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Difficulty: HardFederal System of Government

A newly adopted constitution grants regional governments the authority to enact laws on local healthcare and sanitation, but explicitly provides that the central parliament retains unilateral authority to amend, curtail, or revoke these regional legislative powers by ordinary statute at any time. Which of the following accurately classifies this constitutional arrangement?

  1. A unitary system featuring administrative devolution, because regional powers lack constitutional entrenchment and coordinate status.Answer
  2. B
    A federal system with concurrent legislative jurisdiction, because both central and regional authorities hold law-making functions.
  3. C
    A confederal system, because primary sovereign control over domestic social policies is held by sub-national units.
  4. D
    A federal system featuring divided legal sovereignty, because legislative responsibilities are distributed across multiple governmental tiers.

Answer

The constitutional arrangement represents a unitary system with administrative devolution, as the central authority retains ultimate legal supremacy to alter or retract regional powers at will.
The correct answer identifies the arrangement as a unitary system with administrative devolution. A federal system strictly requires coordinate autonomy between tiers of government, established and protected by a rigid constitution. When a central parliament can alter or revoke regional powers through ordinary statutory law, the central government remains legally supreme, which is the defining characteristic of a unitary state.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the core legal mechanism of power allocation in the stem.
Regional legislative powers can be altered or revoked unilaterally by ordinary statute by the central parliament.
Federalism requires coordinate authority where neither tier can unilaterally alter the constitutional boundary of powers of the other.
2
Distinguish federal power division from unitary devolution.
Because regional powers depend entirely on central statutory delegation rather than entrenchment in a rigid constitution, the system is unitary.
In unitary systems, central government retains supreme legal sovereignty and can delegate (devolve) or recall powers at discretion.

Key Concept

Essential Difference Between Federal Constitutional Power Sharing and Unitary Devolution
Estimated Time:2m 0s
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Topics

Federal System of Government

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