Confederation

A confederation is a political union of sovereign states or chiefdoms united for purposes of common action, typically established through treaty to address shared concerns such as defense, foreign relations, trade, and currency, while member states retain their own sovereignty and maintain separate governance structures. The confederation's central authority is relatively weak compared with a federal system: decisions made by the general government, usually a council composed of member states, take the form of interstate agreements requiring subsequent implementation by each member state rather than direct binding law, and decision-making generally proceeds by consensus, or unanimity, rather than majority vote, a requirement that has historically limited the effectiveness of many confederations. The critical distinction between a confederation and a federation lies in the distribution of power and legal authority: in a confederation the central authority remains relatively weak and member states are sovereign entities joined by treaty, whereas a federation features a stronger central government with direct authority over citizens and comprises constituent entities within a single unified state structure; member states of a confederation theoretically retain an implicit right of secession, though legal arrangements or increasing centralization can constrain that right and cause a confederation to function increasingly like a federation over time.