AN

ASSIGNMENT
ON

FORMS OF GOVERNMENT
(CHAPTER FIVE)

WRITTEN BY
UDUMA, PRINCE NGWOBIA
MATRIC. NO: 20/084143020
DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING
FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR,
CALABAR

SUBMITTED TO
DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING
FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR,
CALABAR

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE COURSE REQUIREMENT:

ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT (MKT 352)

SEPTEMBER, 2023.
1. Federal System of Government
The word federation is from a Latin word “FOEDUS” meaning treaty or Agreement.
Federation or Federal system of government is a system of government where
power is been shared between the three tiers of government, the central, the state and
the local government (Grass root Government). And each of this component unit are
independent and autonomous.
According to Wheare, Federal system of government is a method of dividing
powers that the central and regional governments in order to co-ordinate independent
authorities within their allotted spheres of jurisdiction.
In federation, functions of the three tiers of government are divided by the
constitution under the following:
1. The Exclusive Legislative List: These are rules or laws that can only be made
by the central authority. Example currently, defense, foreign affairs, power etc.
2. The Concurrent Legislative List: These are laws or rules that are made by
both the central and state government. E.g. Education, Health, Agriculture, Revenue
allocation etc.
3. The Residual Legislative List: This is the power conferred to local government
to make rules and legal bindings. E.g. Motor Parks, Markets, Chieftaincy matters etc.

FEATURES OF FEDERAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

1. Division of Power: In Federal System of Government, the power of
government is divided between the central government, state government and local
government (grass root).
2. A Rigid Constitution: In federation, constitution cannot easily be amended. It
can only be amended with the consent and approval of both central and state
government.
3. Bicameral Legislature: In federation, the legislature is divided into two
chambers. The upper chamber (Senate) and lower chamber (House of Representatives).

1
 Every state is to produce three (3) members through election to represent each
state in the senate according to the 1999 constitution of Nigeria.
4. Supremacy of the Constitution: In federal system of government, No body is
superior to the constitution.
5. Secession is Prohibited: No part is allowed to break away from the federation.
It is illegal for a state or units to break out or withdraw from the union.
6. Existence of a Supreme Court: In federation, the must an existence of court
which has the power to judicial review and interpretation.
ADVANTAGES OF FEDERATION
1. It discourage dictatorship
2. Encourage unite in diversity
3. It brings government nearer to the people
4. It protects small and weaker states

DISADVANTAGES OF FEDERATION
1. Federation is expensive
2. Problem of secession
3. It encourage mediocrity
4. Conflict of interest between the units

2. CONFEDERAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT (CONFEDERATION)

A Confederal System of government is an association of many sovereign or
independent states, where the states or component units have more power than the
central government.
FEATURES OF CONFEDERATION
1. Units or States have more power than the central authority
2. The component units or states have the right to withdraw from the union unlike
federalism.
3. The survival of the central government is depend on the component unit.

2
COMPARISON BETWEEN FEDERATION AND CONFEDERATION
1. Federation is a dual form of government where power is shared between the
central and component units. While confederation is formed by an association
of many sovereign and independent states which have more power than the
central government.
2. Federation is created by the constitution while confederation is created by an
agreement.
3. In federation a state or component unit cannot break out while in confederation
a state or component units can breakout.
4. The confederation, component units or states preserve their sovereignty and
independence while in federation states lose their independent and sovereignty.

3. UNITARY GOVERNMENT
A unitary government is a system of government in which all the powers of
government are in one authority.
The central government can delegate limited power to provincial authority and
can withdraw these power at any time.
FEATURES OF UNITARY GOVERNMENT
1. Authority in unitary government is centralized
2. The central authority can delegate limited authority to local authorities.
3. There is absence of judicial review
4. The constitution can easily be amended in unitary government
5. Authorities are derived from the Act of parliament.

