INTRODUCTION

Government is one of the important components to run the state and its constituent

parts. It is the government which performs the major functions of the state. It makes laws and
policies to conduct various affairs of the state and daily life of the people. The

government has many forms as mentioned by Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Leacock etc.

Plato has mentioned three folds of classification—perfect state, imperfect state and

state of ignorance, whereas Aristotle has classified the forms of government based on

numbers with sovereign power and the aim of government. According to him, the best

government is one that works for the interest of people. It becomes perverted when

the government works for their interest. Polybius classified the government into three

forms: monarchy, aristocracy and democracy.

Leacock’s classification of government is generally accepted. He said that there

are two major forms of government: despotic and democratic. A despotic or dictatorship

government means where the will of one person prevails, whereas a democratic

government means the will of the people prevails and sovereignty lies in the hands of

people rather than one person. If we try to classify the modern form of government, it

can be formed based on social, economic, philosophical and historical factors. We

can observe that democracy in the contemporary era has different shades—Britain,

the USA, France, India, Canada, Germany, and South Africa.

6.3 WHAT IS GOVERNMENT?

The term Government comes from the term govern, which stands for ‘to rule, guide,

govern and direct. The term has historical roots. It is commonly described by the

government as monarchy, oligarchy and democracy. All these terms have roots in the

Greek. There is no universal definition of government. According to the Merriam-

Webster dictionary, government stands for ‘the body of persons that constitutes the

governing authority of a political unit or organisation: such as officials comprising the

governing body of a political unit and constituting the organisation as an active agency.

The Britannica dictionary has defined the government as ‘the political system by

which a country or community is administered and regulated. On the other hand,

according to Blackwell dictionary, ‘The government’ usually refers to the rulers, that

group of people who oversee the state at a particular time.

Based on various meanings, it can be said that the term government represents

a form of system which exercises control over a society through law and order. At the

same time, it can be a way of exercising power. Government exists to operate the

various elements of state. As it has been mentioned by the Soltau that government

means ‘all those individuals, institutions, and means which help in expressing the will of

the state and give it concrete shape’. In other words, Garner has said that ‘government

is a collective name for agency or organization through which the will of the state is

formulated, expressed and realized’. C.F Strong has mentioned, ‘if we want to make

and enforce the law the state must have sovereignty, without this, state couldn’t exist.’

The term government is mostly used in four ways. The way the body is charged

with a sense of responsibility to govern. Another way is machinery, or the engine of the

state. It is a state’s machinery; without this, state could not exist. Thus, the government

is an important organ of the state, and it is vested with the right to exercise sovereign

power over the people of the state. To perform these functions, the government can

be divided into three organs—Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. The primary function

of the legislature is to perform the function of law-making for the state and people. The

main function of the executive is to enforce the laws and run the state, make decisions

and formulate policies, and the major function of the judiciary is to interpret the application

of laws to specific cases.

6.4 MAJOR FORMS OF GOVERNMENT

In the contemporary era, there are majorly two forms of government i.e., unitary and

federal. The formation of these two forms of government is based on the model of
division and concentration of power and the relationship between the Union State or

local bodies, and government. The countries like India, USA, South Africa, Canada,

and Australia have federal system, whereas the countries like Britain, Japan, Italy, and

France has adopted unitary structure of government.

6.4.1 Unitary Government

A unitary government is a form of government under which all the powers lie in the

hands of one central government. The major power is concentrated in the hands of the

central government and local or state governments have given required powers to perform the basic
activities. The local or state government performs the functions as

per the directions of the central government. It can be said that the local government

operates only in the way which is directed by the central government. The power and

the role of local government depend on the wishes of the central government. As it has

been mentioned by Dicey under a unitary form of government, ‘the habitual exercise

of supreme legislative authorities by one central power’. The central government has

exclusive power to make the law for the entire state and enforce the law either by itself

or by transfer to the local authorities. The main features of the unitary government are-

(a) Power in the hands of Central Government: In the unitary form of government,

all the power is concentrated in the hands of the central government. The

provincial or local units draw their power and authority from the central

government and are responsible to it for the exercise of that authority. As it can

be seen in the case of Britain, the power lies in the hands of the central government

i.e., the Prime Minister, same as the case of France, all the powers are kept in

the hands of the president. The law-making authority is not available to any

other body or institution, except that the power is transferred and delegated by

the central government to the state or local government. In France, according

to the 1958 constitution, the central government has all the powers and

responsibilities to define and implement the nation’s policy. The parliament has

the sole responsibility to make laws. The President of France was also head of

the state and head of the executive, supreme commander of the military and

determined the policy after the consultation with the council of ministers.

