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Unlike in federal systems, where assemblies in those states comprising the federation have a constitutional existence and a set of constitutional functions which cannot be unilaterally changed by the central government; in a unitary state, any sub-governmental units can be created or abolished, and have their powers varied, by the central government. The process in which sub-government units and/or regional parliaments are created by a central government is known as devolution. A Unitary state can broaden and narrow the functions of such devolved (sub-)governments without formal agreement from the affected bodies.

The United Kingdom is a particularly striking example of a unitary state with a series of parliament-created devolved assemblies, for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, all of which were created in between 1998 and 1999. The Republic of IrelandThe Republic of Ireland ( Irish: Poblacht na hEireann is the common term for a state which covers approximately five-sixths of the island of Ireland, off the coast of northwest Europe. It is the western-most state of the European Union. The remaining sixt may be given as an example of the opposite, a unitary state lacking subnationalSubnational entity is a generic term for an administrative region within a country — on an arbitrary level below that of the sovereign state — typically with a local government encompassing multiple municipalities, counties, or provinces with a certain de governments.

Some states are hybrids between the federal and unitary models. An example of this would be AustraliaAustralia is the sixth-largest country in the world (geographically), the only one to occupy an entire continent, and the largest in the region of Australasia. Australia includes the island of Tasmania, which is an Australian State. Its neighbouring count, which is federal with respect to the five states ( New South WalesNew South Wales NSW is Australia's most populous and oldest state, located in the southeast, north of Victoria. It was founded in 1788 and originally comprised much of the Australian mainland. During the 19th century large areas were successively separate, QueenslandQueensland State flag ( In detail) Coat of Arms ( In detail) Capital Brisbane Governor HE Ms Quentin Bryce Premier Peter Beattie Area — Land — Marine — Total 1 730 648 km² 121 994 km² 1 852 642 km² Population (2002) Density 3 729 000 2. 15/km² Time zone U, South AustraliaSouth Australia State flag ( In detail) Coat of Arms ( In detail) Capital Adelaide Governor HE Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Premier Mike Rann Area — Land — Marine — Total 983 482 km² 60 032 km² 1 043 514 km² Population (2002) Density 1 522 500 1. 55/km² Time z, TasmaniaTasmania State flag ( In detail) Coat of Arms ( Full size) Capital Hobart Governor William Cox (Acting Governor) Premier Paul Lennon Area — Land — Marine — Total 68 401 km² 22 357 km² 90 758 km² Population(Sep 2003) Density 478 400 6. 92/km² Time zone UTC, VictoriaVictoria State flag ( In detail) Coat of Arms ( In detail) Capital Melbourne Governor HE Mr John Landy Premier Steve Bracks Area — Land — Marine — Total 227 416 km² 10 213 km² 237 629 km² Population (2004) Density 5,012,300 22/km² Time zone UTC+10 (except and Western Australia) that have their own constitutional existence, but unitary with respect to the two mainland territories (the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, whose governments exercise similar powers to the states but by virtue of delegation of powers from the national government.

Most federal states also have unitary lower levels of government. Thus while the United States itself is federal, most (if not all) U.S. states are themselves unitary, with counties and other municipalities having only the authority given (devolved) to them by the state's constitution and/or state legislature.