formed by agreement between political units that surrender their individual sovereignty to a central authority but retain limited powers of government, or of or constituting a government so formed
of the central government of a federation as distinguished from those of the constituent units
Federal government involves a territorial form of power-sharing. More precisely, it refers to a system of government in which power is legally divided between the centre and provincial units, such that neither is legally subordinate to the other. Federalism may be contrasted with a unitary system, such as that in Britain, in which sovereignty remains with Parliament at Westminster — Professor Vernon Bogdanor
of or loyal to the federal government of the USA in the American Civil War
federalism noun
federalist noun and adj
federally adv
[Latin foeder-, foedus compact, league]