A 'political union' is a type of state which is composed of smaller
states. Unlike a
personal union, the individual states share a common government and the union is recognized internationally as a single political entity. A 'political union' may also be called a 'legislative union'.
Examples include the
United Arab Emirates,
Spain and the
United Kingdom[1][2]; and former states like
Serbia and Montenegro and the
United Kingdom of Libya.
Lord Durham, in his Report, in discussing the proposed union of Upper and Lower Canada, 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 ." Each type of union had its advocates in the Confederation negotiations at Quebec in 1864. A legislative union was strongly favoured by John A. Macdonald in the Confederation conferences, but opposed by the Maritime Provinces and Lower Canada. Federal union was adopted as the principle of the British North America Act. Bib.: Pope, Confederation Documents.
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References
1. Encyclopædia Britannica: "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political union of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland."
2. A Disunited Kingdom? - England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, 1800-1949, Christine Kinealy, University of Central Lancashire, Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN-13: 9780521598446: "... explaining how the United Kingdom has evolved, the author explores a number of key themes including: the steps to political union, ..."
3. Marianopolis College: