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	Federal States	Unitary States
Authority of the Government	Power shared between the central government and provincial, state, and local governments.	Power held primarily by the central government with very little power given to local governments.
Hierarchy of Power	Multiple levels of power; power diffused throughout the hierarchy.	No hierarchy of sovereign powers.
Type of Country Where Commonly Used	Multiple ethnic groups with significant minorities. Large countries	Few cultural differences and small minorities. Small countries

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Federal & Unitary States

Boundaries in Democracies

The electorate are the citizens who elect representative officials for defined districts.

In the US, the Constitution requires that a census be taken every 10 years.

After the results each state’s representatives change through reapportionment to reflect population changes.
State legislatures redistrict so boundaries contain roughly the same amount of people.

Congressional Districts (2010)

Congressional Districts (2022)

Gerrymandering

Gerrymandering is a form of political maneuvering to allow a party or group in power to extend or cement their advantage.

Congressional Divisions

Political Consequences

Strengthening or weakening of the power of a particular party, which may create or break congressional gridlock.

A lessening of social cohesion or weaken the sense of community if the congressperson lives far away from residents or is not like them socioeconomically.

Lowered voter participation created by confusing over changing spatial patterns of districts.