pobierz - Uniwersytet Warmińsko - Mazurski

380 Edyta Sokalskapolitical power as unitary, confederate, and federal. In the eighteen century,the terms of confederation and federation were synonymous. An understandingof the federal system is promoted by comparing it with the unitary andthe confederate systems.In the unitary form one central government has a supreme power overall territorial divisions within the country. Provinces, cities, or other politicalunits owe their creation and continued existence to the central governmentand they possess only such powers as the central government grants them.The central government can make a broad or limited delegation of powers tolower levels of government.The unitary government is the most common form in the world andsubnational governments are viewed primarily as administrative subdivisionsto carry out national policies. Very often the central government prescribesin detail the policies to be implemented and the procedures to befollowed. Since the lower units are subject to more or less continuous supervisionand control, the unitary organization is able to achieve a degree ofnational homogeneity, provide uniformity of policy and administration, andconcentrate power swiftly and completely 1 .One major disadvantage of the unitary system is its lack of flexibility.Identical methods and policies are applied to all local conditions regardlessof their applicability in specific areas. In some cases, they are suitable tocertain local problems, in some cases not. Historically the relationship betweenthe state government and its political subdivisions in the UnitedStates was unitary. These days, the relationship is unitary in some statesand federal in other states 2 .A confederate system is one in which two or more independent states arelinked in order to establish a central government agency to accomplish certainspecific common purposes. Typically, those purposes include the conduct offoreign affairs and national defense. Each state retains its sovereignty andcontrol over all people and things within its boundaries with the exception ofthe powers delegated to the central agency. A confederacy is a system whichis readily adaptable to regional policy preferences. A confederation is inherentlyan unstable form of government since individual states may nullifythe acts of the central agency and even withdraw from the confederation.Despite its disadvantages, this system of government has been an instrumentfor cooperation in revolutionary emergencies and sometimes hasbeen a beginning to the establishment of a closer and more stable political1 R.F. Nagel, The Implosion of American Federalism, Oxford University Press, New York2002, p. 16–17.2 J.F. Zimmerman, Contemporary American Federalism. The Growth of National Power,Praeger, Westport, Connecticut 1992, p. 3–4.