(b) Flexible Constitution: The constitution of a country with a unitary government

can be written or unwritten. In most of the unitary governments, it has been

found that it possesses a flexible constitution. The flexible constitution is

appropriate for a country which is developing as it gives great chances to update

and change according to the needs of the people. With flexibility, the constitution

led to greater adaptability. The United Kingdom has an unwritten constitution

and thus has a scope of flexibility and scope for change. Furthermore, it has

been noticed that in a unitary system, the units do not possess a separate entity.

(c) Centralized Rules and regulations: In the unitary government, the power is

centralized in the hands of the central government. Thus, it is not required to

distribute the power between central and state governments. Due to this, the written rules and
constitution are also not required to divide the powers and

allocate the functioning. Britain has a unitary form of government, hence, both

houses of Parliament—the House of Commons and the House of Lords have

the power to make laws for the whole country.

(d) Local or state government follows the guidelines of central government:

As all the powers are in the hands of the central government, it can do all the

things as per its own choice and interest. There is no interference from the local

government, whose duty is only to follow the instructions of the center. The

administrative and other departmental works are done by the local government

as per the direction made by the central government, for example, in Britain, the

Prime Minister and Council of Ministers give directions to the local body to do

the work more efficiently.

(e) Flexible and easy-to-adapt environment: In a unitary government, the power

stays in the hands of the central government. It helps the government and

administration to make decisions according to changing times and needs of the

people. The central government is not dependent on the assent of the local

government, for example, at the time of COVID-19, France, and Britain

government and administration has taken extraordinary decisions. In a unitary

government, the central government has the power to amend the constitution

according to needs and requirement. As it has been mentioned by E.B. Schulz,

‘the principal advantage of unitary government is its flexibility and the matter of
distributing powers on the territorial basis.’

(f) Uniform Administration: According to C.F. Strong, under the unitary system

the supremacy lies in the central parliament. The central parliament governs all

the people like the British House of Commons passes all the laws and govern

the local bodies too. Moreover, centralization of power is also the core idea in

unitary government. In such a system, the local governments are dependent on

the central government. It is subordinate to the central government in all the

aspects.

In contemporary era, China is the best example of unitary government. The

Constitution of China (1982) has introduced the unitary form of government. The

nation’s highest authority is the National People’s Congress (NPC). It is the house that

controls the government in addition to enacting laws for the entire nation. The primary work is done
by the NPC, which also has substantial formal authority over the judicial

and executive branches in addition to creating and interpreting the law.

6.4.2 Federal Government

A federal state is made up of several independent states that are combined to form one

large state, or alternatively, when a large state divides itself into multiple states under

one roof. As Dicey has said ‘A federal state is intended to reconcile national unity and

power with the maintenance of state rights.’ A federal state is a union of states as it has

been mentioned in Article 1 of the Indian Constitution that India is a union of states. It

was the USA which initiated the federal form of government in the late 18th century,

which was drafted in 1789 constitution. Canada has adopted the federal model of

United States of America (USA). Later, many other countries followed and adopted

the federal system. In India, the roots of federal system evolved through the Government

of India Act, 1935. Under this act, the devolution of power between union and states

or provinces has been introduced. Hence, during the formation of Indian Constitution,

the constitution makers have identified the ethnic and cultural diversity to adopt the

federal system. After the independence, India was divided into 565 princely states and

most of the states were organized on linguistic and ethnicity background. It is quite

clear that various kinds of federal government have different degrees of power

distribution and sharing.

The federal states and governments are a product of two kinds of forces—

centripetal and centrifugal. Centripetal means when independent states agree to join

hands to create a new state, Australia and USA are the best examples of such federal

states. On the other hand, centrifugal means when unitary government transforms into

a federal government. The unit requires a high degree of autonomy under this

arrangement, which is only possible in federal states. India is an appropriate example

of centrifugal federal state. The federal structure is a kind of demand from different

regional units to put balance between national unity and regional autonomy.

In a federal system, the constitution performs a major role. In a federal state,

the relationship between center and unit are defined in the constitution. In such a

situation, it plays a pivotal role in defining the power and functions of center and the

state, i.e., unit. The distinct feature of the federal government is the division of power

between central government and several state governments. In USA, sovereignty lies in its
constitution. Every new law that is enacted by the federal government or a state

attempts to comply with the constitution. It shouldn’t go against the fundamental tenets

of the constitution. In a unitary state, the central government can enact laws to safeguard

and advance the interests of people, but in a federal state, the laws are designed to

consider the interests of the states as well as the people. The main features of a federal

government are:

(a) Delegation and distribution of power: In a federal state, the government

comprises of at least two or more levels in each territory. All of them

perform activity through some common institutions and the power is given

to them on a shared basis. It can be said that in a federal government, the

powers are distributed and delegated between the center and state (units)

and many other local governments too. It is one of the most essential

features of the federal government. In a federal state, the constitution works

as a sovereign over both central and state government. For instance, in

the United States, the federal government possesses certain powers that

are distinct from those of the 50 states. The state and the center each

focus on their own designated domains of expertise. The state and local

governments deal with matters pertaining to state affairs, such as issues

pertaining to education, health, sanitation, roads, and other matters, while

the federal government works on matters of national significance, which

are matters pertaining to both the country and its citizens. Examples of

these areas include foreign affairs, diplomacy, trade, international

negotiations, and treaties. As it has been mentioned in the Canada’s

Constitutional Acts, 1867 to 1982 about the direct taxation within province,

property and civil rights, administration of civil/criminal justice, education

and natural resources.

(b) Written and Rigid constitution: In federal government, the power is

distributed between the central and state government. Thus, in this situation

it becomes essential and binding to define the powers in a written and

enacted constitution. A written document can only give the effective

distribution and division of power. An unwritten constitution may generate

and bring some misunderstandings, confusion and disagreements between

the central and state governments. As it can be observed in the case of

USA, India and Canada have written constitution. In the federal system of government, it has been
said that the written

constitution is rigid. It is due to protecting the nature of the federal structure.

The central and state governments together have the power to amend the

written constitution. Moreover, it is due to maintaining the stability and

nature of federal state. Under this mutual consent between centre and

state, the method follows to amend the any part of constitution related to

federal structure require special majority i.e., 2/3rd majority. For example,

in America, if there is any amendment in the constitution required by the

government related to the federal structure, the amendment follows two

stages, at the first stage it requires 2/3rd majority of both the houses (Senate

and House of representative) and the convention called by the congress

on the demand made by 2/3rd members of the state assembly and at the

second stage, the passed amendment was either approved by the 3/4th

state legislatures or by special convention in 3/4th of the state. It is only

after passing through both the stages that the amendment is incorporated
in the constitution.

(c) Anchoring role of Judiciary: Judiciary plays a pioneering role to protect

and promote the federal nature of state. It is the judiciary which protects

and interprets the constitution. In India and USA, the judiciary utilizes the

power of judicial review over the laws of center and state government.

The judiciary not only interprets or protects the constitution but also solves

disputes between the centre and state or state affairs, like in India, where

the Supreme Court has solved the issues related to rivers.

In a federal state, various issues evolve like, the boundary, resources,

powers, actions etc. In such a situation, the role of judiciary is very important

to solve the disputes between centre and state. As it has been mentioned

by the J. S. Mill, ‘the constitutional authority of central and regional

government alike should be precisely and clearly defined but the power to

decide between them in any case of dispute should not reside in either of

the government, or in any functionary subject to it, but in an umpire

independent in both.’ In this regard, it can be found that the Judiciary

performs key role in USA, Canada, and India.

(d) Dual Administration and Citizenship: A federal state with two levels of

government: one at the state level and the other at the federal level serving

the people of the federation. The nature of the functioning of administration

at the center and state level government is totally independent but it also

works as a mutual support basis about national interest.

Moreover, in the federal government, each person gets individual citizenship

of state and center. In other words, it can be said that people of federal

state get double citizenship—one is common union citizenship of whole

nation, and another is the state as unit of which the person is resident. For

example, in Australia, America and Canada, the dual citizenship can be

found. In the USA, the people enjoy the citizenship of USA as well as the

state.

(e) Bicameral legislature: In a federal state, the powers are allocated in its

constituent parts or units. The constituent parts are empowered by the

sharing of power. Thus, to decentralize the power, most of the federal

countries witness dual legislature. In one house—the people of central

government are represented, while the other house is represented by the

units. The USA, Canada and India, have bicameral legislature. In the USA,

the Senate i.e., Upper House represents the states whereas the house of

representative represents center. In the USA, the people of the state have

been given equal representation in the house of representation and the 50

states have been given equal representation.

(f) Equality to all the unit states: Treating every state or unit as equal is a

fundamental tenet of the federal form of governance. It never gives special

or extra preference to any state based on its size, population, resources

etc. It is due to this requirement all the states given equal seats in one or

two houses of the central legislature, for example, in American Senate, all

states are represented by two members whether the state is large in size

or has a large population. As K. C. Wheare mentioned that the framers of

federation must ensure that all the units can maintain their independence

within the sphere allotted to them and work for the federation. Principally,

it can be said that the federal government takes the neutral or middle path

between the centre and the unit affairs. The system is supported by the

method of distribution of power between the central and state governments.

America’s political system has witnessed many changes in its federal character.

