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Rediscovering the unitary model: State format and transaction costs

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French Politics Aims and scope

Abstract

In political theory, political decentralization is tied up with federalism, often considered as superior system to unitarism when it comes to the organization of the state. Whereas the political and economic theory of federalism has been well developed, there is no similar coherent set of reflexions upon the pros and cons of the unitary state. This lacuna in political theory and comparative studies should be filled with a positive assessment of the advantages of the unitary model, especially in relation to constitutional democracy in a period of globalization. France, once the hallmark of a centralized unitary state, has recently gone through a successful process of political decentralization, which needs to be theorized from a comparative institutional perspective.

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  1. University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    Jan-Erik Lane

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  1. Jan-Erik Lane
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Lane, JE. Rediscovering the unitary model: State format and transaction costs. Fr Polit 9, 87–96 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/fp.2010.23

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