What is national government? Learn about national government powers, responsibilities and structure, and powers shared by the national and state governments.
Updated: 11/21/2023
National Government | Definition, Structure & Responsibilities
Table of Contents
- National Government Definition
- What is the Structure of the National Government?
- National Government Powers
- National Government Responsibilities
- Lesson Summary
What is a national government? The national government is the highest level of government in a given state, standing above all other municipal and state governments. This level of government is called the national government because of the spread of the nation-state model during the 20th century and the idea that the state derives legitimacy from the nation or people it represents. However, a national government definition must also acknowledge that not all national governments are structured in the same fashion. In fact, two main forms of national governments can be seen around the world today: unitary governments and federal governments.
In a unitary system, the national government has clear jurisdiction over the entire country and stands above municipal governments. As such, unitary national governments do not share any power with state or provincial governments, as these lower levels of government do not exist in unitary systems. In contrast, federal governments stand above state or provincial governments, with whom they share significant power. Although various federal governments have different specific ways of sharing power, it can generally be said that states have more practical and administrative power than national governments do within a federal system. This can be seen in countries like the United States and Germany. In contrast, national governments have the most administrative power in unitary systems, as unitary governments do not share power. This can be seen in countries like Japan and France.
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National governments, whether federal or unitary, generally share a number of structural characteristics. Various institutions make up national governments, and their duties can be categorized as either legislative, executive, or judicial in nature. Some countries like the United States use a separation of powers system that clearly divides legislative, executive, and judicial power among various institutions. In other countries, such as the United Kingdom, legislative and executive power are combined in the position of the prime minister, and this structure is defined as a fusion of powers system.
Legislative bodies are of pivotal importance to national governments as they are tasked with writing and passing laws and policies for the country. Most often, the legislative side of national governments is either unicameral or bicameral. In a bicameral system, the legislature is divided between two chambers. This can be seen in the United Kingdom, with its House of Lords and House of Commons, as well as in the United States, with its Senate and House of Representatives. In unicameral systems, the legislature is composed of one chamber instead of two, as seen in countries like Hungary, Denmark, and Turkey.
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US Government Structure
Exactly what is the structure of the national government of the United States? The United States has a federal system that embodies the separation of powers principle and utilizes a bicameral legislature. As a federal system, the national government of the United States leaves much power to the states and only has competencies over specific areas. Therefore, state governments have significant authority to pass laws and regulations within their borders, although states must respect the laws of other states according to Article IV of the Constitution.
The United States is a principal example of the notion of separation of powers, as it clearly distinguishes legislative, executive, and judicial power within distinct branches of government. The legislative branch thus includes the Senate and the House of Representatives, which draft and pass national laws. The executive branch includes the president and the Cabinet, whose responsibilities include enforcing national laws. Finally, the judicial branch is composed of the Supreme Court and other federal courts that adjudicate and interpret national laws. National powers are divided according to this separation of powers system in order to create checks and balances as well as to prevent any single institution from wielding too much power.
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Because of the variety of ways in which a national government can be set up, specific national government powers can vary from country to country. However, there are a number of areas over which national governments usually have competencies. National government powers generally include authority over taxation, monetary regulations, and infrastructure. These powers and others can be seen in the following list of national government powers:
- Levying taxes
- Controlling immigration
- Minting currency
- Regulating banking
- Building roads and other infrastructure
- Declaring war
The United States federal government has power over each of these areas, as well as over others such as creating federal courts and managing the postal service. However, because the United States has a federal system, the national government shares power with state governments in some areas. In the United States and other federal systems, powers are divided into two main categories: exclusive powers and concurrent powers.
Exclusive Powers
In a federal system, exclusive powers are those powers over which either the federal government or state governments have exclusive authority. For example, the U.S. federal government has exclusive power over declarations of war, the minting of currency, conducting foreign diplomacy, and regulating postal mail. In contrast, U.S. states have exclusive authority over the holding of elections and the ratification of Constitutional amendments.
Powers Shared by the National and State Governments
In contrast to exclusive powers, concurrent powers concern those areas in which the federal and state governments share authority. In the United States, powers shared by the national and state governments include the levying and collection of taxes, the establishment of courts, and the borrowing of money. Both federal and state governments also hold competencies in law enforcement, which can result in collaboration between state and federal authorities during major legal cases.
