The three structures under which most national governments interact with the general populace are the Unitary System: where all authority flows down from the central government to the local ‘branches’ of the central authority and can be abolished at any time. Examples of this form of government structure include Japan, France and the UK.

The second structure is the Federal System: power flows in both directions and authority derives at both the State and Federal level (the US, Canada, and Brazil, for example). Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote The Federalist Papers under the pseudonym Publius. Federalist Paper #39 argues for this ‘hybrid’ form of government, and Publius defines it as a ‘Republican’ form of government. He further describes this Republic as “using the consent of the people who are the administrators of government.” He differentiates the concepts of National and Federal government and how they interact with each other.

In a Federal System, things tend to get bogged down and the process is slower because there are more layers of bureaucracy and jurisdictional boundaries to overcome, like inter-state and intra-state commerce.

The Confederal System: power flows up from the States, and the States themselves have complete sovereignty over their own affairs. In a Confederal System, the National government can only do what the States allow. Examples of this system of relational government include NATO, the UN, and in the past, the Confederate States during the Civil War with the original Articles of Confederation. In a Confederal System each state would be virtually a separate country, so a law passed in one state wouldn’t necessarily apply to the other states, unless they recognized the law, too. In a Confederal system it would be very complicated to formulate or enforce policy!

The framers of the Constitution adopted a structure incorporating both the Unitary and the Federal System. The Unitary System is the easiest in which to formulate and enforce government policies. The central government makes a new law or decree and enforces it by proxy through its branches.

The US system causes problems for Presidential candidates with the establishment of the Electoral College and its “winner take all” mentality, in addition to the fact that third party candidates are hugely disadvantaged as far as funding, the debates, and media exposure is concerned.