How does a confederation and federation differ?

183 views

Also, please give examples of both + how does a confederation government structure work?

Like let’s say some federal country turned into a confederation, how would the government work?

Who is in charge of what? Which authority?

In: 1

6 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

In a confederation, the parts that make it up are still independent nations. An example of a confederation is the EU. It has a government, and that government can do stuff, but every nation in the EU is still independent, and may choose to leave if they want to (eg Great Britain).
A federation is similar: it has parts that are governed by a local government, and the whole is governed by a central government. But these smaller parts aren’t independent. The best example of a federation is the USA. Every state has some leeway, and is able to do some stuff, but they aren’t independent nations. Arkansas, for example, can’t just decide to leave the US, and it’s an entire process to do so.
A final option is a unitary state. In this, there is a central government, and it allows smaller parts to exist. But these smaller parts can only do what the central government allows them to do. An example here is France (or really most of the world). It’s split into various regions (and collectivities and autonomous territories, but let’s not look into those for this). these regions have certain obligations and liberties, but they cannot create their own laws. Contrast this to the previous two: a US state can create its own laws, and a EU member state can as well.

You are viewing 1 out of 6 answers, click here to view all answers.