Federation

This article is about the political system. For other uses, seeFederation (disambiguation)andFederal Union (disambiguation).

Not to be confused withConfederationorFederated state.

Federal states

Unitary states

The pathway of regional integration or separation

Afederation(also called afederal state) is an entity characterized by aunionof partiallyself-governing provinces, states, or other regionsunder afederal government(federalism). In a federation, the self-governing status of the component states, as well as the division of power between them and the central government, isconstitutionallyentrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision, neither by the component states nor the federal political body without constitutional amendment.

Sovereign power is formally divided between a central authority and a number of constituent regions so that each region retains some degree of control over its internal affairs.

Overriding powers of a central authority theoretically can include: the constitutional authority to suspend a constituent state's government by invoking gross mismanagement or civil unrest, or to adopt national legislation that overrides or infringes on the constituent states' powers by invoking the central government's constitutional authority to ensure "peace and good government"or to implement obligations contracted under an international treaty.

The governmental or constitutional structure found in a federation is considered to befederalist,or to be an example offederalism.It can be considered the opposite of another system, theunitary state.FranceandJapan,for example, have been unitary for many centuries. TheAustrian Empirewas a unitary state withcrown lands,after the transformation into theAustria-Hungarymonarchy the remaining crown lands of so-calledCisleithaniabecame federated asLänderof theRepublic of Austriathrough the implementation ofits constitution.Germany,with its 16states, orLänder,andNigeria,with its 36statesandfederal capital territory,are examples of federations. Federations are oftenmulti-ethnicand cover a large area of territory (such asRussia,theUnited States,Canada,India,Brazil,PakistanorAustralia), but neither is necessarily the case (such asSaint Kitts and Nevisor theFederated States of Micronesia).

History

Several ancient chiefdoms and kingdoms, such as the 4th-century-BCELeague of Corinth,NoricuminCentral Europe,and theIroquois Confederacyinpre-Columbian North America,could be described as federations orconfederations.TheOld Swiss Confederacywas an early example of formal non-unitary statehood.

Several colonies and dominions in theNew Worldconsisted of autonomous provinces, transformed into federal states upon independence such as theUnited States,and various countries inLatin America(seeSpanish American wars of independence). Some of the New World federations failed; theFederal Republic of Central Americabroke up into independent states less than 20 years after its founding. Others, such asArgentina,have shifted between federal,confederal,and unitary systems, before settling into federalism.Brazilbecame a federation only after the fall ofthe monarchy,andVenezuelabecame a federation after theFederal War.AustraliaandCanadaare also federations.

Germanyis anothernation-statethat has switched between confederal, federal and unitary rules, since theGerman Confederationwas founded in 1815. TheNorth German Confederation,the succeedingGerman Empireand theWeimar Republicwere federations.

Founded in 1922, theSoviet Unionwas formally a federation ofSoviet republics,autonomous republicsand other federal subjects, though in practice highly centralized under thegovernment of the Soviet Union.TheRussian Federationhas inherited a similar system.

India,Pakistan,Nigeria andMalaysia(thenFederation of Malaya) became federations on or shortly before becoming independent from theBritish Empire.

In some recent cases, federations have been instituted as a measure to handleethnic conflictwithin a state, such asBosnia and Herzegovina,andIraq since 2005as well asSomalia since 2012.

With theUnited States Constitutionhaving become effective on 4 March 1789, theUnited Statesis the oldest surviving federation, while the newest federation isNepal,after itsconstitutionwent into effect on 20 September 2015.

Federations and other forms of state

A map of the Russian Federation, showing its eighty-threefederal subjectsbefore theannexation of Crimeain 2014

A map ofBrazil,showing itstwenty-six constituent statesand theFederal District

A map of theFederal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,showing its regions

A map of theFederal Republic of Nigeria,showing its36 states and the Federal Capital Territory

A map of the United Mexican States (Mexico), showing its thirty-one constituentstatesandMexico City

A map of the United States of America showing its fifty constituentstatesand theDistrict of Columbia

A map of Canada showing its tenprovincesand three territories

A map of Australia showing its sixstatesand ten territories

A map of theFederal Republic of Germanyshowing its sixteen constituent states (Länder) including threecity-states

A map of theNepalshowing its seven constituent provinces

Federations

The component states are in some sense sovereign, insofar as certain powers are reserved to them that may not be exercised by the central government. However, a federation is more than a mere loose alliance of independent states. The component states of a federation usually possess no powers in relation to foreign policy and so enjoy no independent status underinternational law.However,German Länderhave that power,which is beginning to be exercised on a European level.

