Which is the better form of government: a unitary system or a federal system?

[minionofmidas]

Depends for what.

Also, depends what's meant by "federal" - an actually federal system, ie one that retains some obvious traits of being a federation rather than a country, is a bad idea for any sort of country.
Believe me. I live in perhaps the most clearcut example.

[minionofmidas]

Also, depends what's meant by "federal" - an actually federal system, ie one that retains some obvious traits of being a federation rather than a country, is a bad idea for any sort of country.

In case anybody didn't get it the first time... an actually federal system means that the member state executives have at least some de facto and de jure say on central decisions.
And yes, that is true in Germany.

Ie, Al and me are off on the same tangent. (Except he also used the very British term "Devolution" for places outside Britain. Something I'd never dream of doing. "Regionalization" or "Decentralisation" are better terms for that. And even they don't describe the US or Swiss cases accurately.)

[minionofmidas]

Though I should add that my main original complaint was not the ademocratic (predemocratic might be the better word) nature of that arrangement - reduplicated and worse in the EU, of course - but simply the eternal gridlock and bizarre compromises it causes.