Union of smaller states
This article is about unified state entities or polities, or the merging of these. For organisations formed to bargain for workers (or labour), see
Trade union
. For other uses, see
Unionism (disambiguation)
.
A
political union
is a type of
political entity
which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These
smaller polities
are usually called
federated states
and
federal territories
in a
federal government
; and
prefectures
,
regions
, or
provinces
in the case of a
centralised government
. This form of government may be created through voluntary and mutual
cession
and is described as
unionism
[a]
by its constituent members and proponents. In other cases, it may arise from
political unification
, characterised by
coercion
and
conquest
. The unification of separate states which, in the past, had together constituted a single entity is known as
reunification
.
[2]
Unlike a
personal union
or
real union
, the individual
constituent entities
may have
devolution
of powers but are subordinate to a
central government
or coordinated in some sort of organization. In a federalised system, the constituent entities usually have
internal autonomy
, for example in the setup of
police departments
, and
share power
with the federal government, for whom external
sovereignty
,
military forces
, and
foreign affairs
are usually reserved. The union is
recognised internationally
as a single political entity. A political union may also be called a legislative union or state union.
[3]
A union may be effected in many forms, broadly categorized as:
Incorporating union
[
edit
]
In an incorporating union a new state is created, the former states being entirely dissolved into the new state (although some aspects may be preserved;
see below
).
Incorporating unions
have been present throughout much of history, such as when:
- The
Union of Lublin
between the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
and the
Kingdom of Poland
led to the creation of a
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
, an elective monarchy where the
Polish nobility
elected the
monarch
;
- the
Acts of Union, 1707
between the
Kingdom of Scotland
and the
Kingdom of England
created the
Kingdom of Great Britain
;
- in 1910 the colonies of the
Cape of Good Hope
,
Natal
,
Orange River Colony
, and
Transvaal
were incorporated into the
Union of South Africa
;
- following the
Reconquista
and
dynastic union
between
Isabella of Castile
and
Ferdinand of Aragon
, the
Spanish Empire
began the process of consolidating the Crowns of
Castile
,
Aragon
, and
Navarre
into the unitary Kingdom of Spain, though the process was not completed until
1716
(Aragon) and
1833
(Navarre);
- the
Acts of Union 1800
united the
Kingdom of Ireland
and the
Kingdom of Great Britain
into the
United Kingdom
;
- in 1990 the
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
united with the
Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen)
to form the
Republic of Yemen
;
- and in 1783 the
Articles of Confederation
were signed by each of the
Thirteen Colonies
, uniting them into the
United States of America
.
[4]
Preservation of interests
[
edit
]
Nevertheless, a full incorporating union may preserve the laws and institutions of the former states, as happened in the creating of the United Kingdom. This may be simply a matter of practice or to comply with a guarantee given in the terms of the union.
[5]
These guarantees may be to ensure the success of a proposed union (or in the least to prevent continuing resistance), as occurred in the union of
Brittany
and
France
in 1532 (
Union of Brittany and France
) in which a guarantee was given for the continuance of laws and of the
Estates of Brittany
(a guarantee revoked in 1789 at the
French Revolution
).
[6]
The assurance that institutions are preserved in a union of states can also occur as states realize that, whilst a power imbalance exists (such as between the economic conditions of Scotland and England prior to the
Acts of Union 1707
), it is not so great that it precludes the ability of concessions to be made. The
Treaty of Union
for creating the unified
Kingdom of Great Britain
in 1707 contained a guarantee of the continuance of the civil laws and the existing courts in Scotland
[7]
(a continuing guarantee), which was significant for both parties. The Scottish, despite economic troubles during the
Seven Ill Years
preceding the union, still had remaining negotiating power.
[8]
This marks a delineation of states that are able to ensure preservation of interests: there has to be some mutually beneficial reasoning behind the formal or informal preservation of interests. In the
Union
creating the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
in 1801, no such guarantee was given for the laws and courts of the
Kingdom of Ireland
, though they were continued as a matter of practice.
[9]
The informal recognition of such interests represents the different circumstances of the two Unions, the small base of institutional power in Ireland at the time (those who were the beneficiaries of the
Protestant Ascendancy
) had faced a revolution in the
Irish Rebellion of 1798
, and as a result there was an institutional drive toward unification, limiting the Irish negotiating power.
[10]
However, informal guarantees were given to preclude the possibility of further Irish unrest in the period following the
French Revolution of 1789
and the 1798 rebellion. These types of informal arrangements are more susceptible to changes; for example,
Tyrol
was guaranteed that its Freischutz companies would not be posted to fight outside Tyrol without their consent, a guarantee later revoked by the Austrian state. However, this case can be contrasted with the continued existence of the
Scottish Parliament
and a separate body of
Scottish law
distinct from
English law
.
