Federated Membership Polity

Federated membership polity is the governance form recorded in this atlas for religious bodies that are a federation of autonomous member organisations, each keeping control of its own affairs while sharing a common umbrella. The atlas borrows the general idea of federation, which Wikipedia describes as a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a federal government. In this atlas the entity stands for the governance form itself, so denominations, religious orders and societies governed this way can be grouped and compared under it, while each member entry keeps its own governance facts and sources.