Some federations are calledasymmetricbecause some states have more autonomy than others. An example of such a federation isMalaysia,in whichSarawakandSabahagreed to form the federation on different terms and conditions from the states ofPeninsular Malaysia.

A federation often emerges from an initial agreement between several separate states. The purpose can be the will to solve mutual problems and to provide for mutual defense or to create anation-statefor an ethnicity spread over several states. The former was the case with the United States and Switzerland. However, as the histories of countries and nations vary, the federalist system of a state can be quite different from these models. Australia, for instance, is unique in that it came into existence as a nation by the democratic vote of the citizens of each state, who voted "yes" in referendums to adopt theAustralian Constitution.Brazil, on the other hand, has experienced both the federal and the unitary state during its history. Some present-day states of the Brazilian federation retain borders set during the Portuguese colonization (before the very existence of the Brazilian state), whereas the latest state,Tocantins,was created by the1988 Constitutionfor chiefly administrative reasons.

Seven of the top eightlargest countries by areaare governed as federations.

Unitary states

Aunitary stateis sometimes one with only a single, centralized, national tier of government. However, unitary states often also include one or more self-governing regions. The difference between a federation and this kind of unitary state is that in a unitary state the autonomous status of self-governing regions exists by the sufferance of the central government, and may be unilaterally revoked. While it is common for a federation to be brought into being by agreement between a number of formally independent states, in a unitary state self-governing regions are often created through a process of devolution, where a formerly centralized state agrees to grant autonomy to a region that was previously entirely subordinate. Thus, federations are often established voluntarily from "below" whereas devolution grants self-government from "above".

Confederation

TheSwiss Confederationand its26 cantons

Aconfederation,in modern political terms, is usually limited to a permanent union of sovereign states for common action in relation to other states.The closest entity in the world to a confederation at this time is theEuropean Union.While the wordconfederationwas officially used when the Canadian federal system was established in 1867, the term refers only to the process and not the resulting state since Canadian provinces are not sovereign and do not claim to be. In the case ofSwitzerland,while the country is still known officially as the Swiss Confederation, this is now a misnomer since the Swiss cantonslost their sovereign statusin 1848.

In Belgium, however, the opposite movement is underway.Belgium was founded as a centralized state, after the French model, but has gradually been reformed into a federal state by consecutive constitutional reforms since the 1970s. Moreover, although nominally called a federal state, the country's structure already has a number ofconfederational traits.At present, there is a growing movement to transform the existing federal state into a looser confederation with two or three constitutive states and/or two special regions.

A confederation is most likely to feature three differences when contrasted with a federation: (1) No real direct powers: many confederal decisions are externalized by member-state legislation; (2) Decisions on day-to-day-matters are not taken by simple majority but by special majorities or even by consensus or unanimity (veto for every member); (3) Changes of the constitution, usually a treaty, require unanimity.

Over time these terms acquired distinct connotations leading to the present difference in definition. An example of this is the United States under theArticles of Confederation.The Articles established a national government under what today would be defined as a federal system (albeit with a comparatively weaker federal government). However, Canadians, designed with astrongercentral government than the US in the wake of the Civil War of the latter, use the term"Confederation"to refer to the formation or joining, not the structure, of Canada. Legal reforms, court rulings, and political compromises havedecentralizedCanada in practice since its formation in 1867.

Empire

Anempireis a multi-ethnic state,multinational state,or a group of nations with acentral governmentestablished usually throughcoercion(on the model of theRoman Empire). An empire often includes self-governing regions, but these will possess autonomy only at the sufferance of the central government. On the other hand, a political entity that is an empire in name, may comprise several partly autonomous kingdoms organised together in a federation, with the empire being ruled over by anemperoror senior king (great king,high king,king of kings...). One example of this was theGerman Empire(1871–1918).

