Federation and Confederation

Several forms of these states have existed throughout history, all of which were reduced to the federal state, which was born of the confederation, but what distinguishes these two forms?

The federal government is composed of several entities that resemble states but lack external sovereignty and have limited internal sovereignty. As a result, federated states are not true states, whereas a confederation is an association of states that agree to share a certain number of competencies and to try to harmonize their policies in various areas by treaty, while each member state retains full autonomy and sovereignty. In general, rather than citizens, representatives designated by the states convene in a dialogue or conference to develop, in theory, decisions to be attributed to the states, but which can only be carried out on the territory of each state with its consent. Furthermore, the federal states are not a homogeneous group, as the inventiveness of constitution writers has resulted in a variety of amendments, multiplying the forms of federalism.

The origins of these states can be traced back to 1787 in the United States, when pre-existing states decided to join forces to form a federal state. The federal state was formed by combining previously unrelated components, such as provinces, municipalities, territories, and administrative divisions, so that an independent state could choose to become a federal state, gaining the benefits of a federal state while retaining the identity of each of its constituents. The constitution will be the founding act of a federal state, and it will distribute powers between the Union and the federal state, so the freedom left to them will be like a principle of autonomy, as well as the principle of participation, which serves to ensure that their status is not jeopardized without their participation.

The structure of federal institutions is distinguished by the presence of a parliament comprised of two chambers, one of which represents the population and the other in which each State sits on an equal footing with the others. Finally, one of the member states could be barred from leaving the federation. Each state has its own constitution and organizes its public powers, such as the legislature and government, in accordance with the federal constitution. In terms of power distribution, the constitution lists the powers attributed to the federal state as well as the powers entrusted to the federated states.

Outside of the reserved areas, the powers are concurrent, so the federal state controls the army and has external sovereignty. Contrary federal laws are repealed by federal law. Conflicts of interpretation of the constitution, which is the supreme court, result from the distribution of powers. In cooperative federalism, the federated states can establish links between themselves without going through the federal state. The State remains unitary in the communities which are endowed with an autonomous normative power, and this State can quite easily be transformed into a federal State, like Belgium.

Today there is no real confederation, but there are certain forms of international organizations that come close to confederation such as the European Union (EU) and Commonwealth. Since confederation states are no longer valid nowadays, federal states have vanished from many states, including the United States, Canada, Russia, and many others.