The concept of the territorial form of government implies a method of its administrative-territorial organization. Such a state may have unified governing bodies or be composed of many territories, each of which will be subordinate to its own local government, which has broad powers.
Unitary form of state-territorial arrangement
The unitary form is quite widespread. Such a state is characterized by the unity of all government bodies, the legal system and the constitution, which are distributed without any restrictions or reservations to the entire country. Such countries are Sweden, Italy, Poland, many countries in Africa and Asia.
Federated form of state-territorial arrangement
In contrast to the unitary, federal form implies a rather complex formation, which includes units that are less ambitious in terms of their size and legal international significance. The constituent entities can be named differently: states, lands, cantons, emirates, provinces, and so on. But invariably federal form of state-territorial
The device suggests that such - local - entities transfer part of their own sovereignty in favor of central government bodies. Thus, there are actually two levels of the
state apparatus: the highest — federal, whose power extends to the entire country, and the power of the territorial subjects of the federation — it extends only within the borders of each subject. Similarly, laws can be divided into those that are subject to mandatory implementation only within the limited territories of the subjects (as in the US states), and universal - federal. The federal form of state-territorial structure prevails, as a rule, in countries that are ethnically heterogeneous (Belgium), countries that have arisen by combining previously independent territories (such as Switzerland, Germany, the USA), and also having a very large-scale territory or a large population (for example, for this reason, Russia is also a federal
form of state territorial and political structure).
Typical features of a federated device:
- The state consists of many separate entities that have their own authorities.
- Parliaments of federal states are necessarily bicameral, since one of the chambers is federal, and the other consists of representatives of the land. However, it should be noted that a bicameral parliament can function in a unitary state, not necessarily being a sign of a federation.
- In many federations, the concept of dual citizenship exists : local to the republics and general.
- Foreign relations in such countries are the exclusive prerogative of the central government.