So-called “unitary” nations such as Britain, France, China, or Kenya, essentially have a single set of government obligations: one national police force, one employer for all public school teachers, one overall pension system, etc. By contrast, the US has an “asymmetric” form of government, which allows many overlapping government entities – 7,000 in California alone – to incur debts, hire and fire employees, and impose taxes.
大规模的对州政府的救助给奥巴马政府增添了巨大的压力，并将暴露出美国的国家治理制度的薄弱环节。在所谓“单一性”的国家里，如英国。法国、中国或肯尼 亚，基本上只有单一的一套政府义务：只有一支警察部队，公立学校教师只受雇于一个机构，只有一个总体的养老金制度，等等。而相比之下，美国的政府形式却是“非对称”的， 它允许很多重叠的政府实体- 仅在加州就有7000个-举债、雇用和解雇员工并进行征税。