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This article is part of the
Politics series
Forms of government
 
List of government types

• Anarchy
• Aristocracy
• Communist state
• Confederation
• Corporatism
  • Corporatocracy
• Consociationalism
• Demarchy
• Democracy
  • Direct
  • Representative
  • Consensus
• Despotism
• Dictatorship
  • Autocracy
  • Military/Military junta
  • Authoritarianism
    • Totalitarianism
• Ethnic democracy
• Ethnocracy
• Exilarchy
• Fascism
• Federation
• Feudalism
• Gerontocracy
• Kleptocracy
• Kratocracy
• Kritocracy/Kritarchy
• Logocracy
• Meritocracy
  • Geniocracy
• Minarchism/Night Watchman
• Monarchy
  • Absolute
  • Constitutional/Limited
  • Diarchy/Co-Kingship
• Noocracy
• Ochlocracy/Mobocracy
• Oligarchy
• Panarchism
• Parliamentary
• Plutocracy
• Presidential
• Puppet state
• Republic
  • Crowned
  • Capitalist
  • Constitutional
  • Federal
  • Parliamentary
    • Dependent head of state
    • Federal
• Socialist state
• Sociocracy
• Technocracy
  • Cyberocracy
  • Netocracy
• Thalassocracy
• Theocracy
  • Islamic state
  • Theodemocracy
• Timocracy
• Tribal
  • Chiefdom
• Tyranny

Politics portal

A federal republic is a federation of states with a republican form of government. A federation is the central government. The states in a federation also maintain the federation. Usage of the term republic is inconsistent but, as a minimum, it means a state or federation of states that does not have a monarch.

In a federal republic, there is a division of powers between the national "federal" government, and the government of the individual subdivisions. While every nation manages this division of powers differently, national security and defense, monetary policy, and other issues of a "national" scope are handled at the "federal" level while more local issues such as road and infrastructure maintenance and education policy are handled at the local level. In other words, while the federal government has ultimate sovereignty, there is a limited sovereignty granted to the subdivisions, where the federal government does not have jurisdiction. This is in contrast to a unitary republic whereby the national government has complete sovereignty over all aspects of political life, and subdivisions are purely administrative in nature.The form of government is used by many countries around the world.

In English, before the merger of the two German states in 1990, the phrase "Federal Republic" was often used to refer to West Germany (within its pre-1990 borders), in contrast with the German Democratic Republic, otherwise called East Germany.

List of federal republics

Contemporary

Federation Official Name and Style Subdivisions Head of state
Argentina Argentine Republic Provinces of Argentina President of Argentina
Austria Republic of Austria States of Austria Federal President of Austria
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil Federative Republic of Brazil States of Brazil President of Brazil
Comoros Union of the Comoros Islands of Comoros President of Comoros
Ethiopia Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Regions of Ethiopia President of Ethiopia
Germany Federal Republic of Germany States of Germany President of Germany
India Republic of India States of India President of India
Iraq Republic of Iraq Regions of Iraq President of Iraq
Madagascar Republic of Madagascar Regions of Madagascar President of Madagascar
Mexico United Mexican States States of Mexico President of Mexico
Micronesia Federated States of Micronesia States of FS Micronesia President of the FS of Micronesia
Nepal Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal Yet to decide by the constituent assembly President of Nepal
Nigeria Federal Republic of Nigeria States of Nigeria President of Nigeria
Pakistan Islamic Republic of Pakistan Subdivisions of Pakistan President of Pakistan
Russia Russian Federation Subjects of Russia President of Russia
South Africa Republic of South Africa Provinces of South Africa President of South Africa
Switzerland Swiss Confederation Cantons of Switzerland Swiss Federal Council
United States United States of America States of the United States President of the United States
Venezuela Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela States of Venezuela President of Venezuela

Historic

• Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (1581–1795)
• "Great Colombia" (1819-1831), later Colombia (federal republic until 1886; unitary republic after 1886)
• Paraguay (1813-1876)
• Weimar Republic (Germany 1919-1933)
• Union of Burma (1948-1962)
• Federal Republic of Cameroon (République Fédérale du Cameroun) (1961-1972)
• Uganda (1962-1966)
• Czechoslovakia (1969-1992)
• Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922-1991)
• Yugoslavia (1945-2003)

See also

• Form of government