Forms of Government Compared

One method of describing government is based on where sovereignty lies. If all of the sovereignty lies in a central government, it is called a unitary form. If the member states give up a small amount of their power to a central government but retain their sovereignty, it is called a confederal form of government or a confederation. If the member states give up most of their sovereignty to a central government but keep a small amount of sovereignty for themselves, it is called a federal form of government. The United States has a federal form of government because sovereignty is shared by the national government and the state governments.