ABSTRACT
The major hypothesis of this book is that the traditional distinction between federal and unitary states has to some degree given way to a complex typology of ‘hybrid’ states. Although in many cases states may have a predominant form that is primarily federal or unitary, increasingly there are examples of political entities combining some elements of both forms in widely varying combinations. These hybrids have occurred because statesmen, faced with a variety of factors relating to economic and strategic issues and the need to recognize and accommodate internal territorial diversity, have often been more interested in pragmatic political solutions than in theoretical purity.
