union of partially self-governing states or regions under a shared central authority
examples: United States, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, India, Brazil, Australia
division of powers: federal government handles defense, foreign affairs, currency; member states handle local law, education, policing
constitutional framework defines which powers belong to the center and which to the periphery
contrast with unitary state (centralized control) and confederation (loose alliance of sovereign states)
Swiss model: 26 cantons with strong local sovereignty, direct democracy through referenda, multilingual governance
federated digital systems: ActivityPub (Mastodon), federated identity, cosmos inter-chain architecture
cyber ecosystem as a federation of sovereign knowledge domains linked through cyberlink and shared consensus
cyberia may adopt a federated structure: autonomous local chapters united by shared protocol and values
see also decentralization, sovereignty, constitution, city-state