The initial nature of America’s federalism was based on the model of dual federalism

i.e., based on the principles of equality between the center and state. It was only till the

start of the Second World War in 1939 and 1940s. After some time, the nature of

America’s federalism changed into the model of cooperative federalism. In this

federalism, America has started regulating the economy in the model of give and take.

In the contemporary era, the nature of American federalism is mixed with dual and

cooperative federalism i.e., the center and state government are neither fully free nor

subordinate. It is quite clear that the larger geographical areas and cosmopolitan cultures

have mostly adopted the federal form of government. It is basically to represent the

entire region and community people. But, some states like India have adopted the
federal system to adopt both the larger geographical area and the voices of diversity.

The world has been adopting more federal systems in recent years; this is because

doing so gives the region autonomy and promotes rapid development and security.

Moreover, in the contemporary world, the nature of federal states has been changed

from dual federalism to cooperative federalism. In cooperative federalism, both the

centre and unit governments try to complement each other and work on mutual support

basis. It is visible in terms of America and India.

6.5 AN ANALYSIS

In the contemporary world, almost all countries have adopted the democratic form of

government, in which most of the states have followed either the unitary or the federal

form of government. If we can analyze both forms of government, we may find some

merits and demerits. It can be understood under different points, these are:

(a) Centralization versus Decentralization: When we see both the unitary and

federal forms of government, it can be easily noticed that the major difference

between these two forms of government is the distribution of power i.e.,

centralized and decentralized power systems. The unitary form of government

follows the principle of delegation of power from top to bottom. For example,

Spain or Britain have delegated the power to different autonomous agencies to

implement various policies of the government. It established one point that the lower units are used
as delegated authority and remain subordinate to the central

government.

(b) However, in the federal form of government the power is decentralized. It means

the decision-making process is not dependent on one centralized authority or

institution, but the power lies in the hands of multiple political actors. The subunits

are capable enough to make the decisions by themselves rather than getting

permission from the centre like the unitary form of government. This centralized

and decentralized system can be easily understood through Britain, Spain and

France where the decision is taken by one person or the institution. However,

rather than only coming from the centre, decisions are also made at the ends of
several units in federal governments like those in America, Canada, and India.

(c) Stable and powerful government: If we analyze and compare the unitary and

federal forms of government it can noticed that the unitary government is stronger

in comparison to the federal government regarding decision and policy-making.

There are chances that the unitary government can turn into a totalitarian

dictatorship. It is because there is no oversight of government operations and

power remains concentrated in the hands of the central government. The

likelihood of power abuse is high. For instance, it can be noted that the military

government in Pakistan has frequently overthrown the democratic one. The

military has frequently taken control of the government in Pakistan and installed

a military regime.

(d) The division of power between the centre and state is a weakness for both the

central as well as the state government. The central government finds it difficult

to implement the policies, programs and decisions without support from the

state government. On the other hand, state governments also find the difficult to

implement the schemes and policies with support from the central government.

As Gettlell has said, the proper adjustment for the central government is always

the source of problems majorly due to some sectional and local fractions present

in the state.

(e) The nature of the constitution: The Constitution has a very important post in

democracy and the Unitary or the federal form of government. In a unitary form

of government, the constitution is flexible. It is easy to amend by the central

government. Whereas, in the federal form of government the constitution is rigid and not easy to
amend which requires the consent of most of the states. It can

be easily noticed that the USA has witnessed only a few constitutional

amendments whereas, Britain has experienced many constitutional amendments.

(f) Administration and governance: The administration plays a very important

role in both the forms—unitary and federal government. In a unitary government,

the administration is flexible. The flexible constitution ensures to fulfilment of the

needs of the people according to changing times. The unitary system also adapts

to the situation according to the social needs and environment. It is because of

the system that enables the establishment of a strong central government with

complete authority to exercise that authority and modify the constitution as needed.

As has been mentioned by Gettell, the unitary system for its uniformity and

freedom from repetition, wastefulness, and extravagance. However, the unitary

government is suitable only for small or homogeneous states for large states

where multicultural systems where multiple languages, religions, and regional

diversity, the federal government will be the suitable government. In the unitary

system, the existence of a single executive and legislature for the whole state

makes dominance of administration of administration by the bureaucracy.

(g) Conflict and Stability in the State: A strong desire for unity among the people

is the first and prior condition for the formation and success of the federal

government. Thus, the idea of ‘unity in diversity’ has become the hallmark of the

successful federal government. The diverse interests of the federal units create

conflict with the unit and national interests. Many times, it creates conflict and

unhealthy competition between the regions. For example, regional loyalties,

racial, linguistic, and religious become major issues in federations.