A federal republic is a federation of Federated state with a form of government. At its core, the literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means a country that is governed by elected representatives and by an elected leader, such as a president, rather than by a monarch or any hereditary aristocracy.
In a federal republic, a division of powers exists between the federal government and the government of the individual subdivisions. While each federal republic manages this division of powers differently, common matters relating to international affairs and treaties, security and defense, inter-state relations, and monetary policy are usually handled at the federal level, while matters such as infrastructure maintenance and education policy are usually handled at the regional or local level; however, views differ on what issues should be a federal competence, and subdivisions usually have sovereignty in some matters where the federal government does not have jurisdiction. A federal republic is thus best defined in contrast to a unitary republic, whereby the central government has complete sovereignty over all aspects of political life. This more decentralized structure helps to explain the tendency for more populous countries to operate as federal republics.Forum of Federations: [1], Schram, Sanford. Handbook of Federal Countries: United States, pp. 373–391, 2005.
Most federal republics codify the division of powers between orders of government in a written constitutional document. The political differences between a federal republic and other Federation, especially federal monarchies under a parliamentary system of government, are largely a matter of legal form rather than political substance, as most federal states are democratic in structure if not practice with checks and balances; however, some federal monarchies, such as the United Arab Emirates, are based upon principles other than democracy.
Federal states primarily contrast with unitary states, where the central government retains many of the powers that are delegated to the subdivisions in federal republics. While there are exceptions, the overall tendency is for federal republics to be larger, more populous, and more internally heterogeneous than unitary states, with such larger size and internal heterogeneity being more manageable in a federal system than in a unitary one.
Argentine Republic | Provinces (23) and autonomous city (1) | Presidential system | |||
CIA World Factbook: Austria, 14 May 2009 | Republic of Austria | States (9) | Parliamentary republic | Alexander Van der Bellen | Karl Nehammer |
CIA World Factbook: Bosnia and Herzegovina, 14 May 2009 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Entities (2) and self-governing district (1) | Parliamentary republic | Željka Cvijanović Denis Bećirović Željko Komšić | Borjana Krišto |
CIA World Factbook: Brazil, 14 May 2009 | Federative Republic of Brazil | States (26) and federal district (1) | Presidential system | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | |
Union of the Comoros | Autonomous islands (3) | Presidential system | |||
CIA World Factbook: Ethiopia, 14 May 2009 | Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia | Regions (10) and chartered cities (2) | Parliamentary republic | Sahle-Work Zewde | Abiy Ahmed |
CIA World Factbook: Germany, 14 May 2009 | Federal Republic of Germany | States (16) | Parliamentary republic | Frank-Walter Steinmeier | Friedrich Merz |
CIA World Factbook: India, 14 May 2009 | Republic of India | States (28) and union territory (8) | Parliamentary republic | Droupadi Murmu | Narendra Modi |
Republic of Iraq | Governorates (19) | Parliamentary republic | Abdul Latif Rashid | Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani | |
CIA World Factbook: Mexico, 14 May 2009 | United Mexican States | States (31) and autonomous entity (1) | Presidential system | Claudia Sheinbaum | |
Federated States of Micronesia | States (4) | Presidential system | David W. Panuelo | ||
CIA World Factbook: Nepal, 14 May 2009 | Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal | Provinces (7) | Parliamentary republic | Ram Chandra Poudel | Pushpa Kamal Dahal |
CIA World Factbook: Nigeria, 14 May 2009 | Federal Republic of Nigeria | States (36) and federal territory (1) | Presidential system | ||
CIA World Factbook: Pakistan, 14 May 2009 | Islamic Republic of Pakistan | Provinces (4), autonomous territories (2) and federal territory (1) | Parliamentary republic | Asif Ali Zardari | Shehbaz Sharif |
Russian Federation | Federal subjects (85) | Semi-presidential system | Vladimir Putin | Mikhail Mishustin | |
Federal Republic of Somalia | Federal member states (6) | Parliamentary republic | Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (acting) | Hamza Abdi Barre | |
Republic of South Sudan | States (10), administrative areas (2) and area with special administrative status (1) | Presidential system | Salva Kiir Mayardit | ||
Republic of the Sudan | States (18) | Provisional government | Abdel Fattah al-Burhan | Osman Hussein | |
CIA World Factbook: Switzerland, 14 May 2009 | Swiss Confederation | Cantons (26) | Directorial Parliamentary republic | Federal Council (2023):
-Alain Berset -Ignazio Cassis -Albert Rösti -Élisabeth Baume-Schneider -Guy Parmelin -Karin Keller-Sutter -Viola Amherd | |
CIA World Factbook: United States, 14 May 2009 | United States of America | States (50), federal district (1) and territories (14), nine of which are uninhabited. | Presidential system | ||
CIA World Factbook: Venezuela, 14 May 2009 | Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela | States (23) and capital district (1) | Presidential system | Nicolás Maduro | |
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