What is a federal system?

Answer 1

A federal system is a centralized government, with sub-divided governments being given powers in addition to (but usually overridden by) the central power. The United States, for example, is a federal government: the central government is mandated in the Constitution, while the States are the sub-divided governments (then down to counties, parishes, cities, localities, towns, etc.)

Typically the constitution of a federal government spells out the division of power between the central and sub-governments. In the United States, the Constitution states that only the powers expressly written are given to the central government; all other powers are reserved for the States (and ultimately, the People).

The idea behind a federal government is to ensure a unified, fair, and equitable distribution of power amongst many dissolute states, while also guaranteeing rights of citizens, standardizing currencies, establishing courts, providing military protection, and also administering other major services that individual states might not have the resources to afford on their own.

Answer 2

The federal system refers to the national government, the body that exists in Washington that makes decisions for the whole country.

Answer 3

A federal system is when sovereign states join together and relinquish certain sovereign rights, such as foreign relations, currency regulation, military and border control to the newly created "group" government. Most other rights are retained by the state. It allows a certain amount of decentralization so that the member states can each address their localized issues as they wish.