Federations and other forms of state

Federations

A federation (Latin: foedus, covenant) is a union consisting of several partially self-governing states or regions united by a central (" federal") government. In a federation, the self-governing status of the component states is typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision of the central government.

The form of government or constitutional structure found in a federation is known as federalism (see also federalism as a political philosophy). It can be considered the opposite of another system, the unitary state. The government of Germany with sixteen federated Lä nder is an example of a federation, whereas neighboring Austria and its Bundeslä nder is a unitary state with administrative divisions that became federated, and neighboring France is by contrast fully unitary, though its subnational entities appear similar to states of a federation government.

Federations may be multi-ethnic, or cover a large area of territory, although neither is necessarily the case. Federations are often founded on an original agreement between a number of sovereign states.

Federations and other forms of state

A map of the United States of America, showing its fifty constituent states.

A map of the United Mexican States (Mexico), showing its thirty one constituent states and the Federal District.

In a federation the component states are regarded as 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 they enjoy no independent status under international law.

A federation will usually have a two-tier system of government in most of its territory and covering most of its population. It is not uncommon, however, for a federation to possess at least some territories which are under the direct control of the federal government. For example, the Territories of Canada and of Australia have varying degrees of self-government, which may be changed or withdrawn unilaterally by their respective federal governments; India possesses, in addition to its constituent States, several Union Territories; and the United States and Mexico govern their respective capitals as the District of Columbia and the Federal District respectively. In this latter case, the federal government has special constitutional faculties in regards to the appointment and destitution of the local government. Often, an area will be directly ruled by the federal government either because it has historically been, and continues to be, too remote or thinly-populated to justify its organisation into a State or Province; or because it is an area of particular national significance, such as a federal capital.

Some federations are called asymmetric because some states have more autonomy than others. An example of such a federation is Malaysia, in which Sarawak and Sabah entered the federation on different terms and conditions to other Malaysian states.

A federation often emerges from an agreement between a number of separate states. The purpose can be the will to solve mutual problems or to provide for mutual defence, or to create a nation state for an ethnicity spread over several states. The former was the case with the U.S. and Switzerland, the latter with Germany. In other cases, like Brazil, the federation comes after a unitary state, as a new model in order to decentralize powers and functions, dividing the territory based on ethnical and cultural diversity. Australia 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 the Australian Constitution.

Eight of ten of the World's largest countries by area are governed as Federations.