Federalism is a form of state organization where there is a government that exercises the functions of a centralizing State. But, while there is a central power, there is a division of power between the units that make it up.
These units, when united and regulated by a common Federal Constitution, form a Federal State.
In Federalism, the division of power takes place through delegation, that is, central political power is shared by each of the federative units.
In practice, this form of organization means that there are different administrative poles that are divided within a country. Power is distributed among the territories that make up the state. In the case of Brazil, power is divided between the administration of the federal, state and municipal governments.
Federalism in Brazil
In the country, the federalist system was adopted from 1889, the year in which the Proclamation of the Republic took place. The adoption of the form of a federative state happened due to the central government's intention to respond to the wishes of the Brazilian regional elites, who, at that time, felt dissatisfied with the current model of monarchy until then.
After the promulgation of the Federal Constitution of 1988, the federalist model was strengthened in the country, since the Constitution established the points of autonomy of the member states.
When the system was adopted, the institutional structure model used by the United States was used as a basis.
In this model there is a central government, which concentrates sovereignty. There are also federation units (states), which have their own administrative structures, such as the Three Powers (Executive, Legislative and Judiciary). The Powers are independent of each other, that is, they have autonomy and perform specific functions.
Also read the articles about federal Constitution and three powers.
What is the purpose of Federalism?
The federalist model has as its main purpose maintain a balanced division of power between the various territories that are part of the State, so that each of the Member States have its own legislation and that it is adequate to the regional needs and the population.
Characteristics of Federalism
There are many Federations in the world and that's why they may have some peculiarities. However, some of these characteristics are shared by all nations. The main ones are:
- political decentralization: is the political, legislative and administrative independence given to the Member States. It allows the federative units to have the power to organize themselves and make decisions according to the interests of the region, in addition to the permission to draft their Constitutions and state laws.
- The federative units are autonomous from each other: this means that there is no hierarchical relationship between the Member States. Likewise, there is also no hierarchy between the Federal State and the federative units.
Common features of Federalism are also:
- Despite having administrative autonomy, Member States are not sovereign.
- Division of competences between entities that are part of the State.
- Government cooperation between member states and central government.
Federalism and federative units
In Federalism, or federative form, the division of the national territory is made through political organizations, called states or federative units.
These federative units, when brought together, compose a sort of central system, governed by a Federal Constitution, which determines their mode of operation.
The Constitution determines, for example: territorial organization, type of government and administration, in addition to the rights and duties of citizens. Brazil is governed by the Federal Constitution of 1988.
However, despite being part of a broader system, each of the units has decision and administration autonomy for some matters, such as:
- creation, voting and approval of new laws;
- definition of public policies to be applied;
- creation and collection of taxes.
Despite being connected to this system, the federative units can direct their administrative and political decisions according to local needs.
Also read the meaning of UF (Federal Unit) and see the acronyms of the states of Brazil.
Countries that adopt Federalism
Federalism is used as a form of state in countries such as: Brazil, United States, Germany, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Canada, Belgium and Russia.
Difference between Federalism and Confederation
There are two fundamental differences between Federalism and Confederation. The first refers to the sovereignty and authority of member states in relation to the central state. The second is how they are made.
Autonomy is the capacity of a State to position itself in front of others, asserting the supremacy of its decisions. Autonomy, on the other hand, is the State's capacity for self-administration, that is, the permission to take political and administrative decisions.
At the Federalism, States are linked to the central power, but they have political and administrative autonomy to make decisions in some areas. Although they have administrative autonomy, they do not have sovereignty, that is, sovereignty belongs to the Central State.
already in a Confederation, the member states maintain their sovereignty. Therefore, in a Confederation, in addition to autonomy (as it exists in Federalism), there is also the sovereignty of each State.
Another difference is that Federations are formed from Federal Constitutions. Confederations are born through the signing of Treaties.
union federation
Federalism is not only used as a form of organization of States and their federative units.
A good example of this are union-shaped organizations, which are subdivided into smaller sections or confederations, which have links with the central union entity, but, at the same time, have the autonomy to take decisions.
You may also be interested in: state.
