A federal republic is a federation of states with a republic as 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 according to the principles of federal republicanism, 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 governments 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: , 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 federal states, 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.
Contemporary
CountryOfficial name and styleAdministrative divisionsForm of governmentHead of stateHead of government Argentine RepublicProvinces (23) and autonomous city (1)Presidential systemJavier MileiCIA World Factbook: Austria, 14 May 2009Republic of AustriaStates (9)Semi-presidential systemAlexander Van der BellenChristian StockerCIA World Factbook: Bosnia and Herzegovina, 14 May 2009Bosnia and HerzegovinaEntities (2) and self-governing district (1)Directorial Parliamentary republicŽeljka CvijanovićDenis BećirovićŽeljko KomšićBorjana KrištoCIA World Factbook: Brazil, 14 May 2009Federative Republic of BrazilStates (26) and federal district (1)Presidential systemLuiz Inácio Lula da SilvaUnion of the ComorosAutonomous islands (3)Presidential systemAzali AssoumaniCIA World Factbook: Ethiopia, 14 May 2009Federal Democratic Republic of EthiopiaRegions (10) and chartered cities (2)Parliamentary republicTaye Atske SelassieAbiy AhmedCIA World Factbook: Germany, 14 May 2009Federal Republic of GermanyStates (16)Parliamentary republicFrank-Walter SteinmeierFriedrich MerzCIA World Factbook: India , 14 May 2009Republic of IndiaStates (28) and union territories (8)Parliamentary republicDroupadi MurmuNarendra ModiRepublic of IraqGovernorates (19)Parliamentary republicAbdul Latif RashidMohammed Shia' Al SudaniCIA World Factbook: Mexico, 14 May 2009United Mexican StatesStates (31) and autonomous entity (1)Presidential systemClaudia SheinbaumFederated States of MicronesiaStates (4)Presidential systemWesley SiminaCIA World Factbook: Nepal, 14 May 2009Federal Democratic Republic of NepalProvinces (7)Parliamentary republicRam Chandra PoudelBalendra ShahCIA World Factbook: Nigeria, 14 May 2009Federal Republic of NigeriaStates (36) and federal territory (1)Presidential systemBola TinubuCIA World Factbook: Pakistan, 14 May 2009Islamic Republic of PakistanProvinces (4), autonomous territories (2), and federal territory (1)Parliamentary republicAsif Ali ZardariShehbaz Sharif Russian Federation Federal subjects (83)Semi-presidential systemVladimir PutinMikhail MishustinFederal Republic of SomaliaFederal member states (7)Parliamentary republicHassan Sheikh MohamudHamza Abdi BarreRepublic of South SudanStates (10), administrative areas (2), and areas with special administrative status (1)Presidential systemSalva KiirRepublic of the SudanStates (18)Military juntaAbdel Fattah al-BurhanOsman HusseinCIA World Factbook: Switzerland, 14 May 2009Swiss ConfederationCantons (26)Directorial Parliamentary republicFederal Council (2026): -Guy Parmelin -Ignazio Cassis -Karin Keller-Sutter -Albert Rösti -Élisabeth Baume-Schneider -Beat Jans -Martin PfisterCIA World Factbook: United States, 14 May 2009United States of AmericaStates (50), federal district (1) and territories (14), nine of which are uninhabited.Presidential systemDonald TrumpCIA World Factbook: Venezuela, 14 May 2009Bolivarian Republic of VenezuelaStates (23) and capital district (1)Presidential systemDelcy Rodríguez
Historical CountryOfficial name and stylePeriod of federal form of governmentAdministrative divisions Regency of Algiers Regency of AlgiersKingdom of Algiers 1563–1830Beyliks Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Serenissima Res Publica Poloniae 1569–1795Provinces and Voivodeships Republic of the Seven United Netherlands 1581–1795 Provinces Valais Republic of the Seven Tithings 1613–1798 Republic of Colombia 1819–1831 Federal Republic of Central America Federal Republic of Central American 1823–1838 Granadine Confederation Granadine Confederation 1858–1863 United States of Colombia United States of Colombia 1863–1886 States First Spanish Republic Spanish Republic 1873-1874 Beiyang China Republic of China 1912–1928 Provinces Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus 1917–1922Republics German Reich 1919–1933 States German Democratic Republic 1949–1990 States Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 1922–1991 Republics Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–1963)Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1963–1992) 1945–1992 Republics Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1992–2003)State Union of Serbia and Montenegro (2003–2006) 1992–2006Constituent republics Union of Burma 1948–1962 States Republic of the United States of Indonesia 1949–1950 States Federal Republic of Cameroon 1961–1972 Czechoslovak Republic (1948–1960)Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1960–1990) 1969–1990 Republics Czech and Slovak Federative Republic Czech and Slovak Federative Republic 1990–1992 Republics
See also
Form of government
Notes
References
External links Republic at Merriam-Webster