States - Variations among nation-states

3 important questions on States - Variations among nation-states

States fall into two broad categories with respect to how control of their territory is organized: unitary states and federal states:

A unitary state = a state in which only one level of government has irrevocable authority, also known as political centralization.
A federal state = a state in which power is shared between two levels of government with irrevocable authority, these states are relatively decentralized.

Once politics became dominated by territorial organizations, citizenship and movement between these units were are to be major political issues. Depending on how states have related to national identities, they have constructed different rules as to who can join their state and how. Two of those rules are:

- jus sanguinis, Latin for 'right of blood', this principle gives citizenship to those related by blood to other citizens. Often used in states with strong national identities.
- jus soli, Latin for 'right of soil', this principle awards citizenship to those born on a state's territory. Ofte used in countries where state formation preceded development of a strong cultural identity.

A failed state is:

A country where the central government is entirely unable to control the territory resulting in chaos.

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