Federalism is a governance system whereby power is divided between the national and the state government. At the federal level, power is divided among the three branches of government, including the legislature, executive, and judiciary. Both levels of government have distinct roles in their official jurisdiction. One characteristic of a federal system is that it cannot be altered without the consent of the subnational government. Also, disputes arising between the two governments are solved by the nationalcourts.
The main difference between the federalism, unitary, and confederacy systems is their power allocation. In federalism, power is decentralized, meaning that both the federal and state governments have equal powers. On the other hand, power is concentrated in the state government under the unitary system. More authority is granted to the national government under the confederation government. Therefore, the national government has more power to undertake most of the leadership responsibilities in the confederation system.