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Astate government is thegovernment that controls asubdivision of acountry in afederalform of government, which sharespolitical power with thefederal ornational government. A state government may have some level of politicalautonomy, or be subject to the direct control of the federal government. This relationship may be defined by aconstitution.
The reference to "state" denotes country subdivisions that are officially or widely known as "states", and should not be confused with a "sovereign state". Most federations designate their federal units "state" or the equivalent term in the local language; however, in some federations, other designations are used such asOblast orRepublic. Some federations areasymmetric, designating greater powers to some federal units than others.
Provinces are usually divisions of unitary states but occasionally the designation is also given to the federal units such as theProvinces of Argentina orCanada. Their governments, which are alsoprovincial governments, are not the subject of this article. Many people confuse the state with city governments, and while a small ticket or small crime will be overlooked by the federal government and handled by the state or city government, that are not the same.
TheCommonwealth of Australia is afederal nation with six states (and two mainland territories).Section 51 of the Australian Constitution sets out the division oflegislative power between the states and the Commonwealth (federal) government. The Commonwealth government is given a variety of legislative powers, including control offoreign policy,taxation (although this cannot discriminate between states or parts of states), and regulation of interstatecommerce andcorporations.[1] Since the original ratification of the constitution, theHigh Court of Australia has settled a number of disputes concerning the extent of the Commonwealth's legislative powers, some of which have been controversial and extensively criticised; these included a dispute in 1982 over whether the Commonwealth was entitled to designate land for national heritage purposes underUnited Nations agreements,[2] as well as numerous disputes over the extent of the Commonwealth's power overtrade union andindustrial relations legislation.[3]
One difference between the Australian andUnited States models of federalism is that, in Australia, the Commonwealth Parliament has explicit constitutional power overmarriage legislation; this has been a focal point for recent controversies oversame-sex marriage.[4]
Each state of Australia has agovernor, who represents theKing of Australia (currentlyCharles III) and performs the ceremonial duties of ahead of state. Unlike the Canadian lieutenant-governors, a state governor is appointed by the Monarch on the advice of the state government, not the federal government. Every state also has aparliament; most states have abicameral parliament, except forQueensland, where the upper chamber (theLegislative Council) was abolished in 1922.[5] Like theirIndian counterparts, Australian states have aWestminster system of parliamentary government; the head of government, known in each state as aPremier, is drawn from the state parliament.
In Austria, aLandtag (state parliament) elects aLandeshauptmann, who is not only the chairman of a state government but also the representative of the federal government and responsible for the enforcement of federal legislation.
Germany has sixteen federalstates (Bundesländer) with their own governments (Landesregierung).
InIndia, state governments are thegovernments ruling over the country's28 states and two of itseight union territories (Delhi andPuducherry). Under theConstitution of India, the executive power of a state is vested in itsGovernor;[6] however, the real executive power rests with aCouncil of Ministers, headed by aChief Minister.[7] The legislative structure consists of a directly-electedlegislative assembly and, in the case of 6 states, an indirectly-electedlegislative council.[8] The judicial setup consists of the state'shigh court and the district courts subordinate to it.[9][10]
Mexico also has states.
InNigeria, States are constituent political entities of which there are currently 36. States have an electedGovernor and legislature and broad powers in some areas. Powers not given to the states belong to thefederal government under theConstitution of Nigeria.
InPakistan, theProvinces of Pakistan are the federal units. There are currently four.
The Provincial Governments are each headed formally by aProvincial Governor but for practical purposes power is exercised by theChief Minister, in aparliamentary system similar to that of the Federal government of Pakistan .
South Africa is usually considered aunitary state but its government system possesses a strong similarity to a federal one. TheConstitution of South Africa does not describe the state as federal or unitary.
South Africa is divided intonine provinces which have their own elected governments. Chapter Six of theConstitution of South Africa describes the division of power between the national government and the provincial governments, listing those "functional areas" of government that are exclusively reserved to the provincial governments and those where both levels of government have concurrent powers; the remaining areas not listed are reserved to the national government. In areas where both levels have concurrent powers there is a complex set of rules in the event of a conflict between national and provincial legislation. Generally in such a case the provincial legislation prevails, but national legislation may prescribe standards and frameworks for provinces to follow, and may prevent provinces from adversely affecting national interests or the interests of other provinces. The functional areas in which the provincial governments have powers include agriculture, arts and culture, primary and secondary education, the environment and tourism, health, housing, roads and transport, and social welfare.
The provincial governments are structured according to aparliamentary system in which the executive is dependent on and accountable to the legislature. The unicameralprovincial legislature is elected byparty-list proportional representation, and the legislature in turn elects one of its members asPremier to head the executive. The Premier appoints anExecutive Council (a cabinet), consisting of members of the legislature, to administer the variousdepartments of the provincial administration.
The United States is divided into 50states, which comprise thefederated polities. Unlike many other federal systems, thestates of the U.S. created the federal government. Under the10th Amendment to theU.S. Constitution, all governmental powers not granted to theFederal government of the United States nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, making the United States a decentralized federation.Federal law generally takes preference overState law when the two conflict, due to a number of constitutional clauses and judicial precedents.
In most states,governors are the directly electedhead of state andcommander-in-chief of their state's respective military structure.State legislatures exercise legislative authority. In 49 states out of 50 as well as three of the inhabitedTerritories of the United States (Puerto Rico,Northern Mariana Islands, andAmerican Samoa), the legislature isbicameral, and the houses are commonly, though not exclusively, styledHouse of Representatives andSenate, although the name of the legislative body as a whole varies between the states (the most common areGeneral Assembly (itself sometimes a term for the lower house of a state legislature) such as inNorth Carolina, or simplyLegislature as inTexas). InNebraska,United States Virgin Islands andGuam (the latter two being federal territories rather than states) the legislature isunicameral.
The states are sovereign entities in their own right[dubious –discuss] and maintain much control over their internal affairs with issues such aspublic transport andlaw enforcement generally being the domain of state governments (although the Federal government often works with states in these areas). Large portions of the welfare state in the United States are administered by the states as well, which means that levels of social services vary from state to state. This has sometimes been controversial, such as in the case ofMedicaid expansion.
There are also several territories, the most notable of which isPuerto Rico. Puerto Rico is treated in a manner similar to a state in many areas, but in others is quite different. Most notably, it does not have representation in theUnited States Congress other than its non-votingResident Commissioner of Puerto Rico. However, it does enjoy more autonomy in taxation and some other areas than the states, and thus is commonly classified as a sort ofautonomous region for thePuerto Rican people, who are culturally distinct from the Americans on the mainland. There exists adebate as to the future status of the territory, with proposals includingfull statehood,maintenance of the autonomous territory status, or some form ofindependence (eitherretaining limited reliance upon the United States orfull independence with no special relationship).
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