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federative

federative

1 7.2
Relating to a system where regions share power with a central government
  • adjective
  • /ˈfɛdərətɪv/
  • Formal
translation icon : federativo
  • The central government was the agent of those states, and the states were the principals in the federative compact.
  • federative system
  • federative state

Examples

  • By developing their own version of a federative state based on the notion of justice for all, the Iranians created a commonwealth of semi-independent nations (or a federation of autonomous states) and arguably laid the foundation for the idea of state democracy or a democratic state.

    Academic text (2007)
  • This process eventually led to the federative principle in both religion and politics, whereby church congregations federated to form larger bodies in a Presbyterian fashion, and states such as Rhode Island began as a federation of towns.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Who should exercise federative powers, the powers of war?

  • So it's a complex issue, but I think he was quite right that often the federative power and the executive power are the same.

  • Rather, it was a central government of a federative union of states.

    Blog text (17)
  • It seems safe to say that equality and justice were important to governance in this federative system of statehood.

    Academic text (2007)
  • It was a federative system in which peoples of varying cultural backgrounds were given the right to govern their affairs autonomously, with respect for their religious and cultural identities.

    Academic text (2007)
  • The Constitution of the United States was founded as a federative compact between the states, marking out the authority of a central government, having enumerated powers delegated to it by sovereign states, which reserved for themselves the vast domain of unenumerated powers.

    Blog text (17)
  • The conflict of 1861-1865 was not, as Lincoln said it was, a struggle to see if a modern republican state could survive, but a struggle to see if a vast union of federative republics could survive without the consolidation and consequent destruction of independent moral life that a dominant faction will inevitably seek to impose on the rest.

    Blog text (17)
  • The leaders of the new government agreed on the principles of a federative system to ensure cooperation between the states.

Synonyms

federal
vsfederative
3.8

Relating to the central government of a country that shares power with states

focuses on union characteristics rather than only the central authority
federated
vsfederative
4 6.6

States or regions joined under one central government but keeping some local power

is broader, naming relation to a union of states rather than the joining process
federate
vsfederative
7.0

United under a central government while keeping some local powers

is about general relation to a union of states rather than the uniting act

Compounds

The official name of Brazil, the largest country in South America

A large republic of the former Soviet Union covering much of eastern Europe and northern Asia, now Russia

How Centralized

centralized
  • US
9 4.4
federal
3.8
federative
  • Formal
1 7.2
confederal
1 7.5

Surface Forms

federative positive

Morphology

federative = federate (transparent) = federate + ive

The adjective is formed by adding the productive suffix '-ive' to the verb 'federate', so the meaning 'relating to a federation' is directly derivable.

Etymology

Federative comes from the same root as federal and federation, from the Latin foedus meaning 'treaty' or 'league'. So federative describes a system where regions or states are joined by agreement and share power, which explains its use for a federal form of government.