Federalist countries in dark green.

Federalism is a political doctrine that seeks for a political entity or organization to be made up of organisms (states, organizations, groups, unions, etc.) that associate by delegating some liberties or powers of their own to another higher body, if not to whom sovereignty belongs (federated State or federation) and that retain a certain autonomy, since some powers belong exclusively to them. In other words, it is a political system in which the functions of the government are distributed among a group of associated States, in the first place, which then delegate powers to a central federal State.^{[citation required]}

Main features of federalism

To better understand federalism there are four essential characteristics, as well as principles and operational processes that are common in a federal system:

a) Written constitution. Also known as magna carta and, a need for democracies that form federations to regulate the principles by which the government will be governed, because if they had to act without a specific body of laws it would produce confrontations.

b) Territorial division. Federalism is constituted by the division of powers on the geographical basis of each territory.

c) Decentralization. In a federal system there is both a central government and lower-central government units, each making decisions regarding the provision of certain public services in their respective geographic jurisdictions.

d) Supreme Court of Justice. To counter the rigidity of the written constitution, judicial action is required to interpret the constitution and make necessary changes.

Federation and confederation

Federation and confederation differ mainly in that a confederation has more limited central power. It can also be a series of organisms that, temporarily, share their sovereignty in specific aspects, being able to separate.

Differences

Constitution

Most federal States are usually organized with respect to a Constitution, which defines the exclusive powers of each entity and those that are shared. They are usually democratic constitutions in different forms (direct democracy, indirect democracy, semi-direct democracy).

Symmetrical and asymmetrical system

Symmetrical federalism is based on equal powers for each body, that is, each territory would have the same powers.

Asymmetric federalism has a State in which there would be one or several territories with more powers than the rest. This is normally the case in multicultural countries to recognize the differences of a region with respect to others. the others. An example is Canada, where Quebec has a different official language than the rest of the country.

Federal States

Some countries with federal regimes are: Austria, Germany, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Burma, United States, India, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, Venezuela, Switzerland (which despite being called the Helvetic Confederation works like a federation).

However, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom are decentralized states. Its territorial organization tends to resemble federalism. The ongoing constitutional reform in Italy aims to turn the country into a federal republic.

Among the large states of the European Union, France is the least decentralized country. However, since the constitutional review of March 28, 2003, a large part of the responsibilities for transport and education have been decentralized.

The European Union is a confederation (see European federalism). The United Nations is nothing more than an intergovernmental association, but if one takes into account the set of treaties that make up organizations such as the WTO, the FAO, the IMF, etc., a result similar to a federation is obtained.

Federalism and anarchism

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon—who was the first person to define himself as an anarchist or supporter of anarchism—later used the term federalism to refer to describe their ideology, such that their followers have been known as both anarchists, mutualists, Proudhonians and federalists and wrote a book entitled The Federative Principle. Francisco Pi y Margall agreed with Proudhon on the idea of federalism. Inspired by workers' councils, Mikhail Bakunin theorized about the federations of assemblies that today are the organizational base of anarcho-syndicalism and saw in the Paris Commune the prototype of a structure for an anarchist federation. Cantonalism constitutes a form of radical federalism as a bridge between anarchism and federalism. American individualist anarchist Benjamin Tucker asserted that "Anarchists are simply Jeffersonian democrats to the last and unafraid of consequences." They believe that 'the best government is the one that governs the least,' and the one that governs the least is the one that governs not at all", citing Thomas Jefferson (Republican) and Henry David Thoreau (anarchist).

Taking an anarchist view on the matter, federalism is the main way anarchists prefer to organize themselves. Anarchist groups such as (in Argentina) Red Libertaria, OSL, FORA, (in Chile) OCL and many others are clear examples of what has been said.

On the other hand, it is good to broaden the Proudhonian idea of the federation. It is very important to clarify that for Proudhon the federation is not a form of State but a principle. An individual is federated if and only if each party receives something proportional in exchange for what is given and if less freedom is given to the federation than the individual has (as opposed to central-democratic or statist positions where the individual gives the organization more freedom than remains). "If there is no agreement, there is no freedom". Therefore, outside of what is agreed, no one can legislate, and there is no federation.

List of federal states

See also

• Spanish cantonal revolution