Devolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Devolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. It is a form of decentralization. Devolved territories have the power to make legislation relevant to the area.

Devolution differs from federalism in that the devolved powers of the subnational authority may be temporary and ultimately reside in central government, thus the state remains, de jure unitary. Legislation creating devolved parliaments or assemblies can be repealed or amended by central government in the same way as any statute.

Federal systems, or federations, differ in that state or provincial government is guaranteed in the constitution. Australia, Canada, India, and the United States have federal systems, and have constitutions (as do some of their constituent states or provinces). They also have territories, with less power and authority than a state or province. Non-English-speaking federacies include Mexico, Germany, and Switzerland.

United States

In the United States only the federal government, state governments, and federally recognized American Indian tribal nations are recognized by the United States Constitution, so local governments are subdivisions of states. A subdivision of a state is either a devolution of that state or not depending on its status under that state's constitution.

District of Columbia

In the United States, the District of Columbia offers an illustration of devolved government. The District is separate from any state, and has its own elected government; in many ways, on a day-to-day basis, it operates much like another state, with its own laws, court system, Department of Motor Vehicles, public university, and so on. However, the governments of the 50 states reserved a broad range of powers in the U.S. Constitution, and most of their laws cannot be voided by any act of U.S. federal government. The District of Columbia, by contrast, is constitutionally under the sole control of the United States Congress, which created the current District government by statute. Any law passed by the District legislature can be nullified by congressional action, and indeed the District government could be significantly altered or eliminated entirely by a simple majority vote in Congress.

Other meanings of the term devolution

In some hierarchical churches, especially Anglican churches including the Church of England, devolution is a bishop's appointment of a person to a benefice (e.g. a parish) when the ordinary patron or collator (i.e. the person or body with the right to appoint) has failed to do so, either because an improper candidate has been nominated or because no candidate could be found.

Cardinal Albino Luciani, also known as Pope John Paul I, was the author of initiatives such as the devolution of one per cent of each church's entries for the poor churches in the Developing World.

Under United States estate tax provision, "devolution" may occur when a deceased obtains "incidents of ownership" under the Estate Tax Regulation 20.2042-1(c)2 in a fiduciary capacity from an independent transaction creating a trust for benefit of another party. See IRC 2042 & Revenue Ruling 84-179 example.