confederacies

"The small businesses formed confederacies to compete with the large corporations. "

""Historically, some groups of states have formed confederacies to cooperate on defense, with each state retaining its individual power and independence in most other matters." "

"The Blackfoot, Iroquois, and Sioux peoples all were governed as confederacies. There were also multi-ethnic confederacies, such as the Iron Confederacy made up of the Plains Cree, Assiniboine, Stoney, and Saulteaux."