ADVANTAGES OF UNITARY GOVERNMENT

1. It is less expensive
2. It facilitates quick decision making

3
3. Absent of conflict between central authority and local authority
4. It integrate and share a common sense of belonging, which leads to stability
DISADVANTAGE OF UNITARY GOVERNMENT
1. Government is not close to the people since the power is bestowed on the
central authority.
2. It may lead to dictatorship
3. It do not encourage local imitative and effective local participation

4. PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM OF

GOVERNMENT
Both presidential and parliamentary system of government can both be practice
in democracy.
PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT
In presidential system of government election is been conducted by Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC), in other choose a president that will held the
country. That is to say in presidential system of government the president is elected and
not appointed. The president appoint ministers who will assist him execute his
executive function effectively. And none of the minister will be a member of the
legislature. The president has constitutional power to sign bill into law sent to him by
the legislature. Under presidential system of government, the president have a fixed
term for the office of the president; which is usually four (4) years.
Under presidential system of government, there is separation of power among
the three arms of government: The Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary to
ensure checks and balances. Example of countries operating the presidential system of
government includes; United State of America, Nigeria, Liberia, Philippines etc.

FEATURES OF PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

1. There is clear separation of power between the executive, legislative and
judiciary

4
2. The president is the commander of Chief of Armed Forces.
3. The Chief Executive is both the head of the State and Ceremonial head.4.
The president enact bills made by the legislature in to law.
4. The president can be impeach before the expiration of his tenure by the
legislature.

ADVANTAGES OF PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM

1. The presidential system promote stable executive since the president do not
share his authority with anybody.
2. The president appoint experts as ministers and heads in government agencies,
who may come from other parties.
3. The president is not answerable to anybody.
4. There is principle of separation of powers in presidential system. The Executive,
Legislative and Judiciary are all independent body.
DISADVANTAGES OF PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT
1. It may encourage dictatorship
2. Separation of powers may create friction between the arms of government
3. Presidential system of government is expensive.
4. It may lead to abuse of power.

PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

It can also be called cabinet system. It is a form of government in which the
head of state (king, queen or president) is different from the head of government (prime
minister). The office of the head of the state and the head of government, and functions
attached to them are in the hands of two separate individuals. Here the head of the state
perform ceremonial function while the head of government perform or exercises the
executive function.
Under parliamentary system of government, the principle of collective
responsibility exist. There is no separation of powers between the Executive and

5
Legislature. Members of the executive are also members of the parliament. Ministers
appointed belong to one party. The entire cabinet is expected to resign if the parliament
presses “vote of No Confidence” on the government.
Under parliamentary system of government, the prime minister is the Chief
Executive of the State and the parliament head of his party. He have the power to
appoint and dismiss his ministers. Opposition is legally recognized in parliamentary
system of Government. The party with the second highest number of seats has the right
to form opposition. The prime minister serves as intermediary between the head of
state (king, queen, president) and the entire nation including the cabinet and the
legislature.
FEATURES OF PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENTS
1. Power is shared between Head of State and Head of Government.
2. No clear separation of power between the executive and legislature.
3. The legislature is supreme in parliamentary system unlike presidential system
where constitution is supreme.
4. Opposition is constitutionally officially recognized.
5. There is principle of collective responsibility since ministers are collectively
responsible for every policy or decision taken by the government.

THE PRINCIPLE OF COLLECTION RESPONSIBILITY IN A

PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM
In parliament system, all members of the cabinet are collectively responsible for
the decisions and actions of the government. This means that when the government
makes a policy decision or takes an action, all cabinet member must publicly support
and defend the decision even if they personally disagree with it. If the cabinet member
cannot support government decision, they are expected to resign from their position.
In parliamentary system, it also holds the government accountable to the
legislature and, ultimately, the electorate as voters can hold the entire government

6
accountable for its actions and decision in election rather than singling out individual
minister.

ADVANTAGES OF PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM

1. There is full collaboration between executive and the legislature.
2. Encourage accountability and efficiency since there is official recognition
opposition
3. It do not encourage dictatorship
4. It is less expensive when compared with presidential system.

DISADVANTAGES OF PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM

1. Absence of separation of power
2. There is monopoly of power by the party with majority in the legislature.
3. It do not encourage quick decision talking
4. The principle of collective responsibility lead to punishing everybody for the
lapses of one person.