Comparison with other systems of autonomy

Federacy

Afederacyis a unitary state that incorporates one or more self-governingautonomous areas.It is distinguished from a federation in that the constitutional structure of the state is still unitary, but incorporates federalist principles. Some federacies, notablyÅland,were established throughinternational treaty.

Devolution

A federation differs from adevolved state,such asIndonesiaand the United Kingdom, because, in a devolved state, the central government can revoke the independence of the subunits (Scottish Parliament,theSeneddand theNorthern Ireland Assemblyin the case of the United Kingdom) without changing the constitution. In some cases, such as theautonomous communities of Spain,devolution has led to federation in all but name, or "federation without federalism".

Crown dependencies

The relation between theCrown Dependenciesof theIsle of Manand the bailiwicks ofGuernseyandJerseyin theChannel Islandsand the United Kingdom is very similar to a federate relation: the Islands enjoy independence from the United Kingdom, which, via The Crown, takes care of their foreign relations and defense – although the UK Parliament does have overall power to legislate for the dependencies. However, the islands are neither an incorporated part of the United Kingdom nor are they considered to be independent or associated states. The islands do not have a monarch,per se;rather in the Isle of Man theBritish Monarchis,ex officio,Lord of Mann,and in the Bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey, theBritish Monarchrules as theDuke of Normandy.

Dependent territories

Dependent territories,such as theBritish overseas territories,are vested with varying degrees of power; some enjoy considerable independence from the sovereign state, which only takes care of their foreign relations and defense. However, they are neither considered to be part of it nor recognized as sovereign or associated states.

De factofederations

The distinction between a federation and a unitary state is often quite ambiguous. A unitary state may closely resemble a federation in structure and, while a central government may possess the theoretical right to revoke the autonomy of a self-governing region, it may be politically difficult for it to do so in practice. The self-governing regions of some unitary states also often enjoy greater autonomy than those of some federations. For these reasons, it is sometimes argued that some modern unitary states arede factofederations.

De factofederations, or quasi-federations, are often termed "regional states".

Spain

TheAutonomous communities of Spain

Spainis suggested as one possiblede factofederationas it grants more self-government to itsautonomous communitiesthan are retained by the constituent entities of most federations.For theSpanish parliamentto revoke the autonomy of regions such asGalicia,Cataloniaor theBasque Countrywould be a political near-impossibility, though nothing bars it legally. The Spanish parliament has, however, suspended the autonomy ofCataloniain response to theCatalan declaration of independence,in the lead-up to the2017 Catalan election.Additionally, some autonomies such asNavarreor the Basque Country have full control over taxation and spending, transferring a payment to the central government for the common services (military, foreign relations, macroeconomic policy). For example, scholar Enrique Guillén López discusses the "federal nature of Spain's government (a trend that almost no one denies)."Each autonomous community is governed by aStatute of Autonomy(Estatuto de Autonomía) under theSpanish Constitution of 1978.

South Africa

Provinces of South Africa

Although South Africa bears some elements of a federal system, such as the allocation of certain powers to provinces, some nevertheless argue that it is functionally a unitary state.On the other hand, if federation is defined as the constitutional entrenchment of the powers of subcentral units (provinces, etc.) that is not unilaterally changeable or revocable by the central authority, South Africa does qualify, formally, as a federal state.

European Union

TheEuropean Union(EU) is asui generispolitical unionor confederation (the assemblage of societies or an association of two or more states into one state).Robert Schuman,the initiator of the European Community system, wrote that atransnationalCommunity like the founding of theEuropean Coal and Steel Communitylay midway between an association of States where they retained complete independence and a federation leading to a fusion of States in asuper-state.TheFounding Fathers of the European Unionwrote theEurope Declaration (Charter of the Community)at the time of the signing of theTreaty of Parison 18 April 1951 saying that Europe should be organized on a transnational foundation. They envisaged a structure quite different from a federation called theEuropean Political Community.

