Central government - wikipedia Central government Part of the Politics series Basic forms of government Power structure Separation Associated state Dominion Chiefdom Federalism Federation Confederation Devolution Integration Empire Hegemony Unitary state Administrative division Power source Democracy power of many Direct Representative Semi others Oligarchy power of few Aristocracy Military junta Plutocracy Stratocracy Timocracy Theocracy Kritarchy Particracy Autocracy power of one Despotism Illiberal democracy Semi-authoritarian Dictatorship Hybrids Anocracy Power ideology Monarchy vs. republic socio - political ideologies Absolute Constitutional Directorial Legalist Parliamentary Semi-presidential Presidential Authoritarian vs. libertarian socio - economic ideologies Capitalism Colonialism Communism Distributism Feudalism Socialism Anarchism vs. statism civil - liberties ideologies Anarchy Minarchy Totalitarianism Global vs. local geo - cultural ideologies Central City - state National unity World Politics portal A central government is the government of a nation - state and is a characteristic of a unitary state. This is the same thing as a federal government which may have distinct powers at various levels authorized or delegated to it by its member states, though the adjective ' central ' is sometimes used to describe it. The structure of central governments varies. Many countries have created autonomous regions by delegating powers from the central government to governments at a subnational level, such as a regional, state or local level. Based on a broad definition of a basic political system, there are two or more levels of government that exist within an established territory and govern through common institutions with overlapping or shared powers as prescribed by a constitution or other law. Usual responsibilities of this level of government which are not granted to lower levels are maintaining national security and exercising international diplomacy, including the right to sign binding treaties. Basically, the central government has the power to make laws for the whole country, in contrast with local governments. For definition of levels of government see also general government ( in economics ). Generally, the difference between a central government and a federal government is that the autonomous status of self - governing regions exists by the sufferance of the central government and are often created through a process of devolution. As such they may be unilaterally revoked with a simple change in the law. An example of this was done in 1973 when the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 abolished the government of Northern Ireland which had been created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It is common for a federal government to be brought into being by agreement between a number of formally independent states and therefore its powers to affect the status of the balance of powers is significantly smaller ( i.e. the United States ). Thus federal governments are often established voluntarily from ' below ' whereas devolution grants self - government from above. Contents 1 Examples of ( non-federal ) central governments 2 Federal governments 3 Examples of confederations 4 See also 5 References Examples of ( non-federal ) central governments There are many countries which have delegated powers, some include : People 's Republic of China government -- see autonomous areas of the People 's Republic of China Denmark government -- see the autonomous regions of Faroe Islands and Greenland France government Republic of China government Georgia government -- see autonomous republics Indonesia government Spain government -- see autonomous communities Portugal government -- see autonomous regions of Portugal Union of Soviet Socialist Republics government -- see republics of the Soviet Union Ukraine government United Kingdom government -- devolved powers to governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Vietnam government Federal governments A federal government is the common or national government of a federation. The United States is considered the first modern federation. After declaring independence from Britain, the U.S. adopted its first constitution, the Articles of Confederation in 1781. This was the first step towards federalism by establishing the confederal Congress. However, Congress was limited as to its ability to pursue economic, military, and judiciary reform. In 1787, a Constitutional Convention drafted the United States Constitution during the Philadelphia Convention. After the ratification of the Constitution by nine states in 1788, the U.S. was officially a federation, putting the U.S. in a unique position where the central government exists by the sufferance of the individual states rather than the reverse. Other states followed suit in establishing federal governments : Switzerland ( 1848 ) ; Canada ( 1867 ) ; Germany ( 1871 and again 1949 ) ; Brazil ( 1891 ) ; Australia ( 1901 ) ; Austria ( 1920 and again 1945 ) and India ( 1947 and again 1950 ). Examples include : Austria government Argentina government Australia government Belgium government Brazil government India government Canada government Germany government Malaysia government Mexico government Nigeria government Pakistan government Russia government Sudan government -- see South Sudan, which is now independent Switzerland government United States government Venezuela government Examples of confederations United States Government under the Articles of Confederation Confederate States of America European Union See also List of autonomous areas by country Autonomous government National government ( disambiguation ) Federation References Jump up ^ `` The Constitution ''. US federal government. Retrieved 17 Jul 2010. Jump up ^ Watts, R., `` Comparing Federal Systems '' ( 2nd ed. ) SPC Queen 's U ( 1999 ) pp 20 - 26. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Central_government&oldid=808134007 '' Categories : Forms of government Political geography Talk Contents About Wikipedia Bân - lâm - gú Esperanto فارسی Français 한국어 हिन्दी Bahasa Melayu 日本 語 Português ไทย 粵語 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 1 November 2017, at 02 : 23. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what term refers to a type of government which has a central government sharing
Answer: federal government