differentiate between the two types of Federal government that are there in the world?
Answers
The United States is exactly that--a Union of states. Each state has its own individual powers. However, that does not mean that the states have power to legislate on all matters. The Constitution of the United States spells out the powers of the federal government and of the "several states." The Union government (known as the federal government) has its own fields of legislation, and if federal legislation conflicts with the state laws, the federal legislation prevails. If this occurs, the state must defer to the federal government. The alternative, that any state may at any time leave the Union and thus be free from Union interference in the state's internal affairs, was tried during the American Civil War.The first, dual federalism, holds that the Union and the state are equal; under this view of federalism, the Union government only has the powers expressly granted to it, while the states retain all other powers. The second view, cooperative federalism, states that the federal government is definitively superior to the state government, and the federal government should stretch its powers as far as possible. The US is a Union that does not completely fit either definition. The type of federalism in effect really depends on who is in power at the time. In any case, the Constitution prevents stretching federalism too far in either extreme.
All powers retained by the states are known as reserved powers. Those specifically granted only to the Union government are known as enumerated powers. Finally, matters over which both the Union and the state governments have control are known as concurrent powers.