Federacy
A
federacy is
form of government that shares features of both a
federation and
unitary state. In a federacy, at least one of the constituent parts of the country is
autonomous, while the constituent parts are not completely autonomous. An example of such an arrangement is
Finland, where
Åland, which has the status of autonomous province, has considerably more autonomy than other Finnish provinces. The autonomous constituent part enjoys independence as though it was part of federation, while the other constituent parts are as independent as subunits in a unitary state. The autonomous subunits are often former
colonial possessions. These autonomous subunits often have a special status in
international relations.
A federacy differs from a
devolved state, such as the
United Kingdom, because, in a devolved state, the central government can revoke the independence of the subunits without changing the constitution. It also differs from an
associated state, such as the
Federated States of Micronesia (in free association with the
United States), because the associated states are
de jure independent international entities.
The relation between the
Crown dependencies of the
Isle of Man and the
Channel Islands and the
United Kingdom is very similar to a federate relation: the Islands enjoy considerable independence from the United Kingdom, which only takes care of their foreign relations. But the islands are not considered to be part of the United Kingdom, but nor are they recognized as independent or associated states.
* Elazar, D.J.
Federal Systems of the World: A Handbook of Federal, Confederal and Autonomy Arrangements (1991) Essex
*
Confederacy
