<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> <P> Federations often have special procedures for amendment of the federal constitution . As well as reflecting the federal structure of the state this may guarantee that the self - governing status of the component states cannot be abolished without their consent . An amendment to the constitution of the United States must be ratified by three - quarters of either the state legislatures, or of constitutional conventions specially elected in each of the states, before it can come into effect . In referendums to amend the constitutions of Australia and Switzerland it is required that a proposal be endorsed not just by an overall majority of the electorate in the nation as a whole, but also by separate majorities in each of a majority of the states or cantons . In Australia, this latter requirement is known as a double majority . </P> <P> Some federal constitutions also provide that certain constitutional amendments cannot occur without the unanimous consent of all states or of a particular state . The US constitution provides that no state may be deprived of equal representation in the senate without its consent . In Australia, if a proposed amendment will specifically impact one or more states, then it must be endorsed in the referendum held in each of those states . Any amendment to the Canadian constitution that would modify the role of the monarchy would require unanimous consent of the provinces . The German Basic Law provides that no amendment is admissible at all that would abolish the federal system . </P> <Ul> <Li> Fiscal federalism--the relative financial positions and the financial relations between the levels of government in a federal system . </Li> <Li> Formal federalism (or' constitutional federalism')--the delineation of powers is specified in a written constitution, which may or may not correspond to the actual operation of the system in practice . </Li> <Li> Executive federalism refers in the English - speaking tradition to the intergovernmental relationships between the executive branches of the levels of government in a federal system and in the continental European tradition to the way constituent units' execute' or administer laws made centrally . </Li> </Ul>

Who described america as evolving into an ideal socialist state