Question

what are the advantages and disadvantages of having a national, regional, local government structure in the united states of america?

Answer 1

The three different types of government systems in the United States of America are national or unitary, regional or federal, and       local or confederal. Each system has its own advantages and disadvantages. Let’s begin with understanding these systems along with their merits and demerits.

The national or unitary system is a system of governance in the USA as well as in other countries whereby the central government controls the weaker states. In this system of governance, power is not shared or divided between states, provinces or counties. The biggest advantage of national government system is the uniform policies for directing the entire country. This facilitates decision making and makes law making more aligned. The disadvantage of such a system is local differences are disregarded.

The regional or federal system of governance works by sharing power between the central government and provinces or states. The federal government comprises of three discrete branches namely legislative, judicial and executive, whose power is vested by the constitution of the US in the Congress, federal courts, and the President, respectively.

The biggest advantage of federal system of governance is that more power is rendered to the local governments by the federal governments. Power is diffused thereby reducing the possibility of tyranny or misuse of power by one person or a group of individuals. In this system of governance, there is an increased participation from civilians who can actually influence lawmaking, government policy and governments across states. Conflict management is easier. The disadvantage of federal governments is the higher possibility of sacrificing national uniformity on certain key issues. In some cases, it even allows for the inequalities amongst states. The other big demerit of this system is that states indulge in competition with each other in an oppositional manner whereby they reduce the benefits that should be given to welfare recipients compared to other neighboring states. This in turn motivates undesirables to move to neighboring states and cases a reduction in their costs of welfare further down.

Local or confederal governments refer to the governmental jurisdictions or political units below state level with most states having a minimum of two tiers of local govt. namely municipalities and counties. These jurisdictions have agreed to follow the more powerful state govt. In this system of governance, local governments have more freedom and majority of power. On the other hand, the central govt. retains minimal power. The biggest advantage of local government system is that complete control of law making and decision making rests with the local governments. The biggest disadvantage of such a system is that such governments fail to set uniform national policies. This often leads to conflict between individual states as alliance is undermined.

In a nutshell, power is more centralized in national system, divided between local and central governments in regional system and completely in the hands of governments in local system. Each of the system has its own sets of impacts on the effectiveness and efficiency of government system.