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Exactly what does the national government do? One of the overall goals of all national governments is to maintain internal stability through the creation and enforcement of national laws. However, there are a number of specific responsibilities to which national governments must attend. As seen in the case of the United States, some of the most important national government responsibilities include federal funding, taxation, the raising of armies, and the conducting of foreign affairs.
Federal Funding
Federal funding is an important part of the national government's responsibilities in the United States. Every year, the national legislature must draw up a budget that accounts for each of the ways the government intends to spend its money. As the federal government is involved in funding initiatives across many fields, from social security and healthcare to education and the military, it must reasonably allocate its resources and prioritize certain fields over others. Because of this dynamic, decisions about the budget and federal funding are often politically fraught and lead to intense debates in the national legislature.
Taxation
Because of the importance of federal funding, the federal government must devise ways to pay for its many expenditures. In the United States, taxation is a concurrent power between the federal and state governments, which means that most Americans are obliged to pay both state and federal taxes each year. At the federal level, the Department of the Treasury manages the collection of taxes through the Internal Revenue Service. The Department of the Treasury is part of the executive branch of the U.S. government, which is tasked with the execution of the nation's laws.
Military and Foreign Policy
Another important task of the U.S. federal government is to manage the U.S. Armed Forces and to conduct foreign policy. The federal government funds and supports all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces and has the sole authority to declare war on foreign states. Foreign policy in general is also the federal government's prerogative, as the federal government sponsors diplomatic missions in foreign states and takes part in international summits.
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This lesson has discussed the main features of national governments as seen around the world, with a particular focus on the national government of the United States. The United States, like Germany, has a federal government system, which means that the national government has less practical power than the states in certain regards. As seen in Japan and France, other countries use a unitary government system, wherein the national government wields the most power. The United States typifies the separation of powers principle as its government is divided into three distinct branches of government: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. On the other hand, many other national governments use a fusion of powers system that combines legislative and executive power, as seen in the United Kingdom.
National governments have a number of responsibilities, including the maintenance of internal stability through the creation and enforcement of national laws. National governments also have authority over taxation, national budgets, the national military, and foreign policy. In federal systems, the national government sometimes has exclusive powers while at other times it has concurrent powers. In the United States, the federal government has exclusive power over foreign policy, which means that state governments are not involved in diplomacy or declarations of war. In contrast, the U.S. federal government has concurrent power over taxation, which means that both the federal and state governments have the authority to levy and collect taxes.
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Video Transcript
Definition of a National Government?
A national government is the government, or political authority, that controls a nation. At minimum, a national government requires a national army, enough power over its states or provinces to set and maintain foreign policy, and the ability to collect taxes. Beyond that, a national government can be anything from a dictatorship to a loose federation of states, like the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War. National governments can be separated into two basic types - unitary and federal.
A unitary government is centralized, with states or provinces having little or no power. Their regional powers aren't even set because they can be eliminated at any time by the national government. Monarchies, dictatorships, and communist regimes are all types of unitary governments.
A federal government reverses the roles. The states have most of the power, and the national government is only given enough power to keep itself running. Some federal governments have little more power than the ability to raise an army, conduct foreign policy, and raise taxes. The United States and most modern countries have federal governments.
Responsibilities
National governments are responsible for maintaining internal and external security and stability. Usually, that means they're responsible for establishing national laws and enforcing them. They also must raise and train a military and set international policy. And because national governments aren't possible without money, they must be able to set taxes high enough to pay their employees.
Powers
As mentioned earlier, in a federal government, the national government has only the minimum of powers, like setting foreign policy and collecting taxes. However, any government where the states or provinces give the national government power over them is considered a federal government.
A unitary government controls every aspect of government at both the national and regional levels. It still has a national army, controls foreign policy, raises taxes, but it also controls who runs its provinces and how. If the leader of a unitary government decides that a village or even a province has been rebellious, that leader might raze every home or even sell the inhabitants into slavery. A unitary government can delegate any power to its states or provinces, but it also has the ability to take those powers away at any time.
Lesson Summary
A national government is any government that runs a country. There are two basic forms of national government. One is a unitary government that controls everything, including the ability of regional governments to exist. The other and more popular form is federal government, where the states have most of the power but give the national government power over them in the interests of protection.
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National Government | Definition, Structure & Responsibilities
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