Federal Republic

A federal republic is a republic constituting of a union of constitutionally recognised self-governing sub-units variously called states (e.g. United States, Mexico), provinces (Argentina, South Africa), Bundesländer (Germany, Austria), or cantons (Switzerland). Each state or district retains sovereignty which is limited by way of its subordination to a central republican authority.

In strict constitutional terms, the states within a federal republic are not independent but inferior to the federal state, which is regarded as the national unit. In contrast, confederations contain states that are to varying degrees independent but which are part of a shared limited larger political entity or which have effective parity of powers and authority with the shared larger political entity. Similarly, states with devolved governmental sub-units are not described as federations because their sub-units have no constitutional right to exist but are created by, and potentially abolishable by, the national parliament.

Examples include Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Russia, and the United States of America. A republic is not a requirement for a federal form — Canada and Australia are federations but not republics.