[11]
Incorporating annexation
[
edit
]
In an incorporating annexation a state or states is united to and dissolved in an existing state, whose legal existence continues.
Annexation may be voluntary or, more frequently, by conquest.
Incorporating annexations
have occurred at various points in history, such as when:
Federal annexation
[
edit
]
Federal annexation occurs when a unitary state becomes a federated unit of another existing state, the former continuing its legal existence. The new federated state thus ceases to be a state in international law but retains its legal existence in domestic law, subsidiary to the federal authority.
[13]
Prominent historical
federal annexations
include:
Mixed unions
[
edit
]
The unification of Italy involved a mixture of unions. The kingdom consolidated around the
Kingdom of Sardinia
, with which several states voluntarily united to form the
Kingdom of Italy
.
[14]
Others polities, such as the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
and the
Papal States
, were conquered and annexed. Formally, the union in each territory was sanctioned by a popular referendum where people were formally asked if they agreed to have as their new ruler
Vittorio Emanuele II of Sardinia
and his legitimate heirs.
[15]
The unification of Germany began in earnest when the
Kingdom of Prussia
annexed numerous petty states in 1866.
[16]
Historical unions
[
edit
]
Supranational and continental unions
[
edit
]
In addition to regional movements,
supranational
and
continental unions
that promote progressive integration between its members started appearing in the second half of the 20th century, first by the
European Union
. Other examples of such unions include the
ASEAN
(Association of Southeast Asian Nations),
[17]
[18]
the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum
,
[19]
and the
Pacific Islands Forum
.
[20]
Academic analysis
[
edit
]
The political position of the
United Kingdom
is often discussed,
[21]
[22]
as well as former states like
Serbia and Montenegro
(2003?2006), the
Soviet Union
(1922?1991) and the
United Arab Republic
(1958?1961).
Lord Durham
was widely regarded as one of the most important thinkers in the history of the
British Empire
's constitutional evolution. He articulated the difference between a full legislative union and a
federation
. In his
1839
Report
, in discussing the proposed union of
Upper and Lower Canada
, he says:
Two kinds of union have been proposed ? federal and legislative. By the first, the separate legislature of each province would be preserved in its present form and retain almost all its present attributes of internal legislation, the federal legislature exercising no power save in those matters which may have been expressly ceded to it by the constituent provinces. A legislative union would imply a complete incorporation of the provinces included in it under one legislature, exercising universal and sole legislative authority over all of them in exactly the same manner as the Parliament legislates alone for the whole of the British Isles.
[23]
However, unification is not merely voluntary. To meet this requirement, we need to have a balance of power between the two or more states, which can create an equal monetary, economic, social and cultural environment. We need also to take in account that those states eligible to unify must agree to a transition from anarchy, where there is no sovereignty above the state level, to hierarchy.
States can decide to enter a voluntary union as a solution for existing problems and to face possible threats, such as environmental threats for instance. The task of triggering a political crisis and to get the attention of the citizens toward the unification's necessity is in the hands of the elites. Despite it being quite rare, in some cases it works (see
Old Swiss Confederacy
and the
confederation of the United States
), while in most of the cases it turns to be a failure or leads to a forced unification (Italy, URSS) where the unified states are deeply unequal.
From a realist perspective, small states can unify in order to face strong states or to conquer weak ones. One of the reasons to seek unification to a stronger state besides a common threat can be a situation of negligence or ignorance on behalf of the weak state
[24]
which is, to simplify it, desperate and almost derelict.
According to a 1975 study by
University of Rochester
political scientist
William Riker
, unions were motivated by security threats.
[25]
According to Ryan Griffiths, all instances of mutually wilful unification from 1816 onwards were between states that spoke the same languages.
[26]
[
dubious
–
discuss
]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
In a different use of the term,
unionism
is used for membership or support of labour or
trade unions
. The term
pro-union
or
-unity
is sometimes used for
political unionism
instead of "unionism".
[1]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"unionism (n.)"
.
Oxford English Dictionary
(Online ed.).
Oxford University Press
.
(Subscription or
participating institution membership
required.)
- ^
"Political Union"
.
TheFreeDictionary.com
.
Archived
from the original on 2020-08-06
. Retrieved
2019-10-01
.
- ^
Wohlgemuth, Michael (2017-06-01).
"Political union and the legitimacy challenge"
.
European View
.
16
(1): 57?65.
doi
:
10.1007/s12290-017-0432-z
.
ISSN
1865-5831
.
- ^
Dullien, Sebastian; Torreblanca, Jose Ignacio (December 2012).
"What is political union?"
