Question

Explain why it is possible that a unitary government might be either democratic or dictatorial in form.

Answer 1

A unitary government can be either democratic or dictatorial depending on the concentration of power in the central government. Democratic unitary governments decentralize power through devolution, while dictatorial unitary governments exert complete control over the population.

Step-by-step explanation:

A unitary government can be either democratic or dictatorial in form due to the concentration of power in the central government. In a democratic unitary government, power is decentralized through devolution, allowing the creation of regional governments and the delegation of specific responsibilities. Examples of democratic unitary governments include the United Kingdom, France, Japan, and Sweden. However, in a unitary government, if the central government becomes dictatorial and prohibits opposition or dissent, it can exert complete control over its population and impose censorship and other social controls. Examples of dictatorial unitary governments are rare, but North Korea is an example of a totalitarian unitary government.

Answer 2

Dictatorial governments are unitary by definition, because they concentrate power either on a single person (the dictator) or on a few individuals, who micromanage government affairs as much a possible.

Democracy is also compatible with unitary governments, because power in unitary governments, while being more concentrated than in federal governments, can still be democratically elected. There are many examples of democratically-elected unitary governments around the world.

France is one of those examples: an unitary government ever since the French Revolution, it is currently one of the strongest democracies in the world and a highly developed country.