Merits: 

• It is a source of strong, stable and all-powerful government. 

• It ensures a single uniform administration for the whole of the state. 

• The system deserves special praise for its simplicity and less expensiveness. 

• The administration of a unitary state is flexible and can easily adapt itself to the changing social needs and environment because the central government can amend the constitution as and when required.

• This system is very suitable for small countries because it establishes organization and unity after ending all differences. 

• It is very suitable for meeting emergencies because, being an all-powerful government, the central government can take all necessary decisions quickly and implement them with full force.

Demerits: 

The unitary state provides for the creation of an all-powerful central government with full centralization of powers. It involves a possibility for central despotism over local areas.

The central government often behaves inefficiently because of being overloaded with all the work. It often finds itself not fully capable of meeting the pressure of work resulting from the social economic cultural functions that it has to perform as an agent of the modem welfare state.’

A unitary government, because of being located at the centre and faced with pressing national problems, very often fails to satisfy local needs.

The unitary system is suitable only for small and homogeneous states. For big states or states with racial, linguistic, cultural, religious and regional diversities, a federal system alone can be suitable.

A unitary government is more bureaucratic. The existence of a single political executive and legislature for the whole state makes way for the dominance of the administration by the bureaucracy.

It kills local initiative. It further discourages popular interest in public affairs.