COMPARISM OF PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM OF

GOVERNMENT
1. Under presidential system, the president is elected by the electorate or through
electoral college, while in the parliamentary system, the prime minister is
choosen from the elected members of the parliament.
2. Under presidential system, the ministers are responsible to the president who
appoint them while in parliamentary system, the prime minister and his
ministers are responsible to the legislature.

7
3. Under presidential system, the president can appoint ministers who are from
another party. While in parliamentary system, the prime minister appoint only
ministers from his party.
4. Under presidential system, the president is voted into the office for a fixed
terms, while in parliamentary the prime minister can remain in the as long as he
continues to have majority in the legislature under presidential system.
5. There is clear separation of power between the executive and legislature. While
in parliamentary system, there is no clear separation of power between the
executive and legislature.
6. Under presidential system, there is no legal or officially recognition of
opposition while under parliamentary system, there is official and constitutional
recognition of opposition.
7. Under presidential system, the constitution is supreme while in parliamentary
system, the legislature is supreme.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Local government is also called Grass root democracy. It is a type of
government in which the regulation and administration of local affairs is done by
individuals from that locality who are elected to represent the masses.
In Nigeria, certain powers are conferred on local governments by the
constitution. Some of these powers are:
i) Power to raise fund for effective performance of their duties through levies from
motor park, hawking permits, tenement rates on building etc.
ii) Power to make bye-law and punish offenders of such law.
iii) The power to contract and maintain roads which do not fall within state and
federal jurisdiction.
iv) The power to maintain law and order in the various communities that move up
the local government.
FUNCTIONS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

8
1. There are empowered to make bye-law.
2. There provides services which helps to improve the living of inhabitants under
them
3. Provision and maintenance of local or customary courts.

BENEFITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE

1. It helps to train local politicians.
2. Local government promote democracy at grass root level
3. It reduces the work of the central government
4. It serves as link to bridge the gap between rural people and central government.
5. They provide a good technique for the provision of welfare service for the
people.
PROBLEMS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
1. Lack of adequate fund for effective operation
2. Local government lack independence
3. Embezzlement of Local Government fund by local government officials
4. Lack of qualified personnel hampers effective affairs of the local government.

SOURCES OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT REVENUE

1. Allocation from Central Government
2. Property rates and taxes
3. Embarking income generating projects.
4. Miscellaneous rates such as fees from fines, birth registration, hawking permits
etc.

9
CITIZENSHIP AND FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHT (CHAPTER 8)
THE RULE OF LAW
According to Lord Herwart, rule of law is “the supremacy of predominance
of law, as distinguished from mere arbitrariness or from some alternative mode
which is not law, of determining or disposing of the right of individuals”.
According to Professor A. V. Dicey, rule of law is based on three main
principles:
1. Principle of impartiality: That no man can be punished or made to suffer for
breach of the law unless established before the courts, which means a man is
innocent of any crime he is accused of until the courts prove him guilty.
2. Principle of equality before the law without discrimination: All men
irrespective of their positions and status in society are subject to the ordinary law of
the land.
3. The right of the citizen in the state give meaning to the constitution that is the
constitution based on the rights of the citizen (Dicey 1939).

The rule of law means supremacy of the law over the ruler and the ruled. No
one in the state is above the law of the land. The rulers should rule according to the
provision of the constitution. Rule of law is really the essence of democracy.
Features of Rule of Law

10
1. Supremacy of the Law: This implies that all individuals and institutions,
including government officials and authorities are bound by and subject to the law.
2. Equality before the Law: It means that the law should be applied equally to
every citizen of the state, irrespective of their status. The rulers and the ruled are
equal before the law.
3. Protection of Individual Rights: Under rule of law, the fundamental right
of every citizen must be protected. When these rights are violated, citizens are given
the opportunity to seek redress in the law courts.

