Confederate vs federate, can anyone explain?

Not looking for a history lesson, although I’m all ears if it serves to explain the difference.

How is a federation different from a confederation?

A confederation is potentially a higher level organization.
A federation is a union.
A confederation is a union of unions.
Lot of slippage in usage, though.

wiki: Confederation vs. federation

confederates are those southern anti-yankee dixie-playing slavers.

federate is the current prime lending percentage set by the federal reserve bank.

sheesh.

[quote=“urodacus”]confederates are those southern anti-yankee dixie-playing slavers.

federate is the current prime lending percentage set by the federal reserve bank.

sheesh.[/quote]

Federates are the good guys in Star Trek. Confederates are the bad guys with funny accents and inbrededness with names like Cooter. sheesh.

A long time ago I went to a meeting where some people where calling for a confederation as a solution for Taiwan and mainland China. Someone said that confederations are rare, but the European Union is one. Most people at the meeting seemed to think that neither a confederation nor a federation would be acceptable to the communist/PRC side. If the EU is a confederation that would explain why in the UK there are federalists and Euroskeptics. The federalists want to advance from a confederation to a federation, and the Euroskeptics want to keep the status quo…or something…

On a serious note,

[quote]A federation (Latin: foedus, covenant) is a union comprising a number of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central (“federal”) government. In a federation, the self-governing status of the component states is typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision of the central government. The form of government or constitutional structure found in a federation is known as federalism (see also federalism as a political philosophy). It can be considered the opposite of another system, the unitary state.

Federations may be multi-ethnic, or cover a large area of territory, although neither is necessarily the case. Federations are often founded on an original agreement between a number of sovereign states.[/quote]

Russia is an example of a federation by name at least.

[quote]A confederation is an association of sovereign states or communities, usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution. Confederations tend to be established for dealing with critical issues, such as defense, foreign affairs, foreign trade, and a common currency, with the central government being required to provide support for all members. A confederation, in modern political terms, is usually limited to a permanent union of sovereign states for common action in relation to other states.[1]

The nature of the relationship between the entities constituting a confederation varies considerably. Likewise, the relationship between the member states and the central government, and the distribution of powers among them, is highly variable. Some looser confederations are similar to international organizations, while tighter confederations may resemble federations.

In a non-political context, confederation is used to describe a type of organization which consolidates authority from other semi-autonomous bodies. Examples include sports confederations or confederations of Pan-European trades unions.[/quote]

and the money question…

[quote]Confederation vs. federation
The difference in meaning between a confederation and a federation had evolved in usage over time. Prior to the US Civil War, the terms were largely synonymous, but differing political views with regard to the nature of political unions, especially as applied to the US Constitution (which up to that time was considered both a Federal and a Confederated Union), caused each of the terms to subsequently embody one of the two rival and opposing theories of state’s rights. Currently, a confederation is considered a state or entity similar in pyramidal structure to a federation but with a weaker central government. A confederation may also consist of member states which, while temporarily pooling sovereignty in certain areas, are considered entirely sovereign and retain the right of unilateral secession. A confederation is sometimes a loose alliance but in other cases the distinction between a federation and a confederation may be ambiguous. In contrast to a federation, a member state may participate in more than one confederation.

Because of the historical synonymity between the words Confederation/Confederacy and Federation, some nations originally organized themselves using the term “confederation,” but are in fact federations in structure as currently defined. The United States of America was first organized under the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, which would today be defined as a Federation, and continued as such under the current Constitution of the United States in 1789. The Confederate States of America attempted to break away from the United States, touching off the American Civil War; although the CSA is often referred to as “the Confederacy” and modern supporters of the Confederate States often justify their secession in terms of states’ rights, the Confederate States Constitution for the most part copied the structure of the U.S. Constitution, with only minor differences in the area of states’ rights.[/quote]

courtesy of wikipedia.