A federal government is the common government of a federation.

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

Examples

• Government of Australia
• Government of Austria
• Government of Belgium
• Government of Brazil
• Government of Canada
• Government of Germany
• Government of India
• Government of Malaysia
• Government of Mexico
• Government of Nigeria
• Government of Russia
• Government of Switzerland
• Government of the United States
• Government of Venezuela

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

References

1. Watts, R., "Comparing Federal Systems" (2nd ed.) SPC Queen's U (1999) pp 20-26.