Title: Federalism: Basic Structure of Government | United States Government
Headings: Federalism: Basic Structure of Government
Federalism: Basic Structure of Government
Learning Objectives
Questions to Consider
Terms to Remember
Examples For Further Study

Content: This separation of powers feature makes the U.S. federal system even more distinct, since not all federal systems have such separation of powers. Questions to Consider
What are the central differences between unitary, confederation, and federal governmental structures? Show Answer
unitary power is centralized at the top, confederate power is decentralized usually among several roughly co-equal entities/states, and federal powers are a mix with some centralized power delegated to the national government, some reserved to the states/sub-national entities and, in the United States, power is further separated between branches of government
How is power separated and shared in the U.S. federal structure? Show Answer
power is separated vertically between national, state, and local governments and shared and separated between legislative, judicial, and executive branches at the various levels
Terms to Remember
centralization –power is concentrated at one level of government such as the national level in a unitary system
confederation –highly decentralized structure of government with roughly co-equal entities/sovereign states forming an alliance for purposes such as national defense and/or other agreed purposes
decentralization –power is divided or shared between various levels of government
federal system/federalism –institutional arrangement creating relatively autonomous levels of government, each able to act directly on behalf of the people; authority to act granted by the people
separation of powers –a horizontal division of power between the executive, legislative, and judicial powers, allowing each branch of government to act as a check and balance on the other branches
unitary system –highly centralized governmental authority in which any other level of government below the national government is dependent upon the central/national government; centralized power or substantial authority is concentrated with national government
Examples For Further Study
The structure of government impacts the function (day-to-day business) of government. Countries must make this important decision about which structure of government to employ before working on the details of how this organizational structure will carry out the basic functions of governing. CC licensed content, Shared previously
American Government. Authored by: OpenStax.