Encyclopedia > Confederation

  Article Content

Confederation

A confederation is a large state composed of many self-governing reigons. Unlike a federation, a confederation has a very weak central government with little influence over the actions or policies of the member regions. However, on certain key issues, such as defense or currency, the central government will be required to provide support for all members.

Traditional confederation style government has been rare in modern history, although many countries have identifed themselves as such (ie: German Confederation, Canadian Confederation, etc). The term "confederation" is thus frequently misused as a synonym of "federation."

The best examples of modern day confederations can be found in the governments of Switzerland and the European Union. Both feature very weak central governments, and allow for great powers of self-government for the member regions.



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Kings Park, New York

... a town located in Suffolk County, New York. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 16,146. Geography Kings Park is located at 40°53'19" North, ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 27.7 ms