Central Government - Examples of Federal Governments

Examples of Federal Governments

A federal government is the common or national government of a federation. Examples include

  • Austria government
  • Argentina government
  • Belgium government
  • Brazil government
  • Canada government
  • Germany government
  • Malaysia government
  • Mexico government
  • Nigeria government
  • Pakistan government
  • Russia government
  • Switzerland government
  • United States government
  • Venezuela government

The United States is considered the first modern federation. After declaring independence from Britain, the U.S. adopted its first constitution, the Articles of Confederation in 1781. This was the first step towards federalism by establishing the confederal Congress. However, Congress was limited as to its ability to pursue economic, military, and judiciary reform. In 1787, the Second Continental Congress drafted the United States Constitution during the Philadelphia Convention. After the ratification of the Constitution by nine states in 1788, the U.S. was officially a federation, but putting the U.S. in a unique position where the central government exists by the sufferance of the individual states rather than the reverse.

Other states followed suit in establishing federal governments: Switzerland (1848); Canada (1867); Germany (1871 and again 1949); Australia (1901); Austria (1920 and again 1945) and India (1947 and again 1950).

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