Limitations of the Rule of Law

1. Immunity: Some government officials and foreign diplomats cannot be
prosecute for any crime committed by them while they are still in office.
2. State of Emergence: When state of emergency in declared in any part of the
country, it uses discretional powers which is against the principle of rule of law.
3. Type of government: Military rule and other types of government that
exhibit dictatorship are against the principle of rule of law.
4. Unlawful detention and brutality by Security agents: Sometimes, security
arrest, detain and torture innocent citizen without proper investigation. security
agent may equally detain and torture citizen because they fail to offer bribe as the
demanded while the guilty ones who are able to bribe them get out of detention are
set free.
5. Integrity of Judges: Some judge take bribe from the rich and powerful
people in the society to favour them and the poor will not get the justice which the
want.

SEPARATION OF POWER

11
 Separation of powers is the division of governmental political powers among
the legislature, executive and judiciary. These will reduce the chances of
dictatorship, tyranny. And to protect the liberty and right of citizens.
It was a French political thinker and a jurist Baron de Montesquieu who
develop and popularized the principle of separation of people in his book “The
Spirit of Law” published in 1948.
The overlapping functions between the three arms of government show that
power is not totally separated between these arms of government. If power is totally
separated between them without harmonious and proper co-ordination, there will be
delay in arriving at an agreement on pressing issues by the government which need
expedition’s disposal.
In presidential system of government power is showed or separated among
the three arms of government which is the executive, legislature and judiciary. The
function of the judiciary is different from that of the executive and legislature.
In parliamentary system, there is no separation of power. The power of the
executive and legislature are fused together.
Check and Balances
The principle of check and balances is applicable in both parliamentary and
presidential system of governance. It principle is to check the activities of other
arms of government when helps to prevent the constitution power of these arms of
government from being exercised beyond constitutional limits and misuse of power.
In parliamentary system, the prime minister has the power to dissolve the
parliament, on the other hand the prime minister and all his cabinet can be forced to
resign by the parliament.
Citizenship
A citizen is an individual with full membership of the state who enjoys full
rights and privileges in that state and owes certain duties to the state.

12
 Citizenship is a mutual exchange of rights, duties and obligation between the
citizen and the state. The state guarantees and protect the rights of the citizen while
the citizen in turn perform his duties and obligation to the state.
Method of Acquiring Citizenship
i) Citizenship by birth
ii) Citizenship by naturalization
iii) Citizenship by registration
iv) Citizenship by conferment

Loss of Citizenship
Citizen of a country can be forfeited under the following condition:
1. A woman who marries a foreigner losses the citizenship of her own country
after acquiring the citizenship of her husband country.
2. When a person acquires the citizenship of another country other than his and
take an oath of allegiance to that country, he loses the citizenship of his original
country.
3. A person who is a citizen of a country other than by birth may loss his
citizenship if found guilty of a serious crime like treason.
4. A person loss his citizenship of a country other than by birth of he picks arms
against the state assist an enemy of the state during war.
DUTIES OF A CITIZEN TO THE STATE
1. Obedience to the laws of the state
2. Payment of taxes
3. Partaking in political duties
4. To defend the state
5. To assist in the maintenance of law and orders.
FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHT

13
Fundamental human right is a privilege conferred upon citizens by law which are
guaranteed and protect by the state.
Classification of Rights
1. Civil Right: These includes the right to life and property, right to personal
liberty right to freedom of speech, and expression, right to freedom of worship,
right to education, right to freedom of association.
2. Political right: These include right to vote, the right to stand for election, the
right to how pursue offices. It is only applicable in democratic constitution.
3. Economic rights: These includes right to work, right to adequate wage, right
to reasonable hours of labour, the right to self-government industry.
Limitation of the fundamental human Right
The following are limitation to the fund mental human right:
a) A citizen may be deprive of his right to vote or to be voted for, if he is guilty
of certain offence by the law courts.
b) Most states use or impose curfew to restrict the movement of people. As well
someone who is suffering from deadly sickness like AIDs may by restricted from
movement to avoid spread of such deadly disease.
c) Government restrict any form of freedom of association that will promote
breach of peace and security of the state such as secret societies.
d) Right to freedom of religion can be limited by the state if there is any form of
immorality involved in mode of worship.
e) During war the right to life is not absolute serve citizen are defend the state.

14