The EU is a three-pillar structure of the original supranationalEuropean Economic Communityand the nuclear energy cooperation and non-proliferation treaty,Euratom,plus two largelyintergovernmentalpillars dealing with External Affairs and Justice and Home Affairs. The EU is therefore not ade jurefederation, although someacademic observers conclude that after 50 years of institutional evolution since theTreaties of Romeit isbecomingone.The European Union possesses attributes of a federal state. However, its central government is far weaker than that of most federations and the individual members are sovereign states under international law, so it is usually characterized as an unprecedented form of supra-national union. The EU has responsibility for important areas such as trade, monetary union, agriculture, and fisheries. Nonetheless, EUmember statesretain the right to act independently in matters of foreign policy and defense, and also enjoy a near-monopoly over other major policy areas such as criminal justice and taxation. Since theTreaty of Lisbon,the Member States' right to leave the Union is codified, and the Union operates with morequalified majority voting(rather than unanimity) in many areas.

By the signature of this Treaty, the participating Parties give proof of their determination to create the first supranational institution and that thus they are laying the true foundation of an organized Europe. This Europe remains open to all nations. We profoundly hope that other nations will join us in our common endeavor.

— Europe Declaration,signed by Konrad Adenauer (West Germany), Paul van Zeeland, Joseph Meurice (Belgium) Robert Schuman (France) Count Sforza (Italy) Joseph Bech (Luxembourg) and Dirk Stikker, J. R. M. van den Brink (The Netherlands).

Europe has charted its own brand of constitutional federalism.

— European Constitutionalism Beyond the State. Edited withMarlene Wind(Cambridge Univ. Press, 2003) page 23,Joseph H. H. Weiler

Those uncomfortable using the "F" word in the EU context should feel free to refer to it as a quasi-federal or federal-like system. Nevertheless, for the purposes of the analysis here, the EU has the necessary attributes of a federal system. It is striking that while many scholars of the EU continue to resist analyzing it as a federation, most contemporary students of federalism view the EU as a federal system. (See, for instance, Bednar, Filippov et al., McKay, Kelemen, Defigueido and Weingast)

— R. Daniel Kelemen

A more nuanced view has been given by the German Constitutional Court.Here the EU is defined as 'an association of sovereign national states (Staatenverbund)'.With this view, the European Union resembles more of aconfederation.

People's Republic of China

Main article:Federalism in China

Constitutionally, the power vested in thespecial administrative regionsof the People's Republic is granted from theCentral People's Government,through a decision by theNational People's Congress.However, there have been certain largely informal grants of power to the provinces, to handle economic affairs and implement national policies, resulting in a system some have termed federalism "with Chinese characteristics".

Myanmar

Constitutionally aunitary state,the political system in Myanmar bears many elements of federalism. Eachadministrative divisionhas its own cabinets and chief ministers, making it more like a federation rather than a unitary state.

Wallis and Futuna

TheFrenchoverseas collectivityWallis and Futunamaintains some quasi-federation attributes. The territory is divided into three traditional chiefdoms:Uvea,Sigave,andAlo.The chiefdoms are allowed to have their ownlegal systemwhich have to be implemented along withFrench legal system.

Comoros

Under the terms of the Fomboni Accords,signed in December 2001 by the leaders of all three islands, the official name of the country was changed to the Union of theComoros;the new state was to be highly decentralised and the central union government would devolve most powers to the new island governments, each led by a president.

Internal controversy and conflict

TheUnited Provinces of Central Americawas a short-lived federal republic.

Certain forms of political and constitutional dispute are common to federations. One issue is that the exact division of power and responsibility between federal and regional governments is often a source of controversy. Often, as is the case with theUnited States,such conflicts are resolved through the judicial system, which delimits the powers of federal and local governments. The relationship between federal and local courts varies from nation to nation and can be a controversial and complex issue in itself.

Another common issue in federal systems is the conflict between regional and national interests, or between the interests and aspirations of different ethnic groups. In some federations the entire jurisdiction is relatively homogeneous, and each constituent state resembles a miniature version of the whole; this is known as 'congruent federalism'. On the other hand,incongruent federalismexists where different states or regions possess distinct ethnic groups.

