1. A league or union of states or nations, each of which retains its sovereignty but also delegates some rights and powers to a central authority. • The United States, for example, was first organized under the Articles of Confederation. Cf. FEDERATION.
“A confederation is a union, more or less complete, of two or more states which before were independent. It aims to secure a common good, external, as mutual protection against powerful neighbors, or internal, as commerce and community of justice by means of common institutions.” Theodore D. Woolsey, Introduction to the Study of International Law § 108, at 173 (5th ed. 1878).
confederation of states. A confederation involving a central government that exists and exercises certain powers but does not control all the external relations of the member states. • For international purposes there exists not one but a number of states. Cf. federal state under STATE.
2. An alliance; esp., in a negative sense, a conspiracy.
