Essay on “Advantages and Disadvantages of Unitary Government System”

A major advantage of the unitary system is to tackle the responsibilities and powers based in the government. The unitary system has the capability to tackle such problems. On the other hand, it has a clear cut-throat competition. A unitary form of government is basically a country that is ran by a single unit of authority and power, and it is also known as the central government. A disadvantage of this single authority of power is their soft image of serving the “paternalism” and in this case they receive depraved reputation. However, unitary government system usually has a large number of benefits as compared to disadvantages.

The first advantage is its ability to serve as the uniformed nation, and in that case every citizen feels the sense of belonging and unity. Also, it inspires the uniformity among the different states of the nations, as well enhance the patriotism present in the people. On the other hand, there are certain laws and policies that span for the entire nation, hence there is no requirement to disdain over a state having increased freedom and liberties than other states. There is a unity and a sense of equality shown by the central form of government.

Second advantage is the ability of unitary government to absorb everything on a large scale, as everything is occurring on a large scale. There is only one branch of power in unitary government, and there is no need to go through lengthy processes to being put into effect. This favorable aspect of the unitary government is extremely important to the states and the affairs of the entire country. The third advantage is that the management of economies occur in this unitary form of government. All the laws pertaining to different issues, the taxes span the entire nation, the management of fluctuation is easier in the unitary form of government. Overall, the laws and policies are applied to all the states, so there is no inequality as well. (Pennock, 1959)

In the perspective of the unitary form of government, taxes also go to more effective and efficient use. There are no duplications of any kinds of services in the central government. Usually the federal services are accessible, the local government efforts are also present for the similar services. The tax payers don’t waste any money on paying extra tax. Moreover, there are no local forms of government underneath the establishment of the unitary form of government, and this is why tax payers’ money is spent rightly on the appropriate services. Other advantage is that local branches are available and possible in the unitary government. The unitary form is highly flexible in nature which turns effective and efficient in the favor of the country.

On the other hand, the disadvantage is that easily falls out of touch. The power divided into the unitary of government is usually centralized, and therefore the majority of citizens do not complaint with the governmental affairs. This can basically cause conflict between the people of the country and the government of the country, this is why unitary government can result into disappointment.

Also, it is found out that the response of unitary form of government is usually slow in terms of solving the local issues of the country. Since, there is only avenue to travel the smaller issues are usually neglected and they rarely find a resolution for the purpose. They may receive the government’s attention but will fall out of their mind easily due to less importance.

Some people are just opposed the idea of a “glorified” dictatorship and especially it happens in the case of larger dictatorship, or the unitary government. Hence, the single unite of power can easily lead the citizens feeling exploited by the government for their benefit. There is also no checks and balances done in the single unit of government which may lead things go disaster. Hence, according to the studied disadvantages a common ground can be found that there is a lack of association between the people and the government. Hence, it is the people who needs to be completely satisfied with the governmental affairs run in the country, and the way governments are run.

I have personally always supported in the favor of decentralization of the government. According to the personal viewpoint, the decentralization keeps the citizens and the government closer and therefore the diversification of activities in the government, or international trade for that matter becomes easy. For instance, decentralized government works in a way that Washington D.C. or the New York does not what is happening in the government of Alabama. It works best for the people, and may not work entirely in the favor of the government. Hence, it is an advantage for the people and a disadvantage for the government. Federal government, and both decentralized government works better than the unitary form of government. Decentralized has all the factors of a unitary form of government, but it works in the favor of the people. I personally prefer decentralization of the government. (Fesler, 1965)

Conclusion

The paper has successfully discussed the different advantages and disadvantages of both unitary form of government as well as decentralized government. It is found out that a unitary form of government is basically a country that is ran by a single unit of authority and power, and it is also known as the central government. A disadvantage of this single authority of power is their soft image of serving the “paternalism” and in this case they receive depraved reputation. However, unitary government system usually has a large number of benefits as compared to disadvantages. It works best for the government, while decentralization in simple words works best for the people of the country. The goal of the government must be to serve the people of the country.

References

Fesler, J. W. (1965). Approaches to the Understanding of Decentralization. The Journal of Politics, 27(3), 536-566.

Pennock, J. R. (1959). Federal and unitary government—disharmony and frustration. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 4(2), 147-157.