The ability of a federal government to create national institutions that can mediate differences that arise because of linguistic, ethnic, religious, or other regional differences is an important challenge. The inability to meet this challenge may lead to the secession of parts of a federation or to civil war, as occurred in the United States (southern states sought to protect the institution of slavery while northern states opposed it, with a catalysis occurring in the then–Kansas Territory), inNigeriaand inSwitzerland.In the case ofMalaysia,Singaporewas expelled from the federation because of rising racial tension. In some cases, internal conflict may lead a federation to collapse entirely, as occurred theFederation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland,theGran Colombia,theUnited Provinces of Central America,and theWest Indies Federation.

Federal governments

The federal government is the common government of a national orsupranationalfederation. A federal government may have distinct powers at various levels authorized or delegated to it by its member states. The structure of federal governments varies. Based on a broad definition of a basicfederalism,there are two or more levels of government that exist within an established territory and govern through common institutions with overlapping or shared powers as prescribed by a constitution.

The federal government is the government at the level of the sovereign state. Usual responsibilities of this level of government are maintainingnational securityand exercising international diplomacy, including the right to sign bindingtreaties.Basically, a modern federal government, within the limits defined by its constitution, has the power to make laws for the whole country, unlike local governments. As originally written, theUnited States Constitutionwas created to limit the federal government from exerting power over the states by enumerating only specific powers. It was further limited by the addition of theTenth Amendmentcontained in theBill of Rightsand theEleventh Amendment.However, later amendments, particularly theFourteenth Amendment,gave the federal government considerable authority over states.

Federal government within this structure are the government ministries and departments and agencies to which the ministers of government are assigned.

Contemporary

There are 26 federations in the world, with 6 each inAsiaandEurope,5 inAfrica,4 inNorth America,3 inSouth Americaand 2 inOceania.

Main articles:Federal republic,Federal monarchy,andFederated state § List of constituents by federation

Current federations

Year est.	Federation	Type	Structure	Top-level subdivisions (federated and other)	Major federated units	Minor units(federated or other)
1853	Argentine Republic	R	Presidential	Provinces of Argentina	23 provinces	1 autonomous city
1901	Commonwealth of Australia	M	Parliamentary	States and territories of Australia	6 states	3 internal territories (of which 2 are self-governing) and 7 external territories
1920	Republic of Austria	R	Parliamentary	States of Austria	9 states(LänderorBundesländer)incl. the city-state ofVienna
1993	Kingdom of Belgium	M	Parliamentary	Divisions of Belgium	3 communities, 3 regions	3 communitarian commissions
1995	Bosnia and Herzegovina	R	Parliamentary	Divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina	2 entities, one of which is itself a federation of 10 cantons	1 district
1889	Federative Republic of Brazil	R	Presidential	Federative units of Brazil	27federative units(of which one is afederal districtand the others arestates)
1867	Canada	M	Parliamentary	Provinces and territories of Canada	10 provinces	3 territories
1995	Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia	R	Parliamentary	Regions and chartered cities of Ethiopia	12 regions	2 chartered cities
1949	Federal Republic of Germany	R	Parliamentary	States of Germany	16 states(LänderorBundesländer)incl. the city-states ofBerlin,Hamburg,andBremen
1947	Republic of India	R	Parliamentary	States and union territories of India	28 states	8union territories,including anational capital territory
2005	Republic of Iraq	R	Parliamentary	Governorates of Iraq	19 provinces (governorates)
1963	Malaysia	M	Parliamentary	States of Malaysia	13 states	3 federal territories
1824	United Mexican States	R	Presidential	States of Mexico	32 federal entities, which are 31 states and its capitalMexico City
1979	Federated States of Micronesia	R	Presidential	Administrative divisions of Micronesia	4 states
2015	Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal	R	Parliamentary	Provinces of Nepal	7 provinces
1960	Federal Republic of Nigeria	R	Presidential	Subdivisions of Nigeria	36 states	1 federal capital territory
1947	Islamic Republic of Pakistan	R	Parliamentary	Provinces and territories of Pakistan	4 provinces	2 autonomous territories and 1federal capital territory
1992	Russian Federation	R	Semi-presidential	Federal subjects of Russia	46oblasts,22 republics, 9krais,4 autonomousokrugs,3 federal-level cities, 1 autonomousoblast
1983	Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis	M	Parliamentary	The islandsSt. KittsandNevis	1 federal unit (the island of Nevis)	The island of Saint Kitts (directly administered by the federal government)
2012	Federal Republic of Somalia	R	Parliamentary	Federal Member States of Somalia	7 states
2011	Republic of South Sudan	R	Presidential	States of South Sudan	10 states	3 administrative areas (which one of them has special administrative status)
1956	Republic of the Sudan	R	Military junta	States of Sudan	18 states
1848	Swiss Confederation	R	Directorial	Cantons of Switzerland	26 cantons
1971	United Arab Emirates	M	Semi-constitutional monarchy	Emirates of the UAE	7emirates
1776	United States of America	R	Presidential	US states and territories	50states	1 federal district;16territories
1863	Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela	R	Presidential	States of Venezuela	23 states	1 federal district,1 federal dependency

