ABSTRACT
The term sub-national government is used to refer to elected units of government rather than administrative agencies or units of central departments found at local, regional, provincial or state levels. The pattern of sub-national government found in the five countries covered in this survey varies considerably. Australia, Canada and the United States have federal structures that reserve significant powers to the state level. In all three countries the federal government-state/province relationship is an issue of continuing salience within the political system and the past twenty years or so have seen considerable ebb and flow in the power relationship between the centre and periphery. By contrast, Ireland and the United Kingdom are both highly centralised political systems where the powers of units of sub-national government are tightly circumscribed and, furthermore, where there is little grassroots demand for a more decentralised pattern of government.
