8 Characteristics of the United States and Examples

A union state can be said to be a country in which there are several states where these states do not have sovereignty. On the other hand, the union state can also be said to be a plural state because it consists of several countries that do not have sovereignty.

However, what is certain is that each of these union states has the power in legal institutions to carry out forms of internal social action provided that it does not conflict with the federal constitution.

United State

The union state is a form of federalization of a country which is a unit of various countries with the consequences of common laws and rules in carrying out all forms of activities and activities within the rules of the country.

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Features of the United States

Knowing more about the union state, it’s good to know the characteristics of the union state. The characteristics of a union state can be differentiated through its system of government, executive power, constitution, representative institutions and judicial system.

The explanation in the union state is as follows:

The characteristics that can be seen in terms of the government system are as follows:

1. In a union state there are many states within which these states do not have sovereignty. It remains a central state that holds full sovereignty over the state. This is the most basic and distinctive characteristic of a united state, so it is easy to distinguish it from other forms of state.
2. On the basis of the many states in the union state, therefore this form of state has two levels of government, namely the first is the government which is in a central position, then the second is the government which is at the state level.
3. With the existence of a central and state government, therefore in the union state there is a distribution of power between the center and the states. The implementation of the distribution of power between the central government and the states is very important to achieve efficiency in state administration. so that for matters of national interest the authority is given to the center and matters of regional interest the authority is given to the states
4. Each country that is under the central state, has original power. Original power is the power used by the state to regulate and manage the resources owned by the state to meet the interests and needs of the state.
5. Each state has a head of state who has the right to manage his own local household.
6. The head of state has veto rights or privileges that come from granting parliamentary institutions.
   

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The following are the characteristics of a united state in terms of the division of executive power, namely as follows:

1. The government in the central country has the authority to enter and exit the country. The central government has the authority to determine the strategy for the direction of public policy to be implemented in the country. Therefore matters relating to communications, defence, foreign trade, international relations, and issues of citizenship.
2. The state government that has original power then takes care of affairs related to the territory of the state including in matters of education, cooperatives, sanitation and supervision of the state government.

Like other forms of state, the union state also has a constitution. The characteristics of a united state seen from its constitution are as follows:

1. The constitution owned by the union state is a written constitution. This written constitution acts as a legal tool as the basis for state regulations in regulating policies and governance. The position of the constitution in the United States occupies the highest level in the rule of law.
2. Apart from having a constitution in written form, constitutions in union states are rigid and inflexible. A rigid constitution means that the constitution is not easy to change. Therefore neither the central nor regional/state governments can change it arbitrarily. The process of amending the constitution in a union state must go through a very complicated procedure. Therefore, the constitution in a union state can only be amended in order to maintain constitutional stability with procedures that have been established and approved by the institution authorized to administer the constitution.
3. In a union state, the basic rules between the center and the states are different. This depends on the state of the country and the government in the country.
4. Apart from the center, states also have the power to make and draft their own constitutions conditioned on the state of affairs as long as they do not violate the union constitution.
5. Characteristics of the United States in terms of Representative Institutions

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The characteristics contained in the union state in terms of representative institutions are as follows:

1. In the union state there is more than one representative institution within the states in order to administer the state.
2. Characteristics of the United State in terms of the Justice System

The characteristics of a union state when viewed in terms of its justice system are as follows:

1. The court will intervene in representative institutions that are in conflict between the center and the state with the aim of reducing conflicts and finding solutions related to conflicts faced between institutions.
2. The judicial system owned by the United States is an independent judiciary. The free judiciary in question is a judiciary that is impartial and capable of interpreting the constitution in an impartial manner to the central government or state governments. Considering that there is not only one representative institution in the union states, there will be opportunities for disputes to occur between the central state and the states. Therefore, in the union state there is a Supreme Court whose function is to decide constitutional disputes, interpret and safeguard the constitution.

Example of the United States

The countries included in the examples of union countries in the world are as follows;

1. United States of America

Country with an area of ​​9.83 million km ²  and a population of 309 million people has 50 states and a federal district. Not only that America also has several areas in the Caribbean even though it is not the territory of the United States.

At first, the United States of America was formed from 13 former British colonies which managed to become independent on July 4, 1776 and managed to win the American Revolutionary War against the British opponent.

America also carried out a massive expansion in the 19th century by buying areas in France, namely Louisiana, then America managed to get Alaska from Russia, and got areas belonging to Mexico such as New Mexico, Texas and California after completing the Mexican-American War with annex.

2. Russia

This country, which has an area that stretches from Eastern Europe to East Asia, has 88 states with 22 states and 46 oblasts or provinces. To regulate administrative order, in Russia there is a Federal District which is used to facilitate the continuity and interests of the federal government in areas of federal subjects that have been grouped.

Each Federal District has a presidential ambassador whose function is to oversee the performance of federal agencies in its territory, linking federal subjects (states) and the federal government and finally the main function is to control compliance of federal subjects with federal laws.

3. Australian Country

The country that is nicknamed the country of kangaroos has several coverage areas such as the mainland of the Australian Continent, then the island of Tasmania and small islands in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

Given its relatively small coverage area, Australia only has 6 states and 2 mainland territories. The states in Australia are Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.

So, from the various explanations that have been put forward, it can be concluded that the union state is essentially a country that has at least two levels of government, namely the central government and the state, where the state government has the power to make its own constitution and regulate its own household but the state parts have no sovereignty because sovereignty resides in the central state.

Thus the complete article which provides a discussion related to  the characteristics of a union state  and examples of countries that adhere to it. We hope that this post that we provide can provide education and reference for those of you who need it.