Defunct

• Holy Roman Empire(800–1806)
• Inca Empire(1197–1572)
• Confederation of Madja-as(1200–1569)
• Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederation)(15th/16th century-1799)
• Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth(1569–1795)
• Federated Dutch Republic(1581–1795)
• Confederate Ireland(1642–1652)
• United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves(1815–1825)
• Hispaniola(1822–1844)
• United Provinces of Central America(1823 –c. 1838)
• Peru–Bolivian Confederation(1836–1839)
• Confederation of New Granada(1858–1863)
• Confederate States of America(1861–1865)
• United States of Colombia(1863–1886)
• North German Confederation(1867–1871)
• Austria-Hungary(1867–1918)
• German Empire(1871–1918)
• Federal Republic of Spain(1873–1874)
• French Indochina(1887–1954)
• Federated Malay States(1896–1946)
• French West Africa(1904–1958)
• French Equatorial Africa(1910–1934)
• Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic(1918)
• Union of Soviet Socialist Republics(1918–1992)
• Weimar Republic(1919–1933)
• Syrian Federation(1922–1925)
• Federal State of Austria(1934–1938)
• Mengjiang Autonomous United Government(1937–1945, since 1941 autonomous region of theReorganized National Government of China)
• Malayan Union(1946–1948)
• Federation of Malaya(1948–1963)
• United States of Indonesia(1949–1950)
• United Kingdom of Libya(1951–1963)
• Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea(1952–1962)
• Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland(1953–1963)
• West Indies Federation(1958–1962)
• Mali Federation(1959–1960)
• Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)(1960–1964)
• Federal Republic of Cameroon(1961–1972)
• Republic of South Africa(1961–1994)
• Republic of Uganda(1962–1967)
• Republic of Kenya(1963–1964)
• United Republic of Tanzania(1964–1965)
• Czechoslovak Socialist Republic(1969–1992)
• Comoros(2001–2018)
• Federal Republic of Yugoslavia(1992–2003)

Some of theproclaimed Arab federationswere confederationsde facto.

See also

• Anti-Federalism– 1780s political movement in the U.S.
• Canadian Confederation– 1867 unification of Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick
• Centre for Studies on Federalism– Turin university established 2000
• Commonwealth– Term for a political community founded for the common good
• Corporative federalism– Federalism based on members' legal personhood
• Constitutional economics– Research program in economics and constitutionalism
• Federalism in Australia– Overview of federalism in Australia
• Federalist– Set of political beliefs
• The Federalist Papers– 1788 essay collection promoting ratification of the US Constitution
• Federation of Australia– Process by which six separate British self-governing colonies became the country of Australia
• Foederati– Peoples and cities bound by a treaty, typically in relation to Rome (Antiquity)
• Independent city#Federal capitals– Type of city or town
• International organisation– Organization established by treaty between governments
• Międzymorze (Intermarium)– Proposed country during World War IPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Multinational state– State comprising multiple nations
• Neo-functionalism– Political theory
• New federalism– Transfer of certain powers from the United States federal government back to the statesPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Non-governmental federation– Federations which are not states or national governments
• Rule according to higher law– Belief that universal principles of morality override unjust laws
• Supranationalism– Multinational political union with a central authorityPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Supranational union– Multinational political union with a central authority
• World Federalist Movement– Political idea of a global federal governmentPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets

External links

• "Federal Government".New International Encyclopedia.1905.