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A federal government is the common government of a federation
Federation

A federation is a Political union comprising a number of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government. In a federation, the self-governing status of the state is typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a Unilateralism decision of the central government....
.

The structure of federal governments vary from institution to institution based on a broad definition of federation
Federation

A federation is a Political union comprising a number of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government. In a federation, the self-governing status of the state is typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a Unilateralism decision of the central government....
. Students of federal governments will note that within a basic federal political system, 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
Constitution

A constitution is a system for government — often codified as a written document — that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity....
.


The United States is considered the first modern federation.






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A federal government is the common government of a federation
Federation

A federation is a Political union comprising a number of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government. In a federation, the self-governing status of the state is typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a Unilateralism decision of the central government....
.

The structure of federal governments vary from institution to institution based on a broad definition of federation
Federation

A federation is a Political union comprising a number of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government. In a federation, the self-governing status of the state is typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a Unilateralism decision of the central government....
. Students of federal governments will note that within a basic federal political system, 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
Constitution

A constitution is a system for government — often codified as a written document — that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity....
.

Examples

  • Government of Australia
    Government of Australia

    The Australia is a federation constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement between six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states....
  • Government of Belgium
    Belgian federal government

    The executive branch of the Belgium federal government consists of Political ministers and secretary of state drawn from the political party which form the government coalition government....
  • Government of Brazil
  • Government of Canada
    Government of Canada

    Canada is a constitutional monarchy. The powers and structure of the federal government are set out in the Constitution of Canada, which includes the written part, the decisions of courts, and unwritten conventions developed over time....
  • Government of Germany
    Politics of Germany

    Politics of Germany takes place in a framework of a federation parliamentary democratic representative democracy republic, whereby the Chancellor of Germany is the head of government, and of a plurality multi-party system....
  • Government of India
    Politics of India

    Politics of India takes place in a framework of a federation parliamentary system multi-party system representative democracy republic modeled after the United Kingdom Westminster system....
  • Government of Malaysia
    Politics of Malaysia

    The politics of Malaysia takes place in the framework of a constitutional monarchy, in which the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is head of state and the Prime Minister of Malaysia of Malaysia is the head of government....
  • Government of Mexico
    Politics of Mexico

    The United Mexican States are a federation presidential system representative democracy republic whose government is based on a congressional system, there whereby the president of Mexico is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party election system....
  • Government of Russia
    Politics of Russia

    The politics of Russia take place in a framework of a federation presidential system republic. According to the Constitution of Russia, the President of Russia is head of state, and of a multi-party system with executive power exercised by the government, headed by the Prime Minister, who is appointed by the President with the parliament's a...
  • Government of Switzerland
    Politics of Switzerland

    Politics of Switzerland takes place in the framework of a Multi-party system federation parliamentary system democracy republic, whereby the Federal Council of Switzerland is the head of government....
  • Government of the United States
    Federal government of the United States

    The Federal Government of the United States is the central current reigning United States governmental body, established by the United States Constitution....


The United States is considered the first modern federation. After declaring independence from Britain, the U.S. adopted its first constitution, Articles of Confederation
Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the constitution of the revolutionary wartime alliance of the thirteen United States. The Articles' ratification was completed in 1781, and legally federated several sovereign and independent states, allied under the Articles of Association into a new federation styled the "United States...
 in 1781. This was the first step towards federalism by establishing the federal congress. Yet, congress was limited as to its ability to pursue economic, military, and judiciary reform. In 1787, federal congress participated in what is known as the Philadelphia Convention
Philadelphia Convention

The Philadelphia Convention took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Kingdom of Great Britain....
 and by 1789, the U.S. was officially a federation.

Other nation-states followed suit in establishing federal governments: Switzerland (1848); Canada (1867); Germany (1871 and again 1949); Australia (1901); Austria (1920 and again 1945).

See also

  • National government
    National government

    A national government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other national emergency....
  • Federation
    Federation

    A federation is a Political union comprising a number of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government. In a federation, the self-governing status of the state is typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a Unilateralism decision of the central government....