An ideal federal system has both aspects : mutual trust and agreement to live together
Aspects of ideal federal system
Balance of Power
The exact balance of power between the central and the state government varies from one federation to another.
This balance depends mainly on the historical context in which the federation was formed.
There are two kinds of routes through which federations have been formed.
Kinds of Federation in terms of formation
Coming together federation :
The first route involves independent States coming together on their own to form a bigger unit, so that by pooling sovereignty and retaining identity they can increase their security.
Ex: USA, Switzerland and Australia.
In this first category of federations, all the constituent States usually have equal power and are strong vis-à-vis the federal government.
Holding together federations.
The second route is where a large country decides to divide its power between the constituent States and the national government.
India, Spain and Belgiumare examples of this kind of ‘holding together’ federations.
In this second category, the central government tends to be more powerful vis-à-vis the States.
Very often different constituent units of the federation have unequal powers.