governments vary. Many countries have created autonomous regions by delegating powers from the central government to governments on 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 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 (i.e. the United States). Thus federal governments are often established voluntarily from 'below' whereas devolution grants self-government from above.

Examples[edit]

Unitary states[edit]

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

Federations[edit]

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 U.S. 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 United States Constitution during the Philadelphia Convention. After the ratification of the Constitution by nine states in 1788, the U.S. was officially a federation, putting the U.S. 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:

Confederations[edit]

See also[edit]

  • National Government (disambiguation)
  • List of autonomous areas by country
  • Autonomous government
  • Devolution of powers
  • Federation

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The Constitution". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved 17 Jul 2010 – via National Archives.
  2. ^ Watts, R., "Comparing Federal Systems" (2nd ed.) SPC Queen's U (1999) pp 20–26.

What kind of government is divided between a central and local government?

Federalism is the system of government in which power is divided between a central government and regional governments; in the United States, both the national government and the state governments possess a large measure of sovereignty.

What is it called when the power of government is divided?

Separation of powers, therefore, refers to the division of government responsibilities into distinct branches to limit any one branch from exercising the core functions of another. The intent is to prevent the concentration of power and provide for checks and balances.

Who divides the power between central and state government?

In a federal form of government the powers are divided between the national government and the regional governments by the Constitution itself. Both the centre and the state have their own powers and systems of governance.

What is it called when power is divided between national and state government?

This process of dividing power between different branches of government is called the separation of powers. From there, the Framers further divided power between the national government and the states under a system known as federalism.