The political power of government in such states may well be transferred to lower levels, to regionally or locally elected assemblies, governors and ma yors ('devolved government'), but the central government retains the principal right to recall such del egated power. In a unitar y govt., there is no hierarchy of sovereign powers. States have no authority to pass their own laws, and the central (national) govt. Can order the states to do anything - just like a state can order a town to do anything, because the town is not sovereign.
Every form of government has certain pros and cons. There are many unitary state advantages and disadvantages which form the basic characteristics of unitary state.These benefits and demerits affect the nation immensely. The socio-economic stability of a country depends on all these factors.
In a unitary form of government, the central government possesses much authority and decision - making power. Local governing b odies simply serve as administrative arms of the central government. Great Britain is a familiar example of a unitary government; individual British counties have little of the power commonl y exercised by American states. France, with 90 departments grouped into 36 provinces, also has a unitary form of government. It is important, however, to note that unitary gov ernments are not inherently less democratic than other forms. In federal systems, assemblies in those states composing the federation have a con stitutional existence and a set of constitutional functions which cannot be unilaterally changed by the central government.
In some such cases, such as in the United States, it is the federal government that has onl y those powers specifically delegated to it. In a unitary state, by contrast, any sub-governmental units can be created or abolished, and have their powers varied, by the central government. The process in which sub-government units and/or regional parliaments are created by a central government is known as devolution. A unitary state can broaden and narrow the functions of such devolved (sub-) governments without formal agreement from the affected bodies. In a federal government, power is split between a central government authority and its constituent states. Usually, an overriding law of the land, known as a constitution, allocates duties, rights, and privileges to each level of government. The constitution usually defines how power is shared between n ational, state, and local governments; the power to amend this constitution is u sually granted to the citizens or their governmental representatives.
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A unitary government is the central gov ernment which delegates certain powers to the units on its own accord. The units are, therefore, subordinate agents of centre. It is the on e in which all the powers of administration are vested in a single centre.
The centre is omnipotent. A unitary state may be divided into small units for the sake of administrative convenience but the units do not have any constitutional status of their own. In other words, the constitution does not confer any powers on the units. The powers enjoyed by them are the gifts of the centre and as such these can be taken back at any moment. The units are thus not autonomous and independent in any way.