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When is a federal system the best?
- Unitary = uniform policies with all the same laws and regulations
- Federal = represent states, heterogenous policies
- Federal = more flexible, for individual rights and businesses
- Ex: midwesterners care about farming
- Hyperlocality vs large urban centers (service industries)
- Unitary = high regulation of large corporations and industries
- Also social regulation
- Federal = higher cultural diversity
- Unitary systems struggle with incorporating diversity
- Assimilation, single/little-varying political culture
A federal system is best when you
- Care less about efficiency of governance
- Have a more heterogenous population
- Need to let interest groups and subnationals represent
Legislature
- Judicial, executive enforce
- Legislature represents "nation-state as a whole"
- Make laws
- Classifying legislatures
1) How is the executive chosen?
Parliamentary = Prime Minister comes out of legislature
Presidential = people vote for the president
- Different constituencies
- PM responsible to parties/lawmakers
- President responsible to the people
- In the US system, their powers are independent
- Studied as separate institutions, unlike parliament
2) How many chambers?
- Bicameral or Unicameral
Unicameral = legislation is fast
Bicameral = legislation is slow
Bicameral = responsibility for laws is less clear
- Confounding of power
- Senate is more powerful, but not perceived as such
Unicameral = more of a broad responsibility to the country
- Good society
Bicameral = responsibility to constituents, parties, interests
- "Specific"
- Voter loyalty to party, districts, representatives
- Very little insulation from public opinion, esp. localness
Cost: $bicameral > $unicameral
3) Full vs part time legislators
- Georgia senators only work 40 days
- Maybe more subject to corruption, less diligence
- Care less about the job
- US senators full time
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