<P> Federations often employ the paradox of being a union of states, while still being states (or having aspects of statehood) in themselves . For example, James Madison (author of the US Constitution) wrote in Federalist Paper No. 39 that the US Constitution "is in strictness neither a national nor a federal constitution; but a composition of both . In its foundation, it is federal, not national; in the sources from which the ordinary powers of the Government are drawn, it is partly federal, and partly national ..." This stems from the fact that states in the US maintain all sovereignty that they do not yield to the federation by their own consent . This was reaffirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reserves all powers and rights that are not delegated to the Federal Government as left to the States and to the people . </P> <P> The structures of most federal governments incorporate mechanisms to protect the rights of component states . One method, known as' intrastate federalism', is to directly represent the governments of component states in federal political institutions . Where a federation has a bicameral legislature the upper house is often used to represent the component states while the lower house represents the people of the nation as a whole . A federal upper house may be based on a special scheme of apportionment, as is the case in the senates of the United States and Australia, where each state is represented by an equal number of senators irrespective of the size of its population . </P> <P> Alternatively, or in addition to this practice, the members of an upper house may be indirectly elected by the government or legislature of the component states, as occurred in the United States prior to 1913, or be actual members or delegates of the state governments, as, for example, is the case in the German Bundesrat and in the Council of the European Union . The lower house of a federal legislature is usually directly elected, with apportionment in proportion to population, although states may sometimes still be guaranteed a certain minimum number of seats . </P> <P> In Canada, the provincial governments represent regional interests and negotiate directly with the central government . A First Ministers conference of the prime minister and the provincial premiers is the de facto highest political forum in the land, although it is not mentioned in the constitution . </P>

List four reasons that federalism makes our government more democratic