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Difficulty: Very hardUnitary System of Government

In a nation operating a unitary system of government, the national parliament enacts a law granting regional assemblies administrative authority over primary healthcare and local transport. A decade later, the national parliament passes a subsequent statute revoking these granted powers and dissolving the regional assemblies without requiring regional consent. Which of the following constitutional principles legally justifies the national parliament's action?

  1. The central legislature retains supreme legal sovereignty, allowing delegated powers to be altered or revoked by ordinary legislative action.Answer
  2. B
    The regional assemblies exercise constitutionally entrenched residual powers that require a dual-referendum process before revocation.
  3. C
    The legal sovereign automatically forfeits legislative supremacy once authority is devolved to sub-national administrative units.
  4. D
    Sub-national regions hold sovereign statehood rights, leaving the central parliament with override authority only during formal national emergencies.

Answer

The central legislature retains supreme legal sovereignty, allowing delegated powers to be altered or revoked by ordinary legislative action.
In a unitary system of government, supreme legal power (sovereignty) is vested in a single central authority. While a unitary government may grant powers to lower levels of administration through a process known as devolution or decentralization, these sub-national bodies exist at the discretion of the central legislature. Because these powers are statutory rather than constitutional, the national parliament retains legal supremacy and can modify, reduce, or completely revoke devolved powers by ordinary legislative enactment at any time.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the constitutional framework described in the scenario
The central legislature creates regional assemblies via ordinary statute rather than a rigid constitutional division of powers.
Identifying whether power sharing stems from statutory delegation or constitutional entrenchment distinguishes unitary systems from federations.
2
Apply the core defining characteristic of a unitary system of government
In a unitary state, legal sovereignty is indivisible and concentrated entirely in the central authority.
Sub-national bodies in a unitary system are subordinate creations of the central parliament and possess no independent constitutional status.
3
Evaluate the legal validity of the parliament's revoking statute
Because parliament is legally sovereign and the regional powers were merely devolved by statute, parliament can repeal the statute and abolish the regional assemblies unilaterally.
Statutory delegation (devolution) preserves central legislative supremacy, granting parliament the power to give and take back authority.

Key Concept

Unitary Sovereignty vs. Statutory Devolution
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Topics

Unitary System of Government

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