Symmetric (con)federations
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In symmetric confederations and federations, the member states or provinces have the same powers and rights as every other member unit. The Constitution of the United States established a government based on principles of symmetrical federalism.[1]
Symmetric (con)federations contrast with asymmetric (con)federations, which have member units with different rights and powers.[1]
Background
Professor Charles D. Tarlton wrote that the symmetry of a federal system "refers to the extent to which component states share in the conditions and thereby the concerns more or less common to the federal system as a whole."[2] In a symmetric confederation, the degree of such symmetry among the states will be higher than in an asymmetric confederation.
Professor G. Alan Tarr argued that the American federal system seems symmetrical from the perspective of the 50 states; however, he wrote that the positions of Washington, D.C., Native American tribes, and territories are asymmetrical relationships contemplated by the United States Constitution.[3]
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