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@@ -1,3 +1,50 @@
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# Federation
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-<!--Lightning Network as proposed implementation-->
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+Federation is the principle of connecting smaller, partially self-governing units through a central unit that manages shared resources among them and powers over them. It generally seeks to create a multi-layer architecture in which authority lies at the most appropriate level.
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+
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+Federal*ism* is generally associated with calls for a stronger central authority.
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+
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+Federation and confederation are sometimes distinguished, wherein federation is a system where sovereignty lies chiefly in the central unit (such as the US federal government), while in a confederation sovereignty is understood to lie with the constiuent units (such as the European Union).
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+
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+**Input:** constituent units, central unit, contracts among them
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+**Output:** cohesion, multi-layered authority structure
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+## Background
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+
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+Federated structures have been widespread in various forms of government, as well as in private enterprise. Early examples include the pre-Columbian Haudenosaunee Confederation (or Iroquois Confederacy), followed by post-colonial formations in the Americas such as the United States, Mexico, and Brazil.
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+
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+In the private sector, cooperative businesses frequently form federations, which are typically second-order co-ops (or nonprofit associations) whose constiuent members are smaller cooperatives or non-cooperative businesses.
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+Federation may be considered an implementation of the philosophical concept of subsidarity, which holds that power should reside as locally as possible to the relevant context.
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+
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+## Feedback loops
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+
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+### Sensitivities
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+
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+* Balance between local governance and economies of scale
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+
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+### Oversights
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+* Can exact high costs of governance among autonomous constituent units
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+
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+## Implementations
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+### Communities
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+
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+* Cooperative federations, such as Confcooperative in Italy and US "generation and transmission" electric cooperatives
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+* Governments in many countries
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+
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+In fiction:
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+
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+* [United Federation of Planets](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/United_Federation_of_Planets) in the Star Trek franchise
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+
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+### Tools
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+
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+* [Fediverse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse), a set of interoperable federated social networks using software such as Mastodon, GNU Social, and Pleroma
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+* [Lightning Network](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_Network), a scalability solution for blockchain systems that dynamically delegates authority to clusters of trusting nodes
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+
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+## Further resources
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+
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+* Ilten, Carla. "[Finding “meso-level” community at SASE 2017](https://organizationaldynamics.wordpress.com/2018/01/10/finding-meso-level-community-at-sase-2017/).
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+Center on Organizational Dynamics. January 10, 2018.
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