Government of Man

If The Alliance is the Five-Man Band of political entities. The Republic is the close relative of The Federation. If it is not part of The Alliance, it is usually friendly to it.
A "federation" is a relatively loose conglomeration of states with common goals and purposes, coordinated by a central government that's independent of them all, and from which they have a certain amount of autonomy. The oldest continuous federation and probably the best known example in the real world is the United States of America (its federal government has over the years grown a lot stronger than it originally was but the US still retains a federal character). Another example is Russia: not only is its official name "Russian Federation", but most of the lands with a significant ethnic population, like Chechnya, are highly autonomous regions known as "republics". The Swiss Confederation is also an example. 
The Empire, The Imperium, The Republic, The Federation.
Category:Government