Confederate Governments

A group of states or smaller political units that have agreed to follow a power central government is a confederal system. A confederacy that is composed by the states is often weak or loosely organized. These states have a lot of freedom because the majority of power is given to local governments. The central government has very little power. Examples of a confederal government are Belgium, the former Soviet Union, and Switzerland’s canton system.
Advantages of a confederal government are that they give local or regional government’s almost complete control of decision making and law making. Confederate governments are focused on the needs of the people in each state. The government tends to be more in touch with its citizenry. Tyranny is

almost impossible in a confederal government.
Disadvantages of a confederal government are that it sets no significant uniform national polices. This can lead to conflict among the individual states and can undermine the alliance. Centralization means that the activities of an organization are concentrated within a particular location or group.
A unitary system is one central government that controls weaker states.

In a unitary system the central government holds the most power. The power is not shared between states, countries, or provinces. Some examples of unitary governments include the United Kingdom, Japan, China, and France. Unitary governments are absolute monarchies or tyrannies more often than not. Most states in the world have a unitary system of government. The unitary state still has local and regional governmental offices, but these are under the auspices of the central government.
Advantages of a unitary government is that the set uniform policies that direct the entire nation. Decision making and law making can be made more aligned this way. A unitary government is usually a more efficient use of tax dollars. A unitary government is a simpler management of an economy. It is also a smaller government.
A disadvantage of a unitary government is that they disregard local differences. There are differences among countries and their individual cultures that can’t be entirely accommodated by a unitary government. A unitary government loses track of local issues easily. A unitary government is an incredibly divisive form of government. Unitary governments usually get bloated and bogged down since it is trying to replace the federal and state

governments.
A federal government is a system that shares power between central government and states or provinces. Examples of federal governments include the United States, Germany, Australia, and Canada. The United States Constitution grants specific powers to the national government while retaining other powers for the states. The power to set and enforce driving laws is done by the state governments.
An advantage of the federal government is that they give local governments more power. State governments can experiment with policies, and other states can learn from their successes and failures. If power is given to local officials, it is much easier to run a country the size of the United States, with such a diverse population. State and local officials are closer to the problems of their areas which makes more sense for them to choose policies to solve those problems.
A disadvantage of the federal government is that the United States does not have a single policy on issues, instead it had 51 policies. The overlap of the boundaries among national and state governments makes it tricky to assign blame for failed policies. Federal governments sacrifice national uniformity on some issues. Federal systems still have their share of power struggles, like those seen in the American Civil War.