(PDF)
.
European Council on Foreign Relations
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 2020-08-19
. Retrieved
2019-10-01
.
- ^
Kincaid, John (1999-04-01). "Confederal federalism and citizen representation in the European union".
West European Politics
.
22
(2): 34?58.
doi
:
10.1080/01402389908425301
.
ISSN
0140-2382
.
- ^
What is political union?
. 12 December 2012.
Archived
from the original on 1 October 2019
. Retrieved
1 October
2019
.
- ^
"
. . . that no Alteration be made in Laws which concern private Right, except for evident Utility of the Subjects within Scotland
" ? Article XVIII of the Treaty of Union
- ^
"The course of negotiations :: Act of Union 1707"
.
Parliament UK
. 2009-07-21. Archived from
the original
on 2009-07-21
. Retrieved
2018-08-20
.
- ^
Martin, Lawrence (1995). "Continental Union".
The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
.
538
: 143?150.
doi
:
10.1177/0002716295538000012
.
ISSN
0002-7162
.
JSTOR
1048332
.
S2CID
220848652
.
- ^
"Everything you need to know about European political union"
.
The Economist
. 2015-07-27.
ISSN
0013-0613
.
Archived
from the original on 2019-10-01
. Retrieved
2019-10-01
.
- ^
Techau, Jan.
"Political Union Now!"
.
Carnegie Europe
.
Archived
from the original on 2017-02-13
. Retrieved
2019-10-01
.
- ^
a
b
"Union of European Federalists (UEF): Federal Political Union"
.
www.federalists.eu
.
Archived
from the original on 2016-04-14
. Retrieved
2019-10-01
.
- ^
"Addresses Against Incorporating Union, 1706-1707"
.
$USD
. Archived from
the original
on 2018-06-12
. Retrieved
2019-10-01
.
- ^
"Unification of Italian States - Countries - Office of the Historian"
.
history.state.gov
.
Archived
from the original on 2011-06-02
. Retrieved
2019-10-01
.
- ^
Hoppen, K. Theodore (2008-04-01). "An Incorporating Union? British Politicians and Ireland 1800?1830".
The English Historical Review
.
CXXIII
(501): 328?350.
doi
:
10.1093/ehr/cen009
.
ISSN
0013-8266
.
S2CID
145245653
.
- ^
"Unification of German States - Countries - Office of the Historian"
.
history.state.gov
.
Archived
from the original on 2019-10-01
. Retrieved
2019-10-01
.
- ^
"Overview of Continental Unions"
.
WiseMee
. 2019-07-08.
Archived
from the original on 2019-10-01
. Retrieved
2019-10-01
.
- ^
Allison-Reumann, Laura; Murray, Philomena (2017-06-22).
"Should the EU be considered a model for ASEAN?"
.
Pursuit - The University of Melbourne
.
Archived
from the original on 2017-07-02
. Retrieved
2018-08-20
.
- ^
J Bamber, Greg (2005-10-26).
"What Context does the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) Provide for Employment Relations?"
(PDF)
.
Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 2018-08-20
. Retrieved
2018-08-20
.
- ^
Robertson, Robbie.
"Regionalism in the Pacific: A New Development Strategy"
(PDF)
.
The University of the South Pacific
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 2008-02-27
. Retrieved
2018-08-20
.
- ^
"United Kingdom"
.
Encyclopædia Britannica
. 2006-02-16. Archived from
the original
on 2006-02-16.
- ^
A Disunited Kingdom? - England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, 1800-1949
, Christine Kinealy,
University of Central Lancashire
,
Cambridge University Press
, 1999,
ISBN
978-0-521-59844-6
: "... explaining how the United Kingdom has evolved, the author explores a number of key themes including: the steps to political union, ..."
- ^
Lord Durham,
Report on the Affairs of British North America
(London: 1839); reprinted, Charles Prestwood Lucas (ed.),
Lord Durham's report on the affairs of British North America
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1912), vol. 2, p. 304
.
- ^
Parent, Joseph M. (2011).
Uniting States : voluntary union in world politics
. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ISBN
9780199782192
.
OCLC
696773008
.
- ^
Riker, William H. 1975. "Federalism." in Fred I. Greenstein and Nelson W. Polsby (eds.),
Handbook of Political Science
. Addison-Wesley.
- ^
Griffiths, Ryan D. (2010). "Security threats, linguistic homogeneity, and the necessary conditions for political unification".
Nations and Nationalism
.
16
(1): 169?188.
doi
:
10.1111/j.1469-8129.2010.00429.x
.
ISSN
1354-5078
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Alberto Alesina and Enrico Spolaore. 2003.
The Size of Nations
. MIT Press.
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