Which of the following have unitary form of government?

1) Argentina

2) Brazil

3) Sweden

4) Belgium

a. 1, 2

b. 3, 4

c. 1, 3, 4

d. All of the above

ANSWER: 3, 4

Explanation:

A unitary government is one in which all the powers are vested in the national government and if the regional governments exist, they derive their authority from the national government.

A federal government is one in which powers are divided between the national government and the regional governments by the Constitution itself and both operate in their respective jurisdictions independently.

Britain, France, Japan, China, Italy, Belgium, Norway,Sweden, Spain, etc. have the unitary model of government.

The US, Switzerland, Australia,Canada, Russia, Brazil, Argentina etc., have the federal model of government.

The term ‘federation’ is derived from a Latin word ‘foedus’ which means ‘treaty’ or ‘agreement’.

The units of a federation are known by various names - states (as in US) or cantons (as in Switzerland) or provinces (as in Canada) or republics (as in Russia).

A federation can be formed in two ways, that is, by way of integration or by way of disintegration.

In the first case, a number of militarily weak or economically backward states (independent) come together to form a big and a strong union, as for example, the US.

In the second case, a big unitary state is converted into a federation by granting autonomy to the provinces to promote regional interest(for example, Canada).

The framers of Indian Constitution adopted the federal system due to - the large size of the country and its socio-cultural diversity.

Federal system ensures the efficient governance of the country but combines national unity with regional autonomy.

However, the term ‘federation’ has nowhere been used in the Constitution.

Instead, Article 1 of the Constitution describes India as a ‘Union of States’.

According to Dr. B R Ambedkar, the phrase ‘Union of States’ has been preferred to ‘Federation of States’ to indicate two things -

1. the Indian federation is not the result of an agreement among the states like the American federation; and

2. the states have no right to secede from the federation.

The federation is union because it is indestructible.

The Indian federation resembles the Canadian federation -

1. in its formation (i.e., by way of disintegration);

2. in its preference to the term ‘Union’ ; and

3. in vesting more powers in the center vis-a-vis the states.