Editing Federation (section)

===Confederation===
[[File:Carte suisse2.png|thumb|upright=1.1|The [[Swiss Confederation]] and its [[Cantons of Switzerland|26 cantons]]]]
A [[confederation]], in modern political terms, is usually limited to a permanent union of sovereign states for common action in relation to other states.<ref>{{cite OED|confederation}}</ref> The closest entity in the world to a confederation at this time is the [[European Union]]. While the word ''confederation'' was officially used when the Canadian federal system was established in 1867, the term refers only to the process and not the resulting state since Canadian provinces are not sovereign and do not claim to be. In the case of [[Switzerland]], while the country is still known officially as the Swiss Confederation, this is now a misnomer since the Swiss cantons [[Switzerland as a federal state|lost their sovereign status]] in 1848.<ref>[http://www.swissworld.org/en/politics/general_information/ch_confoederatio_helvetica/ CH: Confoederatio Helvetica - Switzerland - Information] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330035550/http://www.swissworld.org/en/politics/general_information/ch_confoederatio_helvetica/ |date=30 March 2015 }}. Swissworld.org. Retrieved on 2013-07-12.</ref>

In Belgium, however, the opposite movement is underway.<ref name="Lagasse">One of the most important recent books about the Belgian institutions, written by one of the leading French-speaking jurists{{who|date=April 2014}} concludes: ''Vers le confédéralisme'' (Toward a Confederation). See: Charles-Etienne Lagasse, ''Les Nouvelles institutions politiques de la Belgique et de l'Europe'', Erasme, [[Namur]] 2003, p. 603 {{ISBN|2-87127-783-4}}</ref> Belgium was founded as a centralized state, after the French model, but has gradually been reformed into a federal state by consecutive constitutional reforms since the 1970s. Moreover, although nominally called a federal state, the country's structure already has a number of [[Confederation#Belgium|confederational traits]]. At present, there is a growing movement to transform the existing federal state into a looser confederation with two or three constitutive states and/or two special regions.<ref name="Belgium">Many Flemings would prefer two states, Flanders and Wallonia, and two special regions, Brussels and the German-speaking region. In Wallonia, there is wider support for three states: Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels.</ref>

A confederation is most likely to feature three differences when contrasted with a federation: (1) No real direct powers: many confederal decisions are externalized by member-state legislation; (2) Decisions on day-to-day-matters are not taken by simple majority but by special majorities or even by consensus or unanimity (veto for every member); (3) Changes of the constitution, usually a treaty, require unanimity.

Over time these terms acquired distinct connotations leading to the present difference in definition. An example of this is the United States under the [[Articles of Confederation]]. The Articles established a national government under what today would be defined as a federal system (albeit with a comparatively weaker federal government). However, Canadians, designed with a ''stronger'' central government than the US in the wake of the Civil War of the latter, use the term [[Canadian Confederation|"Confederation"]] to refer to the formation or joining, not the structure, of Canada. Legal reforms, court rulings, and political compromises have ''decentralized'' Canada in practice since its formation in 1867.