Social Sciences and History / Unit 7 SSH 0618 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Federal, Unitary, Confederal
Captions available
The idea
Federalism creates two relatively autonomous levels of government, each able to act directly on the people with authority from the national constitution. A unitary system concentrates authority in the national government. A confederation concentrates authority in the subnational governments, as the Articles did.
In practice
Each level draws on different revenue sources.
Where people slip
Devolution is delegation within a unitary system.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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